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“It’s just a body”.
It’s a phrase I hear from time to time, either as explanation for someone’s comfort level with their own body or as an attempt to reduce or dismiss an anxiety over a body related issue. As a person who has worked in the dance and theater worlds for several decades, wherein the body and its physicality play such a large role, I might end up hearing it a bit more often than most. Both because such a physically involved world tends to attract those already possessed of such a comfort and because constantly needing to address and deal with issues of physicality likely develops a more commonly felt sense of such comfort. Chicken, egg, chicken, egg…
One might assume such a comfort would be the sole prerogative of those with admirable physiques, the sort presumably free from any insecurities. While this kind of comfort might be a little more common among the admirably shaped not only is there plenty of evidence beauty is no guarantee against insecurity but truly achieving this kind of comfort is much more about accepting our bodies for the varied and human things they are and less about striving to be proud of a presented image. Plenty of non-underwear-model types are able to find complete, fulfilling, and genuine comfort…