Strength gave me freedom - theunderargument.com

___Strength gave me freedom

I am a 34-year-old freelancing, single mother to the most beautiful 3-year-old girl. I left an unhealthy relationship last year, and we have since managed to divorce amicably. My work has become a dream come true, working on storytelling, communications, illustration and photography for wonderful, small, sustainable brands.

Read more

All I wanted was to be thin - theunderargument.com

___All I wanted was to be thin

I have spent every day of my life, as far back as I can remember, wanting just one thing. To be thin. It would be the greatest thing that could ever happen to me. I would give up ten years of my life to just be thin and to never have to think about my body and why it wasn’t right, ever again. That was all I wanted. 

Read more

No longer ashamed to be full of myself - theunderargument.com

___No longer ashamed to be full of myself

I always just stuck out somehow. I was the tallest girl in my class, probably the weirdest too. I'm an only child and I didn't have a normal family life either. My dad left when I was 4 and my mother's mental health problems inevitably meant I grew up in foster care, which was definitely soul-destroying.

Read more

Loving yourself despite your past and your scars - theunderargument.com

___Loving yourself despite your past and your scars

Like many people, I have felt the burden of perfection for most of my life. I was raised in a cult and we were taught to be on a constant quest for spiritual and emotional perfection. Oddly, physical perfection was discounted and we were strictly prohibited from wearing makeup, or dressing anything but modestly.

Read more

I am not my (body) hair. Or am I? - theunderargument.com

___I am not my (body) hair. Or am I?

When Lily messaged me to feature in the anti-casting shoot she said: “I can write you a story about perfectionism and body hair if you fancy shooting a model with unshaved legs??”. To which I responded: “of course, looking forward to reading you”.

Read more