How different cultures view my body.
I was born in the UK and have travelled a lot over China, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, India, and Russia and currently live in Chile. In this article I will tell you how these changing cultures have affected my body image and that has affected my sexuality, for me, being seen as attractive makes me feel happy and free to express my sexuality as I feel, throughout my travels, I have seen the effect of how society has labelled me 'attractive' or 'not attractive' and how this has affected how I show myself and interact with others.
I have always been overweight but I think I’m attractive, I’ve always had relationships with people I found attractive but I know my body and weight have affected how some people view me. What I can say is that in each country my body has been viewed very differently, with a totally different definition of what I was. This social view then in part affected how I felt about myself. There is a very clear distinction between living with a knowledge of social justice in your body and not living with that.
In China, and Korea I lived with large pressure on myself to be a certain way and that if I wasn’t, not only was I unattractive, but also many other negative ideas, not only about my body but my social standing and personality. I think living in this way is difficult and the pressure of this judgement makes you act differently. It feels like the whole world is against you and no matter what else you are doing in your life, your body image, is still the most important factor, this pressure comes from family, friends and social media. There are other big factors like in China hugging and body contact is less acceptable. In Chile and some European countries, the first thing you do is hug and kiss people when they first meet you, it shows some comfort in their body with others and instantly shows people that they are here with you and embrace you warmly.
Here in Chile, I’ve never felt better, I can wear what I like and nobody cares, nobody is judging, everyone just accepts people as they are, at least that's how I feel but I don't speak the language so much yet but I know what I feel is founded in what I see and experience, and that impacts how everyone feels, the people here are noticeably sexier because being free, that is a sexy way to live! Free from judgment and pressure wearing tight and sexy clothes showing off your natural body, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted. I’ve never felt more beautiful and happy and free from any thoughts about my body, apart from how lovely I am and have always been, as well as the people around me.
Travelling has taught me so much and yes, culture is different everywhere but also similar all over the world, I wonder why some cultures allow this life judgment and pressure to fill all aspects of our life when we could be living happy and free lives if you love your body and are happy in your body any kind of love sharing is going to be 10000% better! I think as I have gotten older my own view of my body and my sexuality has also had an impact on how much these cultural standards effect me, which I'm really happy about, I think the more experiences I have and the diversity I face has strengthened my own opinion.
Of course, I have a lot more to say on this subject and in this blog i'm only comparing two extremes of in particular body and sexuality for bigger people's life, each culture is different and I love each of them for there differences.
Remember to stay safe out there kids hehe!
Thank you, see you guys later !
Amily Galhand
(zerotalentartist)