People may think that Gender Dysphoria and Body Dysmorphia are basically same thing, and so think of both as persistent but ultimately false beliefs about one's body ("mental illness"). But- they are not the same. They are distinct, and respond to very different interventions.

What is happening in the US is no joke. There are forces in Europe ready to pounce at the first opportunity to follow suit with revoking women's rights and erasing trans and queer people.

Support the rights of trans people. Even if you don't know anyone who is trans. This is important.

#transrights #queerrights #basichumandecency #humanrights #protecttranslives

I have spent a handful of years trying to grow my body. I realise now that I will never feel "big enough" for multiple reasons. One, the lifestyle it would take to sustain would be unhealthy for me, both mentally and physically. Two, I realised I had come to associate my very proportions with being inadequate and unattractive. Having long, slender limbs, for example.

I therefore invite you to see my musculature (such as it is) as an armor of scars, an outward sign of an inward feeling of inadequacy.

Now, rather than trying to become "big enough", I am working on undermining the belief that there was anything wrong with my body to begin with. My body has and will change over the years, and I want to embrace and respect it however it looks or performs.

Being bigger, smaller, thinner, thicker, fitter, more lean or muscular does not make you a better (or worse) person, more (or less) ttractive, or more (or less) deserving of love.

Hierarchising bodies will not do.

#dysmorphia #muscledysmorphia #bodyneutrality #allbodiesdeservelove #bouldering #calisthenics

This quote is powerfully resonant to me. We live in a cultural, economic, political system that demands and enforces continual reproduction and production to sustain growth. This regularly results in the suppression of the identities and lived experiences of people who do not fit the mould of "1 man + 1 woman = more babies (read: future workers)". The suppression of people who do not accept having their lives reduced to reproduction and production for the ultimately unsustainable quest for forced, cancerous growth - living beings who prize authenticity and love and thriving in this beautiful, finite, transient world. We are the Queers, the Uranians.

I am not a man.
I am not a woman.
I am not heterosexual.
I am not homosexual.
I am not bisexual.
I am a dissident of the sex-gender system.
I am the multiplicity of the cosmos,
shouting at you.

#transrights #gayrights #queerrights #allbodiesdeserverespect #paulbpreciado #uranism

You do not need to work towards specific goals to find joy in moving your body. Relying on future gratification for motivation can make the process difficult to enjoy.

For me, a typical workout starts with 10-20 min of light cardio. I then go bouldering for about 30-60 min focusing on technique, finishing with a fun-looking problem or two (the purple one in this case). Finally I do whatever calisthenics exercises I feel like on the day.

I do this every day unless I feel like I need a day off.

#sustainablemovement #antiselfimprovement #processoveroutcome #moveyourbodyeveryday #movementculture

Finding a movement practice that I enjoy and that is kind to my body is a long, ongoing process for me. A significant part of what got me into working out was feeling like my body was inadequate - too skinny. Shifting my focus away from aesthetics and bodybuilding was the first step. Shifting it away from constantly trying to improve performance was the second.

For now I am enjoying doing basic calisthenics as well as bouldering focusing on technique and fun problems over grade chasing and intensity.

Your body does not need to look or perform a certain way to be worthy and deserving of love, care, respect. Enjoy movement, enjoy your body.

#gentleworkout #enjoymovement #respectyourbody

The definition I am referring to (slightly reductively here) stems from bell hooks' "All About Love". It is a wonderful book I highly recommend and probably will review on this page in the future.

#queer #queerness #bellhooks #weareallqueer