Emily: I have had my fair share of body image issues. Like my mom, I struggled with anorexia for a few years as a teenager, and for years after that I hated the way I looked. I just wasn’t good enough. I realized later, during my recovery, that it must be even harder for women who are no longer in their twenties. Our vision of the perfect body not only depends on nearly impossible or extremely rare proportions, but also on a very young physique.
Geraldine (Emily's mom): Doing this photo shoot was fun but difficult. I try hard to stay in shape because I like the way it feels to be strong and able to do the things I want. Vanity’s part of it too. Where does vanity cross the line between being a positive motivator and a negative thing? I had a brief struggle with anorexia as a teenager. Oddly enough, I think joining the Army cured me. I learned to love being strong and being able to do things, to think of my body as powerfully mine.
Emily: Doing this photo shoot with my mom felt natural, though. Neither of us felt weird, and I realized how great it was to feel comfortable and proud of our bodies. I’ve included my mom’s sentiments about each pose and the photograph we were mimicking.
Geraldine: I’ve tried really, really hard, as the mother of two daughters, to be body positive, not to criticize the way I or others look. It sounds easy, but sometimes it’s very difficult.The fact that my daughter and I could laugh and joke and feel comfortable together as we set up these pictures makes me feel happy, like I’ve succeeded at something that really matters. The main thing I learned from posing for these pictures was that media typically portray women as very weak. Each of these poses required me to twist and shrink and slouch. They HURT. Why can’t we show women standing square and strong, laughing or fierce or DOING things?
