I’m a sucker for contests.  I love to enter, I love to see other entries.  In particular I’m drawn (hah!) into contests on the Deviant Art site.  The reason I’m posting about this most recent contest is because what was required was full body shots of pin-up poses.  I have never modeled and my hubby, while a great photographer, is by no means a pro.  So I am very much a newbie. But honestly, after reading about the contest calling for ANY level of skill to go ahead and try to create stock images for people to use as reference for drawing up their own artwork based on the poses; I was intrigued.  What really pushed me into actually going for it was that the host of the contest was actively encouraging any and all body types to go ahead and please join.  Then I read the comments where potential entrant after potential entrant begged off because they did not feel they could submit themselves to being photographed.  Finally something inside of me clicked and I thought, “Well screw that!”

So in the hopes of encouraging others to do the same I took a deep breath, found some tight clothing and posed it up for Adam D’s camera.  And, most “daring” of all; I’ve selected 5 of the pictures to submit to my DA account and the contest.

So a fat woman is posing in pin-up style.  Online for all to see.  It is both frightening (online is forever!) and exhilarating (I’m doing something fun and perhaps giving some good pose reference material for folks looking to draw a person with my sort of body type).  Doing this I realize I’ve come a long way mentally down the path to accepting that “I have a body; I have THIS body; and that is okay no matter what.”

Granted I am still anticipating the traditional “Oh my!  Your non-photo-shopped flesh covering fatty bits has burned my eyes!  The worse thing that has happened in my life, nay my entire existence, is seeing this! You need to diet/exercise/not exist/play to my delicate sensibilities and desires in form and fashion because I am for some reason incapable of realizing that when I see something I don’t like on the Internets I have only to click to make it go away” to which I have to giggle and roll my eyes a bit and think:  “Seriously?  If my pale round flesh is the worst thing you’ve ever seen in your life; you’re not doing too badly in life, right?”  Totally right. Though I’ve made it clear in my stock image use rules that I very much have no interest in those opinions either way.  Not that saying “I don’t care what you think” has ever before stopped people from verbally poo-ing all over people they decide need to hear their hatred. But I remain hopeful ;)

So here’s to being daring; very much so for me; and seeing where it leads.