Totally, utterly stumped is how I feel at the moment.
I just got back a day-trip to NYC to meet a rising young Greek-American pop star. This young lady wins the title of most unique and complex girl I have met thus far on this journey!! (the trophy prototype is still in the design phase)
I just got back a day-trip to NYC to meet a rising young Greek-American pop star. This young lady wins the title of most unique and complex girl I have met thus far on this journey!! (the trophy prototype is still in the design phase)
I was turned onto her by a Greek editor friend of mine as a girl with an “hourglass figure”. So I did some Googling and came across photos and info – body-wise, to me she looked like an absolute stunner, with an ample chest and teeny waist. And no booty shots to judge. But, I’m also learning that I shouldn’t judge quite so much myself. Especially because so many women learn to hide their flaws or at least downplay them.
So I emailed her, to test the waters.
She got back to me with quite a bit of enthusiasm about my project. She said that she’s struggled with her weight and body type her whole life and had earned the nickname of "A-Lo" by guy friends. As a teen, all she had was booty… and fortunately she had grown into the rest of her body and was now more proportioned. (I want to know what water she's been drinking because bottling that booby-potion would be a world-wide hit!) BUT, she went on to say that if I was looking for a girl who could speak candidly about the pressures of being a Mediterranean woman in the music business, I’d come to the right place. She briefly mentioned various disorders she had battled and that she wasn’t willing to drastically change her body and be a cookie-cutter anything to succeed.
Ok, so my curiosity was piqued. But again, all of this is over email.
We were able to pull together some money to send me on a last minute trip to NY to meet her in person. She picked me up from the airport and proceeded what was to become a 6 hour chat session!
First impressions – beautiful, unique face, bubbling and sweet voice, great charm… .but as we got out of the car to get a coffee, I noticed she was wearing a long filmy blouse over black leggings. She gave me a quick, impromptu flash of her booty by lifting up her blouse… and I didn’t know what to say.
The girl has a butt, definitely. But not a booty.
Now what?
And then I started to question my judgment. How and when did I become able to judge booty? What is my measure for what a “booty” should be? If a girl has an "hourglass" instead of a "pear" -- does she immediately not belong in a bootyful journey? Having my own insecurities (that quite frankly, others might see as being a bit warped), should, if anything, make me sympathetic to the insecurities of others - right?
But I experienced something more valuable than meeting another bootyful girl on this trip. I don’t need to rehash all of 6 hours of conversation… but what blew me away was the amount of pressure this gal's been getting from the one place I would never have expected – Greece.
In my mind, I felt that going to Greece again would be extremely liberating. I haven't been in over four years. As a child, I always felt so free there, surrounded by cooing relatives who could find nothing wrong with a happy, healthy child. My childhood memories were such that curves were coveted – the body was nothing to be ashamed of….
Clearly those times have changed and, as I’m starting to discover, there are some deep-rooted problems there. Women are starving themselves, trying to “Americanize” themselves…. Losing sight of the very thing that makes them exotic and unique to the rest of the world, including America!
And our young pop star is right in the middle of this insanity. In NY, she walks down the street and is treated like a goddess. In her parents homeland, she is criticized. So she faces a choice – submit to the demands of her label and possibly lose herself in the process, or fight back, and potentially lose her potential to skyrocket to stardom. Wow.
Typical Greek-style, I was welcomed into her family, fed, taken-care of…. And I think by the end of the day I believe I was beginning to see an ass on the gal because I WANTED there to be an ass. In other words, my judgment was clouded (or made crystal-clear?) based on her honest stories and great charm. Then, as she frantically tried to dig through childhood photos to show me the booty, we couldn’t find it. (But then I'm certain I wouldnt find any booty-emphasizing shots in my family's albums either as I doubt my parents thought to celebrate my rear-end once I moved from bare butt in diapers to pants.)
As we looked through her albums, what we could find, was a girl who wasn’t comfortable with her body and was always trying to contort it to look “better”.
The things we as women let the media and society do to us is incredible. And yet we are fighting an omnipotent machine… I was deeply touched by this young lady and now have to sit back and decide if her compelling story suits the very particular tale I’ve set out to tell. And I thank her for opening up to me and sharing so many intimate details of her struggle. She has inspired me, and I will take that with me.
Thank you, A! xoxo.
So I emailed her, to test the waters.
She got back to me with quite a bit of enthusiasm about my project. She said that she’s struggled with her weight and body type her whole life and had earned the nickname of "A-Lo" by guy friends. As a teen, all she had was booty… and fortunately she had grown into the rest of her body and was now more proportioned. (I want to know what water she's been drinking because bottling that booby-potion would be a world-wide hit!) BUT, she went on to say that if I was looking for a girl who could speak candidly about the pressures of being a Mediterranean woman in the music business, I’d come to the right place. She briefly mentioned various disorders she had battled and that she wasn’t willing to drastically change her body and be a cookie-cutter anything to succeed.
Ok, so my curiosity was piqued. But again, all of this is over email.
We were able to pull together some money to send me on a last minute trip to NY to meet her in person. She picked me up from the airport and proceeded what was to become a 6 hour chat session!
First impressions – beautiful, unique face, bubbling and sweet voice, great charm… .but as we got out of the car to get a coffee, I noticed she was wearing a long filmy blouse over black leggings. She gave me a quick, impromptu flash of her booty by lifting up her blouse… and I didn’t know what to say.
The girl has a butt, definitely. But not a booty.
Now what?
And then I started to question my judgment. How and when did I become able to judge booty? What is my measure for what a “booty” should be? If a girl has an "hourglass" instead of a "pear" -- does she immediately not belong in a bootyful journey? Having my own insecurities (that quite frankly, others might see as being a bit warped), should, if anything, make me sympathetic to the insecurities of others - right?
But I experienced something more valuable than meeting another bootyful girl on this trip. I don’t need to rehash all of 6 hours of conversation… but what blew me away was the amount of pressure this gal's been getting from the one place I would never have expected – Greece.
In my mind, I felt that going to Greece again would be extremely liberating. I haven't been in over four years. As a child, I always felt so free there, surrounded by cooing relatives who could find nothing wrong with a happy, healthy child. My childhood memories were such that curves were coveted – the body was nothing to be ashamed of….
Clearly those times have changed and, as I’m starting to discover, there are some deep-rooted problems there. Women are starving themselves, trying to “Americanize” themselves…. Losing sight of the very thing that makes them exotic and unique to the rest of the world, including America!
And our young pop star is right in the middle of this insanity. In NY, she walks down the street and is treated like a goddess. In her parents homeland, she is criticized. So she faces a choice – submit to the demands of her label and possibly lose herself in the process, or fight back, and potentially lose her potential to skyrocket to stardom. Wow.
Typical Greek-style, I was welcomed into her family, fed, taken-care of…. And I think by the end of the day I believe I was beginning to see an ass on the gal because I WANTED there to be an ass. In other words, my judgment was clouded (or made crystal-clear?) based on her honest stories and great charm. Then, as she frantically tried to dig through childhood photos to show me the booty, we couldn’t find it. (But then I'm certain I wouldnt find any booty-emphasizing shots in my family's albums either as I doubt my parents thought to celebrate my rear-end once I moved from bare butt in diapers to pants.)
As we looked through her albums, what we could find, was a girl who wasn’t comfortable with her body and was always trying to contort it to look “better”.
The things we as women let the media and society do to us is incredible. And yet we are fighting an omnipotent machine… I was deeply touched by this young lady and now have to sit back and decide if her compelling story suits the very particular tale I’ve set out to tell. And I thank her for opening up to me and sharing so many intimate details of her struggle. She has inspired me, and I will take that with me.
Thank you, A! xoxo.
1 comment:
bautifully written tatyana... honest thoughtful :) your writing throughout your blog is honest & thoughtful...
i think i have another person to hook you up w too.... will write about it
kisses
diana
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