Body Dissatisfaction

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MOTHER: Hey, how was your day today?

SON: Good.

MOTHER: Good. Look at those little feet? What did you do?

SON: Running.

MOTHER: Running Oh, very good.

SON: After Miss Harrison [INAUDIBLE], I just took off. My legs just went faster and faster, and I won by heaps, Mummy.

MOTHER: Does that mean they're the favorite part of your body, mate?

SON: Yes. Billy said I've got chicken legs. Do you think I've got chicken legs, Mummy?

MOTHER: I think that your legs are just perfect the way they are.

SON: Mummy, what's your favorite part of your body?

MOTHER: Um, well, we all have parts that we like and parts that we don't like, don't we?

SON: Yeah, but what's the favorite part of your body?

MOTHER: I—well, you know I—look, I would swap your perfect little chicken legs for my legs any day of the week, if you can even call them that. These two weirdly shaped things that have been the bane of my existence since puberty. I mean, they don't go brown. They don't tone up, and they don't get smaller, no matter how little I eat. And you know how much Mummy loves food, yeah? I love food. But there have been times, my love, where I haven't really eaten anything besides lemons.

SON: Just lemons, Mummy?

MOTHER: Yeah, I mean try that for 10 days and see how you feel. It's just bull [BLEEP]. And you know what else is bull [BLEEP]? Mia's mum with her short shorts on sports carnival day going on about how she needs to lose five kilos before their trip to Bali because she's worried about cellulite. I mean I've had cellulite since I was 12. Do you have any idea how that feels, Max?

SON: No.

MOTHER: No. No. No you don't. So if Mia's mum needs to lose five kilos to get rid of a non-existent cellulite, then how many kilos do I need to lose to be part of the [BLEEP] short shorts sports carnival day mother's club? You know I'm still trying to lose my baby weight? And don't even get me started on stretchmarks. I just—I hate my tummy now. I hate it. Gone are the days of wearing a bikini. I have to wear a one-piece while still trying to find creative ways of covering up my thunder thighs. I might as well wear a [BLEEP] muumuu.

I don't go to the beach because I don't even like the beach. I hate the beach. I hate pools. I hate baths. I hate showers. I hate water. I hate [BLEEP] [? barley! ?]

SON: Yeah, but what is your favorite part of your body?

MOTHER: Do you know what? Um, you know I love my tummy the most. I love it because it's the part of of my body that reminds me of you because that's where you came from.

SON: Yes, Mummy! Mummy? How did I get in your tummy?

MOTHER: We have so much in our lives to be grateful for, but for some reason we keep focusing on what we look like or how we think we should look. I know I've spent years consumed by unrealistic standards and expectations for my body, and it's exhausting. And I've wasted so much time. We know that this is different for everyone. But we also know that everyone is affected by it in some way, shape, or form, be it men, women, boys, girls, parents, children.

It's a deeply, deeply personal issue, but it's also a social issue. And that's why we started The Mannequin Project. We want to take a step back and look at the phenomenon that is body image. We want to understand what it is, how it affects us, and what we can do about it to distill the confusion, to simplify the complexity, and to recognize the absolute absurdity of it all.

Our goal is to take body image from negative self-talk to talking about it together in a really positive way. Over the next few years, we want to create entertaining and engaging media that explores these issues. We want to provide forums for people to talk about them. And we want to organize events that everyone can be a part of. The Mannequin Project.