BODY HORROR/POSITIVE

Reflected Gaze is a body image project by Brett Marcus Cook. This Tumblr is dedicated to all things Body Horror/Positive.

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Radiohead

[androidsghost]

one of the most beautiful humans on the planet.

[sheisrecovering]

[arizonavichi]

People with body issues should paint people naked, study says | Plymouth Herald

People wanting to feel better about their body should go to a naked life art classes, new research has found. Men and women who have issues with their weight or figure would benefit from painting...

[waandering]

Feeling real good in my body. It’s working and nothing is hurting me.

[reflectedgaze]

Radio silence

It's been quiet over here, and I apologize for that. After burning out and taking a hiatus from comics and online projects in general, I'm starting to slowly dip back into things, and I'm not completely sure what I'm going to do with this site. I don't think I'll be doing anymore comics myself (some others are still working on theirs), so I'm trying to come up with a format change.

Two online projects I've come across and enjoyed this year are The Nu Project and www.herself.com (both NSFW), which focus much less on body issues and are more celebratory of body diversity and subverting traditional beauty standards in women. They're really great projects that almost make me wish I'd gotten more into photography.

What I have in mind at the moment is something more in line with the interview format that Herself uses, with two or three illustrations of the subject, trying to focus equally on insecurities and how we overcome them. Would you guys be into something structured more like that? I'd still love to have other writers and artists making their own contributions as well.

Again, sorry for the silence, but rest assured this site isn't dead!

[ixvon-blog]

You can(not) be.

This photo triad is an exploration of expectations (either the expectations of society or our own,) and the toll they take on different individuals. Each image in the triad explores its own theme, ranging from weight to gender. 

[huffpost]

Feminists Give Photoshop The Middle Finger In New Ad

In a new video from FCKH8, women of all sizes, shapes and colors take off t-shirts with the message “This is what a #feminist looks like” printed across them. 

Watch the full video for what feminism really looks like here. 

[reflectedgaze]

How Boudoir Photos Are Redifining Sexy

Cancer patients. Sexual assault victims. Body-shaming sufferers. Boudoir photography is not your everyday version of ‘sexy.’

A really cool article about boudoir photography’s resurgence by my friend Samantha Leigh.

[chubby-bunnies]

I did a photo series on desexualizing nudity that I will be posting on my blog in a few days (guillo-teen). I wish I could post more here but I don’t want to spam and I can’t submit several in one post! The idea was basically to photograph myself walking around my city, New Orleans, naked. The photographer is Julia Bee, a really talented artist and furniture builder in New York. They were done for a zine called Flesh Fold, created by Diana Zaldoo centered on the idea of expressing what different artists emotionally attach to fatness.         My feelings on the series can be pretty perfectly articulated in this post from the instagram account look_at_this_pusssy, “Sexualize the fuck out of her. She wants to live in her own body and find a home in it. She wants to be sexualized as an individual human person, not as a collection of parts, replaceable, adjustable, mutable, to the infantile omnipotence of whatever this “patriarchy” bullshit is that makes her unrecognizable to herself.“ 

[theselostmachines]

Hey everyone! My first graphic novel, Other Sleep, is now available on comiXology! It’s 187 pages total for only $4.99! Check it out! Spread the word!

In order to overcome insomnia, Ninel has started sleeping in an isolation tank. But now she’s having dreams about a large, ancient, undersea creature of some sort. They’re just dreams though, right?

If you’re on the fence, the first three chapters are still available to read for free here!

[reflectedgaze]

A little bit of shameless self-promotion, if you don’t mind? Certain elements of my work on Reflected Gaze are rooted in this comic.

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[felifeltfrog]

You shouldn’t point out things about people’s appearances if they can’t fix it in ten seconds.

Something my sister said once, that’s become an important thing to me (via crazeist)

[fatnfit]

Is it possible to be fat&fit? At 250 pounds, distance runner Mirna Valerio provides an inspiring example

“People always say to me, ‘Anyone who runs as much as you do deserves to be skinny.’ Of course, what they’re really saying: ‘If you do all this running, why are you still so fat?’”

[Read more at Runner’s World]

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This is what I wanted to see. Fat black women exercising and just being great as fuck

[huffpost]

I’m A Man, And I’ve Spent My Life Ashamed Of My Body

It shouldn’t be extraordinary for men to talk about having body image issues.

[ly0nheart1]

I hate my body. I feel disgusting most days.

[androidsghost]

…

[theselostmachines]

New thing for Reflected Gaze. Why is it that I have a hard time taking selfies, yet I’m okay with posting nude drawings of myself?

[micdotcom]

These stunning photos capture just how exhausting micro aggressions can be 

Paula Akpan and Harriet Evans have launched the “I’m Tired” project to highlight the impact common microaggressions and stereotypes many face on a daily basis. By symbolically and literally carrying the aggressions on their backs, Apkan and Evans hope to help both the subjects and everyone else.

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We come in every shade known to man.