Georgia, 21, isn’t shy when it comes to taking nudes. But these naked photos aren’t going anywhere. They’re for her eyes only.
The majority of young women in the United States are dissatisfied with their appearance and struggle with their body image. A 2015 study found that approximately 50% of 13-year-old American girls reported being unhappy with their body, with that figure growing to nearly 80% by the time girls reached 17 years old. Georgia was no exception.
“I hated how I looked and didn’t feel happy about how I looked,” Georgia said. “As a result, I lost my sense of style and sense of self. I didn’t feel pretty in clothes or out of clothes.”
However, Georgia’s attitude toward her body changed when she began taking non-sexual naked pictures of herself a year ago.
“I have a friend who is 75 and one day she told me how she looks back on photos of herself naked when she was young. How they are her prized possessions,” Georgia said. “I laughed and didn’t take her seriously, but the idea stuck with me. I started taking photos. One a week. Over time, I almost looked forward to it, and looking back at the photos helped me normalize how I look and how I feel about how I look.”
These sentiments echo Moira Rose’s advice from the sitcom “Schitt’s Creek.”
“Then allow me to offer you some advice: Take a thousand naked pictures of yourself now,” she said. “You may currently think, ‘Oh, I’m too spooky,’ or, ‘Nobody wants to see these tiny boobies.’ But, believe me, one day you will look at those photos with much kinder eyes and say, ‘Dear God, I was a beautiful thing.’”
Sometimes women are unhappy with how they look, but then they see those same pictures of themselves later on in life and think that they look amazing. Time shouldn’t have to pass for women to feel great about their bodies.
“It’s easy to say ‘every body is beautiful’ and try to have positive self-talk,” Georgia said. “But when you’re surrounded by images of ‘perfect’ bodies that look nothing like yours, it’s hard to believe it. Looking at photos of my body, familiarizing myself with how my body looks naked, helped me start to believe that I really was beautiful.”
Maybe taking nudes is the modern-day key to self-love, helping you look back on yourself with kinder eyes much sooner than later.