This post comes from Caitlin Constantine of Fit and Feminist. Her blog is a never-ending source of inspiration and insight into the issues surrounding athleticism, equal rights, feminist philosophy, bodies and body image. Plus she’s fearless and hilarious. Read on for Caitlin’s contribution to Body Image Warrior Week:

The Danger of a Single Ideal Body

Recently, I came across a blog post by a personal trainer in which she explored the one of my least favorite terms as applied to women’s bodies – the word “bulky.”  Any weight-training woman is familiar with this term, as it is often the first thing other women will say as their reason for refusing to lift weights.  The idea is that lifting weights will lead to the development of big muscles, and the development of big muscles means a woman will no longer be beautiful and will instead be manly, unattractive, scary and doomed to a sex-free, love-free life. read more

This post comes from DeeDee of Decoding Dress. I only discovered DeeDee’s stellar blog recently, but now I count on her for a perfect mix of great outfits, sartorial insight, and brain-bending questions. Read on for DeeDee’s contribution to Body Image Warrior Week:

The Ideal Form of Me, or,
How Plato Turned Me into
a Body Image Blogger

I didn’t set out to become a body image blogger. I just wanted to write about clothes.

Well, that’s not really sufficiently precise. Lots of people write about clothes. I wanted to write about my own clothes. Of course, lots of people do that too. What I really wanted to do was to write about my relationship with my clothes. Back when I started my blog, Decoding Dress, I couldn’t find anyone else who was doing that, which made it seem like the perfect niche for me. And by “niche” I mean “Does anybody other than me actually care about this stuff?”* read more

This post comes from  Margarita Tartakovsky of Weightless. She dedicates herself to finding and creating resources for women who struggle to love their bodies and accept themselves, and never fails to deliver. Read on for Margarita’s contribution to Body Image Warrior Week:

Loving Your Body,
No Conditions Necessary

I used to think that in order to love my body or really just tolerate it, I had to be thin. I had to have a flat stomach, small hips and sky-high cheekbones.

And I had to earn this love, this tolerance. I had to earn it at the gym — punitively pounding the pavement of a treadmill — and at the dinner table — carefully, nervously watching what I ate. read more