Body positive blogger: 'We've made our bodies an unsafe place to exist'
Our favourite body positivity blogger Kenzie Brenna is getting real about how we, as a society, have made our bodies an “unsafe place to exist.”
The gorgeous blonde, who hails from Toronto, recently took to Instagram to question why some consider it brave for her to bare her body.
“I love how people see me in full clothes and comment on how ‘skinny’ I look in them in comparison to these types of photos where the comments I get ‘you’re so brave,'” wrote Brenna, known as omgkenzieee on Instagram.
She admits that she is brave, but bravery requires an act of courage. Courage, she states, isn’t a characteristic we find in ourselves unless we are doing something out of strength, where the odds are stacked against us.
“You don’t tell a Victoria’s Secret model that ‘they’re so brave’ for showing off their body or someone who is sculpted from a type of athleticism,” she stated.
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Brenna says that bravery requires an acknowledgement of fear and possibility of loss, where chances of failure are high. In essence, she says, bravery requires an acknowledgement of living less safe than before.
“You don’t say ‘you’re so brave’ when you walk to the corner store at 10 a.m. Your chances of survival are pretty high, the likelihood of something bad happening are slim to none. You are safe.”
“You commend firefighters for entering into a burning building and saving innocent lives from burning flames, their strength, courage and bravery are revered.”
“I just exist,” she continues. “I don’t do anything technically brave. I just sit here, discuss my insecurities and get better at loving myself. It seems pretty simple right? I guess it’s not.”
“SEE. WE’VE MADE OUR BODIES AN UNSAFE PLACE TO EXIST,” she actress and YouTube star explains, suggesting that culturally, we’ve made it unacceptable to be ourselves. “THAT IS WHY, when I sit crossed legged showing you a body that is underrepresented in our media I get hailed as doing an act of bravery.”
“Because we acknowledge that there may be social failure in this, I may be attacked, I may get hurt JUST BY BEING MYSELF.”
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A post shared by Kenzie Brenna (@omgkenzieee) on Apr 18, 2017 at 10:10am PDT
The blogger, who encourages women worldwide to stop feeling ashamed of their bodies and to start loving themselves, concludes that we need to make society safer for people to exist in their bodies, “black, fat, queer, trans, disabled people need to know they have a right to be themselves.”
“If being yourself, accepting who you are is an act of bravery what kind of world have we created?” she ponders.
The post, shared with her 160,000-plus Instagram followers, received well thousands of likes in just a few days, with many supporting the blogger for her bluntness.
“You are literally a major inspiration to me I don’t even know you and you have effected my life,” one user commented.
“Very intuitive. Wow, thank you for bringing this point and making it beautifully clear,” another stated.
“Breathtaking!!!” Another user stated. “You are a pure natural beautiful soul!!! Keep up the good work girl!!”
In an interview with Yahoo Canada, Brenna says she posts these messages because she wants to make the world a safer place for all bodies.
“I want all bodies to be represented in the media,” Brenna said. “I want people to acknowledge that its only brave because we’ve made it so dangerous to exist imperfectly.”
Let us know what you think by tweeting @YahooStyleCA!
