We’re Sexy and We Know It

Welcome back to the blog! As we’ve said, we’re planning a series of informational posts between now and the end of August to get everyone ready for the Gathering. Registration has begun, and the first few campers are already on the books, as well as a few workshop proposals! There are some topics that we’d like to touch on in the coming weeks, just so they’re in your minds as we gear up for the Gathering.

At Between the Worlds, we like to keep two things firmly in mind:

1) There is no one, true way to practice.
2) Leave your bar attitudes at home.

The second one is the one we’re focusing on here.

Body shaming has come to the forefront more in the last couple of years than ever before, it seems. It started off being about fat shaming, but has since moved into all kinds of body shaming. We’ve all been guilty of it to some extent, but the key thing to remember is that we need to be cognizant of it and not let it ruin anyone else’s good time. A lot of it is built into our societal mindset, so we may not even realize we’re doing it.

One of the things to keep in mind is that “Dude. You need to eat something.” is just as hurtful as “Dear god, he needs to cover that up!” Yes, they’ve both been said out loud to people at Between the Worlds. Also, try to be aware of body language and facial expressions. They can hurt, too, without ever meaning to.

Another thing to remember is that once you can reclaim the hurtful words, nobody can hurt you with them again. Groups like FBCU have taken the sting out of the social stigma of being overweight just by being themselves and knowing who they are.

Every single one of us is beautiful in our own way, and what you are attracted to may not be what someone else is attracted to. Vocalizing it puts that negative energy out into the universe, and there’s really way too much negativity out there as it is, don’t you think?

We need to work more on healing our community by supporting each other instead of tearing each other down. We get enough of the body dysmorphia in society in general and the gay community in specific, from all sides of the equation. Don’t do that to your brothers. Find the positivity in each other. When we say to leave the site better than we found it, so it also goes for each other.

If you have anything you’d like us to answer or discuss on here, please let us know. We’ll do our very best to address it.

We look forward to seeing everyone in 184 days! Six months from today!