I remember when we as children in our
elementary science class began to learn about the human body. I was excited, I
knew a bit from what I had read in my illustrated encyclopedias; the pictures
and diagrams told most of the story, because I wasn't confident enough to believe
I could read those big words, though, I’m pretty sure I would have been able to if I had tried.
But still, I knew more than most of the kids around me did at that age.
I remember
we kept it simple, bones, muscles, organs, and we mention briefly that these
things are made up of something called cells. I was the first to finish the
test, every year, and every year, I received the highest grade. I was fascinated
with myself you could say. The human body mesmerized me. I would watch the
other kids at recess run and play and I would strip their bodies of their skin
and watch the muscles pull and flex beneath them. I ate slowly because I was too
busy thinking about the process behind digestion to notice that there was
nothing left in my mouth to chew. During lessons I liked to try to see people’s
skulls beneath their faces and and try to figure out, was she really that much prettier at the core, or is
that perfect ratio of nose to mouth just chance genetics. They would mockingly call me 'stegosaurus' in gym because my spine was so prominent on my back, and I took pride in this.
I remember one image
in particular that stuck with me for a long time, an image in my mind I thought
was quite disturbing, but I found it charming none the less. It was an image of
a bag of flesh. Like jelly, a human body without bones; unable to move, unable
to take care of itself. I tried to imagine how this creature would live, how
others would perceive this person, because it was still a person.
Disgust and
horror, were the first words to come to mind. I imagine a perfectly healthy
person dropping to the floor like a bag of raw meat as his bones vanish from
within him.
Pathetic slug, I pitied you, but I still wanted to be your friend.
As time went on, I lost a bit of interest
in it. I don’t like being forced to learn what I already find enjoyable, for
some reason that just ruins it for me. I grew out of grade school, out of middle
school, out of junior high, those dreadful years; high school wasn't much
better. I didn't think much about human anatomy anymore as my age progressed, I kind
of forgot. At this point, I guess, you
could say I am considered an adult. Fresh from the orchard, I don’t feel like
it. I feel like a kid who’s been left home without a babysitter for the first
time and even though you're having fun you’re just forever waiting for your mom to come home. Even though she’s
4 hours away, I wouldn't be at all alarmed if she just walked through the door
to my apartment. It would seem completely natural.
Either way, here I am, ten
years later; and as I look into the mirror I am horrified, disgusted. Looking back at me I see a bag of flesh, a body
that shows no apparent evidence of having bones. Where did they go? I lift my
shirt; is that the bottom of my rib cage, or is it the cookie I had for lunch?
Is that the crest of my hip bone or is it the burrito bowl I had two nights
ago? I know it’s not as bad as it seems. But I hate looking into the mirror and
seeing a body without bones.
I went to a college party last night. I didn't dance, I didn't drink, I stood
in the corner and watched the bones. Collar bones, rib bones, hip bones, cheek
bones, shoulder blades, slicing away at my thick thighs like a knife. The
pretty blonde standing next to me smiles my way. She’s wearing tiny shorts and
a white flowing strap top. Her legs are perfect, her arms are lean, she is
tall and graceful, delicate and strong her summer color glows. A boy comes up
and asks her to dance, she politely declines his offer. He barely notices me
and returns to the dance floor. My black cardigan, my black dress, my black
tights, my black shoes, my skin is concealed head to toe and I wore this to hide, so why am I offended? The girl on
the other side of the room, though she is considerably larger than me. She is dancing.
She is smiling. She is wearing less than me, she is confident, and god damn it,
she looks good. Why can’t I just be okay with myself? What is her secret?
I look into the mirror and I see a bag of flesh. I dream about shaving off my stomach
with a wire, like clay it just falls off. I look into the mirror and I don’t
see myself, I see someone that people are going to laugh at, someone that has
no self-control, someone who has no bones. They tell me that the body image
that media portrays isn't realistic. But I've seen it, like big foot or the lock-ness monster, ‘thigh gaps’, flat stomachs,
‘bikini bridges’, it’s all real. It was at that party. I see it every day. I'm afraid my friends are embarrassed to be seen with me because I am no beauty. I'm afraid to order the pasta because I'm afraid of what people will think. I don't show my arms and I never show my legs because I'm afraid I might offend someone with the shape of my body. It has gone so far that I am ashamed of the size of my chest not because it is too small but because it is too big.
I look in the mirror, and I see a pathetic slug, I pity you
and I don't want to be your friend.
