Body Image Poem: Andbody’s Better Than Mine, by Amelie Peterson

I hate my body

I resent all of its demands from me

I am disgusted with all the noises it makes without my permission.

(I hate this poem)

(I hate that) I hate my body.

I resent the power my body has over me. I hate that if I don’t eat for 6 hours, I can’t think

I hate the feeling of thirst. It’s so distracting

I hate having to spend so many of my waking hours feeding and watering the greedy gullet of the flesh I inhabit.

As long as I can remember, I have felt uncomfortable in my body–like I’m just borrowing it;
Maybe I’ll get my own back later…?

I am very grateful for my body!
My body and I go way back.
In the past, it has taken my abuse and loyally continued to serve me.

(Is it OK that I also hate it?)

I hate having to spend many hours every week taking long, deep, greedy breaths,
drooling on a cotton sack full of feathers, fluff, or polyester stuff.

I hate that my hair gets oily when I don’t wash it.

I hate any form of human waste, except maybe carbon dioxide–
as plants can use it.

I hate having chronic neck pain

I hate having a menstrual cycle

I hate sunburns, sweaty socks and spit;
I hate bad breath, acne, or any brand of shit.

My favorite body parts are jewelry and nail polish.

I’m think my body hate
is a little like some other stuff I have:
it can’t be removed, without killing the whole organism.

Anybody is probably better than mine
Anybody is less inherently hateable if I don’t have to live in it

I don’t hate your body
I hope you don’t hate it

femalefilmfestival's avatar

By femalefilmfestival

The irony of this festival is that its goal is to not be around in 5 years time. To eventually not be relevant because there is zero need to have a festival geared for female talent and female stories because the stories presented in Hollywood and around the world are a balanced showcase of the human experience from both sexes. Our goal is to achieve a lot of success and then fold into oblivion simply because there is no need for this festival. This festival was created by the FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival as a simple reaction to a strong need to showcase female talent from around the world in a more profound way. When putting together the weekly festival, the administration noticed a lack of a female presence in the stories being shown at the festival. A classic example and analogy to the frustration is how the festival noticed that even the smaller roles in a screenplay were written for a man to play. There was zero reason for this in many stories. How a police officer, or a political campaign manager, for example with 3-4 lines in a screenplay was a "HE" character. Why? And these are the screenplays written by the winners! The talented one who have obtained agents and have began/beginning their careers as a writer.

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