The Pineneedle Collective: body positivity

Showing posts with label body positivity. Show all posts

Thursday, 12 March 2015

Everything Pink, Gaining Weight & 25-Million-Year-Old Organisms

Today, I decided that everything must be pink. So I donned a pink top, this gorgeous stripey pink vintage skirt (with pockets!), subtle pink lipstick and a watermelon necklace to match!

I found Yoshimi's lab at my local markets on the weekend, a maker of the most incredible and realistic-looking food jewellery! I stood at Yoshimi's stall for a good 20 minutes trying to choose what to buy (I had to get something), probably totally freaking Yoshimi out because I couldn't stop gushing over how cool everything was. (IT'S ALL MADE OUT OF CLAY, TOO! SUCH WITCHCRAFT!) I settled on this watermelon necklace because it was really hot that day, and the watermelon looked so refreshing!

When I came back from Hong Kong, I was a little dismayed to find out that none of my clothes fit me anymore - I may have enjoyed the food in Hong Kong a little bit too much. However, this particular pink skirt that was several sizes too big for me when I left fit me perfectly on my return!

Any small amount of weight gain is treated so negatively in our culture - when I say to my friends "yeah, I gained heaps of weight in Hong Kong", their immediate response is "no you haven't!" But WHY? I mean, I can read what it says on my scales, my weight gain is an empirical fact. "Oh, but you don't look like you've put on weight".

But why would this be a bad thing? It's not something I am unhappy about - it's only something that I've been told to be unhappy about, by advertisements and movies and TV.

But I'm really not. I'm curvier, and I've always wanted to be curvy. And, cool skirts like this one fit me perfectly now! I'm not going to feel bad about myself just because I've gained weight - instead, I'm going to enjoy recycling my wardrobe and shopping for new clothes to fit my new body!

Outfit details:

Top is thrifted

Skirt is vintage

Necklace is from Yoshimi's Lab (instagram page)

Shoes are Naot Kedmas

#SOTD (Science of the Day):

In 1995, scientists found a bee trapped in amber, and dated it to about 25 million years old.

As you would expect, the bee trapped inside was long dead, but these scientists decided to see if there was anything that might still be living inside.

And there was.

The scientists took a sample from the bee's gut, and put it onto a nutrient-rich plate too see if anything would grow. And 25-million-year-old bacteria that was inside the bee's gut was revived into a living culture.

So how the heck did it survive for so long??

Well, some bacteria are pretty freaky. There's these super tough type of bacteria which can form something called "endospores". Endospores are a hard shell which keeps all the important bits of the bacteria - DNA and ribosomes - safe inside. Endospores can then survive in a state of "suspended animation" when conditions are rough - conditions including being trapped in amber for millions of years and the cold vacuum of space - and then continue on as normal once their environment improves!

Apparently, this record has since been beaten by 250 million-year-old bacteria that were found inside salt crystals in a cave, and were able to be revived. Those bacteria were around at the same time as the dinosaurs, and they're still alive today somewhere in a lab!

I hope that you're all having a wonderful day,

Wednesday, 18 February 2015

Tiny Waists, Slender Legs & Body Policing

Contact lenses make me look like a terrifying half-human half-cyborg-doll lady, and I love it ;)

While I was at an amusement park in Hong Kong last week, waiting in line for a scary-looking rollercoaster, a ride attendant walked up to me, pointed at my belly and exclaimed, "no baby! No baby!"

Yep. She was telling me that I couldn't get on the ride because she thought that I was several months pregnant.

Horrified as I was, I assured her that I wasn't in fact pregnant and probably just had a bit of a food baby going on. The ride attendant grumpily walked away without offering an apology or looking even the slightest bit remorseful.

Now, I'm not posting this here for reassurance - I know that I do not look pregnant and any suggestion that I look like I am is somewhat ridiculous. And sure, maybe I was just standing in a relaxed position with my hands clasped over my tummy, which could possibly have led to the mistaken idea that I was well into my third trimester.

But this experience led me to what I think is a much more problematic and deeply-rooted issue involving the policing of women's bodies: the idea that if a women doesn't have a perfectly flat stomach, she shouldn't wear a tight-fitting dress (likewise, the idea that any woman over a size 6 shouldn't wear leggings). If women have any fat on their stomachs, they are expected to hide it - leading to situations like mine wherein any women showing off her little belly is assumed to be pregnant rather than merely having fat deposits on her abdomen.

Think about it. Have you ever, ever seen a model with a belly wearing a bodycon dress?? Even brands that use plus size models make sure that those models are curvy in all the "right" places. We're now being told that it's okay to be curvy and to love your curvy body - as long as those fat deposits decide to reside solely on your bust and your buttocks, giving you the perfect hourglass figure.

And I'll admit that I was still sucking my stomach in while taking these photos. I also tend to only wear clothing which flares out at the waist in order to hide my stomach. Because I am a product of this oppressive thought, and part of me believes that I'll be taken less seriously and that my photos will be less liked if I show that tummy off.

This needs to change.

I want to be able to wear anything that I want, regardless of whether it suits me or looks "flattering" on my body.

I'm fitter and healthier than I've been in a long, long time. And yet, I still have a little pot belly. And this is okay and perfectly, perfectly normal. So this is my pledge: I'm not going to automatically shy away from wearing dresses which show it off. I'm going to wear dresses that aren't "right" for my body type. I'm going to dress in the clothes that I like, and focus on what my body can do rather than what it looks like - regardless of what society thinks.

And I encourage you all to do that same, whatever that may be for you. Grow your body hair long, wear leggings, singlet tops, tight pants and short skirts - do something that makes either yourself or other people uncomfortable, and then realise how much it just doesn't matter. Forgo make up, cake on make up, dress up, dress down - do whatever the hell you want. Because it's your body, and your body can do amazing things.

Outfit details:

Dress is thrifted (originally Asos)

Shoes are from Asos

Necklace is from Tash Tash Jewelry

Tote bag is Lazy Oaf

Headband is from Hong Kong

Lenses are GeoMedical (Magic Color Violet)

Love,

Saturday, 14 February 2015

♥ Self Love ♥

I wasn't planning on doing a Valentine's Day-themed post, but then I kinda did. Oops. But let's talk about the kind of love that's usually overlooked on Valentine's day - self love!

I spent most of the 14th of Feb. hanging out with myself and enjoying my own company (my partner and I don't celebrate Valentine's day because our anniversary is shortly after!). I think that it's really important to remember (or relearn!) to spend time with yourself, whether you're unattached or in a long-term relationship.

This morning I decided that I was going to learn how to do make up. This is the first time I've ever successfully done contouring and applying false lashes, aw yeah! My eyes look HUGE O_O

Going out on my own to a cafe, dinner or the movies used to be something that I was absolutely terrified of doing. Along with a good ol' dose of social anxiety ("Omg, everyone is looking at me wondering why I'm here on my own"), it was almost like hanging out with myself was somehow invalid, as though if I was the only one experiencing it, it didn't really happen. Having been in a long term relationship for nearly 4 years, it almost becomes a habit to constantly have someone else around to validate your experiences. Even without a significant other, how many times have you been on your own, seen something cool, and just *had* to upload a photo of it to facebook, to validate that you were really there?

And yes, I recognise the irony of what I'm trying to say here when I'm also a blogger and have a very active instagram account - taking selfies and documenting what I'm doing is a big part of my life. But that's different to learning to enjoy your own company and still having experiences that are yours alone. By starting to spend more time with myself, I no longer feel the need to share every single thing that I do on my own - I can go out to a cafe with a book and sit there for hours, or lock myself away for days just sewing, and simply enjoy being in my own company.

That certainly doesn't mean that I (or anyone else, for that matter) can't still enjoy taking selfies and sharing them! For me, this is a big part of my own self-love. This blog and taking regular outfit pictures plays a major part in being positive about myself, my abilities and my own body. So much of today was spent playing with make up, dressing myself up in a silly Valentine's-themed outfit, grabbing my tripod and taking a whole load of pictures.

Self-love is also occasionally treating yourself! Yesterday, this tote bag featuring artwork from the amazing Kat Blaque arrived in the mail.

I doubt anyone would remember this, but Kat illustrated me back in 2012, and I recently rediscovered Kat's amazing artwork and youtube channel after she left a comment on one of my videos. I'm so happy that I did, because 1. her videos rock and are super educational and 2. this tote bag is going to be absolutely ~*perfect*~ for University this year.

Now because it's Valentine's Day, it's totally appropriate for me to post some science-related valentines puns, right?

By bluespecstudio, available to buy at Redbubble

The #sciencevalentines hashtag is a glorious corner of tumblr to wander into.

Our bond is so strong, it don’t need oxytocin.
We’re woven together like a corpus callosum.
The love we impart, though it’s felt in our heart,
Is more of a limbic-type notion.

- Joe Hanson, writer and host of It’s Okay To Be Smart

Honestly, if I were single, these would be the ultimate way to win my heart.

May our atomic orbitals overlap for I would love to bond with you. Be my valence valentine.

- By this person's grandpa

Check out more #sciencevalentines posts here (they're amazing).

Much love to you all!

Sunday, 4 January 2015

A Post Of Outtakes #2

I got such a positive response from posting outtakes on my blog last time that I decided to do it again (because for some reason I want to ruin the carefully-crafted internet persona I've worked on for the past 4 years, or something?)

But seriously, I'm posting these photos because although I may attempt to make you believe otherwise, I don't actually live in an always-sunny picnic-world of perfect skin and flattering angles. Nobody does. But because blogs and social media allows people to present only the very best side of themselves, it can lead to other people thinking that everyone's lives are better than their own.

I've been guilty on more than one occasion of comparing myself to other people with seemingly-perfect lives, and feeling completely flat on the other side of it. Social media sucks you into this black hole of comparison with other people that you'll never win, because other people's lives simply aren't like that.

Nobody looks good 24/7. And why would you want to? That takes all the fun out of life.

So, here's some less-than-perfect outtakes.

Every. Single. Shoot. I just get this unstoppable urge to ham it up and ruin an otherwise very nice photo. I don't know why I insist on posing like this, because I know I'm not going to end up using the photos, but I just can't help myself:

However, some of the best outtakes are when I am actually trying to look good.

Here, for example:

Sexy hair flick? FAIL.

Sultry look into the camera? FAIL.

Speaking of great accidental blinking shots:

If you realise that you've blinked in a photo, you consequently overcompensate to make sure that your eyes stay OPEN. And the resulting shot is even creepier than when you blinked:

Then there's the classic "getting grumpy at the photographer" shot:

And the "I don't know what to do with my hands - so maybe my cardigan is wings...?" shot:

I was trying to be clever in this photo. Because my ring is a heart, I was trying to photographically represent "EYE heart U" - get it?!... Needless to say, I didn't look particularly clever in the end:

And just so you all know, for every good "spinning" shot that you see on blogs, there's about 10 of these:

Katie loves to do this thing whenever we take photos together where she gets an extreme close-up of my face. Thanks, mate.

So, this is a little bit of payback - one of the best photos I think I've ever taken of Katie. GIRL POWER:

I have a question. What exactly am I doing here with my hands?? My wrist joints look completely broken:

Ahh, okay, this explains it - I think there was a creepy insect of some sort buzzing around my head.

Graceful.

And finally, I like to call this the "grumpy watering-can gremlin" pose:

This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Just remember, next time you start comparing your life to seemingly-perfect blogs and instagram accounts - they don't often post the outtakes of life.

I'll leave you with this photo of me, Tilde and Katie accidentally, and without prior consultation, all pulling our very best bitchfaces:

I hope that you've all had a great week,