Blog - Jackson

I found Kara Jackson’s poem “anthem for my belly after eating too much” was a very powerful poem about body positivity. I really enjoyed how she made the poem so relatable. One of the lines I related to most was when she said, “and all the chips I’ve eaten this month have accumulated like schoolwork”. I feel like many people can relate to the feeling of accumulated schoolwork and know how much can pile up so quickly if you aren’t careful. I also think this is a good way to compare weight gain to. Sometimes people don't realize that they are gaining weight until all if a sudden your jeans don't fit. Many times weight gain is seen as a negative change but Jackson tries to normalize it, because it is a part of life. 

I also feel that this is a very important topic to discuss, especially in todays’ world. Social media has created a very high beauty standard for girls and women around the world setting really inaccurate representations of what all girls and women should look like. This causes people to be constantly comparing themselves to these ridiculous standards creating many mental health and body image issues. I feel that Jackson does a great job addressing weight gain and how we should not hate our bodies after it. 

Another point Jackson made that was important was when she said, “Americans love excess”. Many times, we hear that “bigger is better” in a variety of different context but rarely, or ever, in the context of body size or women’s beauty. She follows that statement with “but we also love jeans, and refuse to make excess comfortable in them”. Here Jackson is explaining the double standard people face with size in the fashion and beauty industries. With this double standard it is impossible to have an accurate representation of what women look like. Everyone’s bodies are made differently so how would it be fair to only show one size as the image of beauty? I feel that Jackson describes the jeans perfectly as a “fashionable prison”. Many women feel trapped by the beauty standards and cannot escape the double standard. I feel that Jackson’s poem perfectly captured the struggle that women face with body image issues in todays society 

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