My Many Chins

There is a reason why the say “actions speak louder than words”, words are easy. It’s easy to declare I don’t care what people think.Yet announcing Authenticity is very different than living by it.

I hate my chins!! There I said it.

Yes, me, Gita Omri, an outspoken promoter of size inclusivity and body positivity. I hate the way the skin under my face hangs lower than the tip of my chin. Iv always hated it. I hated it at size 24 and I hate it now at size 16.

Something about seeing that second layer of my face makes me feel FAT. I have learned to accept if not love almost everything about myself. Not this.

Maybe it’s to do with the fact that double chins are often a key element in a good fat joke. Maybe it’s to do with the fear of losing that one compliment you can usually count on; youhave such a beautiful face. Or maybe once you have it it’s nearly impossible to hide your size in selfies no matter how well you know your angles.

Two weeks ago I sent my photographer raw images that needed slight retouching for the new gitaomri.com site. Beautiful images of beautiful women in a variety of shapes and sizes all wearing my designs, the notes were minimal. Some lighting issues, removing dirty backgrounds, maybe a wisp of hair out of a face that is it.

These women were beautiful just the way they were.

Now I on the other hand was another matter.

Can you please smooth the stomach, and hide the arms, and possibly fix the chin?

I practically asked her to cut me out of the image, have me lose 30 pounds and plug me back in. Real body positive right?

Luckily I work with amazing people. Anna Quickly wrote back telling me I was crazy, I looked beautiful, and I would only end up looking distorted.

Distorted! There is a word.

When I see that stupid double chin in the photo that is when I feel distorted.

The truth is, and what Anna helped me see was that the true distortion wasn’t in the picture, the true distortion was in the way I viewed myself in pictures. The vast amount of power I gave this small part of my body. The fear of being completely dismissed or disregarded based on something I bet no one else noticed.

Becoming body positive isn’t an overnight switch. It takes a lot of had work. It takes courage, and the willingness to explore and dig deep into how we feel about ourselves and our bodies. Why we feel that way, and how can we challenge it and change.