Category Archive

body image

We are deeply committed to supporting body positivity for people of all shapes, sizes, abilities, and identities. YOU ARE FUCKING GORGEOUS. We will not rest until you believe us.

getting body shamed by anti body shamers alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

OPEN THREAD: I’m getting body shamed by anti-body shamers

I am getting married this year and, while I love my curves, I want to feel comfortable in my strapless dress — having never showed that much skin in my life. So I made the personal choice to join a gym and eat better. Now I now find myself the recipient of passive aggressive comments from self-proclaimed anti-shamers. I don’t feel like I’m getting support for my choices from the people I need it the most: my fellow curvy brides. How do I express to them that I feel like they are actually shaming me?

stop body shaming alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Open thread: how do you deal with wedding body-shaming?

I just got engaged, and I went on my first dress shopping outing with my sister and my mom last weekend. I was hoping it would be a fun bonding experience, but instead I felt criticized and harassed by both of them. I’m a plus-size bride, and both of them kept making comments about how dresses would fit once a lost a few pounds, how certain dress styles would look good after my wedding diet (…that I’ve never once said I was doing!), how this dress covered up my arms and looked better than that dress that didn’t.

What was supposed to be a good day, turned into a day where I went home feeling like I’d been a victim of wedding body-shaming. How do other plus-size brides stay body positive in the face of constant criticism?

getting ready grey dress by sara smile photography on offbeat bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Open thread: Are you hiding or showing your scars on your wedding day?

Offbeat Bride has published numerous insightful and encouraging posts about “controversial” body markings such as tattoos, piercings, and out-there hairstyles — but what about scars? Especially those that have a story you DON’T want to tell, like scars from self-harming?

thick thighs cross stitch on offbeat bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Body-positive bridal: What if I look stunning and I accept myself for who I really am?

You know how sometimes there’s nothing in the fridge, or in the closet, or on the radio? That’s how I felt like my own clothes weren’t fitting. The zipper zipped and the button buttoned, but the person in the mirror looked ill-fit, wrongly-dressed, confused, and fraudulent.

photo by oliver barth as seen on offbeat bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Maintenance-shaming: You don’t have to pretend you’re so cool that you’re “over” your own wedding

Upon hearing that I want my hair and makeup done, people say, “but you’re so low-maintenance.” So I have invented a term for what I’m going through: “maintenance-shaming.”

Maintenance-shaming is essentially telling a woman that she should not make a fuss about traditionally feminine things, or really that she shouldn’t make a fuss about anything.

fat bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

I’m a fat bride

I want anything emblazoned with “bride” to be changed to “fat bride.” My identity as a fat woman is no secret, and I’m not ashamed of it. I bare my body with pride. However, not everyone feels the same way.