The longest relationship we’ll have in our lives is with our bodies. But this relationship can be a fraught one, with moments of love, hatred and shame. Outside forces – from advertisements to social media – can affect how we see ourselves, and so too can the opinions of our families, our life experiences and the things that make us feel “different” to others.
We speak to four people about their relationships with their bodies, and how they have evolved over the years. Muireann O’Connell, presenter, Ireland AM Muireann O'Connell. Photograph: Alan Betson.
Hair and make-up: Maria Whiting If bodies came with a Facebook relationship status, mine would be “it’s complicated”. The first time my body was commented on I was 15 and wearing a pair of jeans I had saved up for. I didn’t know what to do when the lads in our gang started commenting on my arse.
It dawned on me that the bodies we looked at in magazines were the same as our “normal” bodies, and up for debate. When I was growing up, girls would see a picture of a famous model or actor on the cover of a magazine and go to the toilets to puke. We all knew it was happening.
I did it a couple of times myself, if I’m totally honest. It was normal to us – for a while. We started to realise that while it was a fad for most of us, for others it had become a debilitating illness.
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