"Modify your smile......"

[geminiwench]

"Smile wide!", he says.

I do, uncomfortably
around the new plastic
wedged screamingly-tight in my mouth.

"Yeah," he says,
his own porcelain-perfect smile
plastered rigid
even as his tone droops.

"It looks better than it did

Comments

[geminiwench]

There's a bunch of stuff from Lizzo going like, "All my music I've written was body positive and me loving the body I'm in and encouraging all people to feel like they should/could love their bodies... and people were like, 'You're so brave!' and 'You're so strong!' and I was like, 'Wait,.. what? I mean... was I supposed to hate myself and I just never got the memo??' and ya know what? I understand it now. Yes. I AM supposed to hate myself. I'm supposed to hate my skin. I'm supposed to hate my booty. I'm supposed to hate my gut and my thighs and my lips and my tits and my hair and.... fuck that. That is messed up! That is insanity! We are beautiful! We're ALL beautiful! What sorta whack shit is this idea that we're supposed to hate ourselves just for OTHER'S comfort and convenience? That isn't what comfort is! That is what mental slavery is."

I'm one who also didn't 'get the memo'... I mean, I knew I was **supposed** to hate myself, but I've never been good at doing what I'm "supposed" to do! ;)

My teeth give me so much more shame than my body... I think it's because I'm a talker, because I'm smiley,... because I use my face/voice/personality to convince people that whatever they think about my gender/weight/age/attractiveness, that I am a worthwhile human. So losing my clarity of speech and easy smile feels like losing my shield in battle.

[glove_to_face]

I don't dig Lizzo's music (well, it doesn't resonate with my brain / causes visceral anxiety, haha), HOWEVER I am very fascinated by her. I've watched so many videos of her! Not just singing and dancing around, but her little videos where she shows off her clothing line, or playing her flute. I'm entranced by her energy, confidence, and presumed goodness. So reading your quote made her even more fantastic! I guess like other people, I love Lizzo too! :'''D

See teeth: spot on. My boyfriend is in awe that I can navigate pretty much any social situation, but I do it well because I'm confident with my "face/voice/personality", as you put it. It's so integral to who we are! And that's probably why you can communicate with various generations and demographics. It's not about the body, not about the choice of clothes, not about the 100,000th woman who got a shag cut and you weren't one of them. It's purely about the smiley, dynamic, show-of-genuine-interest interaction!

[geminiwench]

Before Lizza "hit", I saw her on tour opening for Sleater-Kinney... and I was like, "Who is this lady?!" and was not surprised when her first singles became hits. I love her overflowing energy and exuberance. And it's nice to have someone who is vocal and unignorable in pop culture (I am so far removed from most pop culture, I have no idea what is going on in general... my personal/professional interest is regional self-produced so... yeah) who is like, "This isn't about me... this is about US... and about how we all could use a dose of loving ourselves and loving each other... and being a badass bitch."

"purely about the smiley, dynamic, show-of-genuine-interest interaction!"
That is 100% where I live... and why I've gotten anything good in life, is that I talk to people with genuine interest, care, and joy... and it doesn't matter *thing* we happen to be talking *about*.