Credit: Getty
Earworm
Happy Place: Fearne Cotton took a vital lesson about her body from a chat with Caitlin Moran
4 years ago
Here’s why you should try and catch up with Caitlin Moran on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast this week.
When Caitlin Moran joined Fearne Cotton on the Happy Place podcast earlier this week, fans knew it was going to be a chat well worth tuning into. Moran – who is currently promoting her paperback book, More Than A Woman – shared her pearls of wisdom on adapting to motherhood, the changing perception of feminism and social media being a positive tool amplifying women’s voices.
But one thread of conversation that particularly struck a chord with Cotton and listeners was the one about why women need to stop picking apart their own bodies.
It starts with Cotton quoting a line from Moran’s book: “Never, never, never allow yourself to start seeing your body as a collection of separate, problematic items…”
She continues: “I’m imagining every single woman listening to this right now is going to go, ‘Eugh’. It’s that sigh that [says], ‘I do this all day, everyday.’ What the hell are we going to do about this?
“Because you’ve nailed it. I’m very well aware that there are many flaws in society when it comes to looking at the female body, and I have fallen into every hole with that one, and reading your book made me realise how much shit I put my parents through and stuff like that.
“But the way you’ve structured that sentence is like, oh my god, the way we just pull our bodies apart and see it as all these little separate bits…”
“Cottage cheese thighs, knee overhang, bingo wings, muffin tops, back fat” lists Moran in response. “None of those things exist. They’re just consequences of wearing clothes that aren’t the right size for you or things that somebody has completely made up.
“It is your body; it’s the only one you’re ever going to have. You live in it until you die. It is your eternal friend. And you wouldn’t talk to your best friend in the way that you talk to your body. We don’t realise how deep-rooted this is: it seems almost impolite for a woman to love her body, I think.”
She adds: “We need to be able to say, in 2021, is that we’re beautiful, pretty and hot.”
Showing how much she took from her podcast guest’s words, Cotton later shared a photograph of herself swimming in the sea, writing alongside it: “Me and my tiny tits at the beach. As @mscaitlinmoran states in this weeks happy place, ‘Never, never, never allow yourself to see your body as separate problematic items’.
“YAS! It’s just ONE body, not separate bits to hate and gaze at in the mirror with self loathing at the forefront. I’ve had a weird relationship with my body over the years like many people (so many women) but I’m really moving towards not letting it ruin my day. It doesn’t matter what shape or size you are or what you look like, this is mental torture and often dysmorphia. Mine often heightened due to being in the public eye from a very young age. Yet I’m moving into a new era. Isn’t that golden advice though. Don’t compartmentalise your own body. It’s one joyful thing.”
Never, never, never allow yourself to see your body as separate problematic items
“This was taken in the sea at the weekend on a day trip to the beach. Blighty has some seriously fit beaches. #tinytits #onewholebody #ilovecaitlin #fitbeaches
“P.S. get in the sea when ever you can. I swam for 20 minutes and it was the most peaceful twenty minutes in a long time. GET in that sea. Feel the cold. Feel it’s movement. Watch in wonder. The sea has all the answers.”
Images: Getty
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