rebecca belk

I have been heavily criticised in the past for preaching about body positivity following my cosmetic surgery. So I thought it was time to address those comments and elaborate on the matter. Here is my rhinoplasty story! (Complete with a few graphic images). I was ten the first time I broke my nose. I’d just returned from visiting Santa and was frantically running around my grandparent’s house. I was wearing my favourite pair of flared skater jeans because I was convinced I was Scunthorpe's answer to Avril Lavigne. I tripped over the bottom of my jeans and head-butted the corner of a coffee table. It’s safe to say that that was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced, but I didn’t know it would change my face forever. A year later I fell off a chair in class and broke it again because it was already so weak. I had to have a second operation to try and correct the damage that I'd done but it didn't really do much good. At this point I'd given up hope of ever ...

Sizeism is defined as ‘Prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person's size’. This doesn’t just refer to weight but covers height discrimination as well. It is a very real issue and I feel it should be talked about more.  As an overweight person I have been subject to Sizeism many times throughout my life. The discrimination began when I was a child, I was very tall for my age and that didn’t go unnoticed in the playground. I am obviously not the only child to experience bullying, so this isn’t a sob story, this is an account of how Sizeism has affected me and people I know. Here is a picture of me aged six (I’m on the left if you couldn’t have guessed that). Each chapter of my life has been met with Sizeism. At secondary school I was put into a mixed gender PE class and was encouraged to take part in sports such as rugby and shotput because I was ‘butch’ and ‘heavy-set’ so ‘I’d probably be good at it’. Using your body shape to an advantage in things like spo...

Until this year I haven't been comfortable wearing colour in public. Everything I owned was black (apart from a questionable pair of electric blue heels). The reason I chose to wear black is that I thought it would keep me hidden. I thought that if people couldn't see me, they couldn't judge me. It's only when I look back I can see how miserable and lonely it is to live in constant fear of what people think. Here is a picture of me from two years ago, the awkwardness radiates.  A big part of my obsession with black was the standard fat girl advice that black is 'flattering' and 'hides all the lumps and bumps'. Yes, black can be a very flattering colour, but so can every other colour in the right size and fabric. It's absolute bullshit that young people are given advice like this from older family members/society and feel that they have to take their word as gospel like I did. And after wearing black for a considerable amount of time I becam...

'Thin' people can often appear like a different species. They have privileges they're unaware of and many of them are unsupportive of the body positive movement. However, whilst I still agree there are more clothing shops, clothing styles and societal acceptance available for thinner people, they still have their place within body positivity. Recently I have learnt that I have been ignorant to what body positive means. I used to think that thinner people weren't allowed to talk about it because they already had perfect bodies. I have written this as an apology to all of my thinner friends who I have put in a box and labelled them thin and perfect, and disallowed them to feel insecure and imperfect, just because they were perfect to me. I have said things in the past such as 'You all look the same to me' which I know now to be hurtful as you are not the same. You are all individuals with different shapes and styles. You are all beautiful. I have told frie...

We all love a good dance and an overpriced drink, but it doesn’t have to be the usual insecure hot mess that it so regularly is. There are so many things people stress about before a night out, below are a few problems that may pop up and how I like to solve them. But first I’d just like to say that you should wear whatever makes you feel good. If you are confident and happy, you should absolutely keep doing what you’re doing, these tips are just based on my own personal insecurities. Sweat. Worrying about sweat patches isn’t how I want to spend my evening and let’s face it, we’re extra insulated so it gets pretty warm in the club. Carrying a mini spray deodorant in your bag is essential to keep the sweat at bay. However it cannot always be prevented so make sure you’re dressing cleverly. Wear darker materials, this will conceal any marks made by sweat (also helpful when you inevitably spill a double vodka Vimto down yourself) and choose thinner materials. Whatever the weather...