My Body of Knowledge
I have been asked to publicize Dove’s latest project for their Real Beauty Campaign. Women from their 40’s to the early 80’s are asked to write a letter to their body with their thoughts on beauty, aging and life. The submission deadline is June 1, 2007. To participate contact: natalie@jigsawcasting.com.
Here is my submission.
Good morning body,
I know you slept well. Those dreams, are they your responsibility or mine? We do sleep well together, among other things.
Now that we are 60, I realize what a wonderful job you are doing for us.
You are tall. This has greatly influenced our life. Modeling School was a great confidence builder at 15 when I was tall, had unacceptable acne, (no aspersions, it could not be helped), glasses, massive curly hair and a unibrow. We did well! Modeling was an excellent first career. When other women university graduates were only allowed use their brains to teach or type for a small salary we sold our body for lots of money and had great adventures.
When becoming a flight attendant appealed to us the modeling made up for our lack of languages. Remember the interview for Air Canada? The airline required larger women. We wore a thick sweater and a plaid suit with a full pleated skirt to the interview and drank as much milk as I could force you to accept. We made it!
Remember the friend we met at university when she had fallen into the ice cream freezer? She said I did not know what it meant to be 4′11″. We had trouble seeing the salads on the bottom cafeteria shelf and she fell into the freezer trying to reach her favorite flavor. We made a deal. At each meal we reached for ice cream: she selected the salads. Height is your world view. All our tall life short people have ordered us to get things. Almost daily in the supermarket elderly short people order the human ladder to get items off top shelves.
You are also slim. The media ideal some might think enviously. Does it occur to them that people can be vicious to women who are tall and slim? We have had many hurtful shocks. As a devoted foodie I do appreciate your rapid metabolism, I can eat without owning a big and a small wardrobe.
Like many entrepreneurial women we are left handed. We have lived with a slightly different point of view in a right handed world. It made us empathetic; essential in our company, Women Like Me, that promotes women’s success and style.
You are very energetic. This is fortunate as my mind wants so much. I have one concern. You have always been very healthy and I could always count on you. Have I been too demanding? Is our growing arthritic pain proof of my carelessness or was it just inherited? Sorry I mentioned inherited. Now you will bring up that old story about how you were insulted by our father as soon as we were born. I know he put Karen Louse in the newspaper birth announcement instead of Karen Louise but it is time to let it go.
You have taken good care of my life now it is time for me to love and care for you more.
We are partners.
My only regret is that we cannot sing.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
