Interesting Green: Behold your body

weekend today August 14 - 15, 2010, COLUMN, PAGE T2 (the fairer text)
From http://imcms2.mediacorp.sg/CMSFileserver/documents/006/PDF/20100814/1408COW002.pdf
Website: http://www.todayonline.com/Columns/Thefairertext/EDC100814-0000039/Behold-your-body
By Georgina Chang, georginac@mediacorp.com.sg, 05:55 AM Aug 14, 2010

PHOTO: Go ahead and be confident, says the writer.
(Art:Faizal)
http://imcms2.mediacorp.sg/cmsfileserver/showimageCC.aspx?450&401&f=2108&img=2108_254923.jpg&h=450&w=401

PHOTO: Georgina Chang
weekend today August 14 - 15, 2010, COLUMN, PAGE T2 (the fairer text)
The writer is the senior creative director of 987FM and Lush 99.5.

I'M not shy about my body. I've no qualms about stripping in front of a new boyfriend. In fact, I insist on having a bit of light in the bedroom to see what's going on. I don't have, and have never had, a fantastic body. But I do know that when there's no other basis for comparison, it's the hottest thing he's viewing at that moment.

Of course, I wouldn't be so boldly confident if there were other busty, leggy, curvy women cavorting about. It's all about comparison and perception for women, you see.

PHOTO: http://www.myidol.ro/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/katy-perry-fumat.jpg
http://www.myidol.ro/katy-perry-renunta-la-fumat.html

I recently attended the Katy Perry press conference held at the private pool of the SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands. The invite said: "Bring your bikini and jump into the pool with Katy!"

For most guys, that was a dream come true. For me it was: "Hell, no."

PHOTO: http://www.celebritywonder.com/picture/Katy_Perry/KatyPerryatt_Mazur_16527147.jpg
http://www.myidol.ro/katy-perry-renunta-la-fumat.html

I've seen the pictures. And the videos. Katy Perry is a tall, statuesque American with huge boobs and long legs. I wasn't about to parade myself in a bikini next to her and look shorter (than I already am), flat-chested and stumpy-legged. Especially when there are hordes of media with their cameras who'd certainly capture my disgrace for the whole world to see.

PHOTO: http://katyperry379.vox.com/library/post/katy-perry-bikini.html
http://www.skinnyvscurvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/katy-perry-in-a-green-bikini.jpg

My self-imposed fears changed when I got to the event. It was a gorgeous location with beautiful weather and enough Champagne to make one totally uninhibited. This fresh approach made it one of the coolest press conferences I'd ever been to.

However, very few journalists were enthusiastically stripping and getting into the water. Katy was taken aback when she got to the pool and there was no one in it. We media people are clearly a self-conscious lot.

PHOTO: http://katyperry379.vox.com/library/post/katy-perry-bikini.html
http://celebriedad.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/katy-perry-bikini-1-03.jpg

Wrapped securely in clothes, I scrutinised a bikinied Katy, and acknowledged that she's babelicious, but not as tall, taut or curvy as I'd imagined. I also realised I had barely noticed anyone else's body.

PHOTO: http://katyperry379.vox.com/library/post/katy-perry-bikini.html
http://www.rtvchannel.tv/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/katy-perry-bikini.jpg

So I wouldn't have looked shorter, flatter or stumpier, as nobody would have been interested in observing my flabby bits either. We were all looking at Katy.

PHOTO: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRE0eFSmA50tEr3gy9cQ9K1T71qb7VUU-9O4j-nnpsCmogx-vCmm7TIPej_-m8ynJvglcVwUtgZ0hn7zAmh4s0hHfWCzj6118vtcztnm9ioLutVdjELasXFjorg9Po0FDvTV4ZZtbAHm6Y/s1600/katyperry+samsung+behold+II.jpg

It's like when you have a pimple on your face. Ninety-five per cent of the time, nobody else really notices it until you morosely point it out. We are the only ones who spot our physical flaws and magnify it in our own minds.

I wonder why we are so self conscious about ourselves. Is it our culture? When I go to the ladies shower room at my gym, it's usually the expatriate women who are strutting about and even holding conversations butt naked.

Meanwhile, the Asian women are hiding modestly behind towels, and awkwardly getting dressed with the towel on.

Or is it the men who make us feel insecure about our bodies? I know women who have male partners telling them: "Eh, don't eat that dessert." Or "Eh, you better go for a jog." Or even "Eh, you're getting fat."

PHOTO: http://www.objetivofamosos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/katy-perry-3.jpg
http://www.objetivofamosos.com/2009/02/21/katy-perry-vomita-en-los-brit-awards-2009/#

These insensitive remarks do not build your woman's self esteem in bed, so don't expect wild romps after that.

Also, when the man you love is drooling at another woman, whether in the flesh or on the Internet, it brings about the unfavourable comparison.

If he openly admires someone with big boobs, we immediately feel like an airport runway, and we don't want to take our top off. If he's gushing over her long, shapely legs, we immediately feel dumpy and frumpy and we don't want to take our pants off.

PHOTO: http://image.tvnoviny.sk/media/images/original/Oct2008/2009418.jpg
http://tvnoviny.sk/showbiz/hudba/katy-perry-chce-pobozkat-angelinu-jolie.html

Then again, it could be other women at fault. I've never been conscious about cellulite until a friend obsessed about Type 1, 2 and 3 cellulite (and Type 3 never goes away). Now I keep checking the back of my thighs to stare my Type 2 down.

I never worried about freckles and age spots until another friend obsessed about how these spots will eventually become islands. Now I slather all kinds of whitening cream in the hope of preventing holiday destinations forming on my face.

I reckon a quick fix for a woman's self esteem is other men.

The guys who aren't your boyfriend will generally ogle when you show some skin. They haven't "had" you yet, so you can see the hunger/admiration/desire in their eyes. It goes back to the hunter instinct.

PHOTO: Go ahead and be confident, says the writer.
(Art:Faizal)
http://imcms2.mediacorp.sg/cmsfileserver/showimageCC.aspx?450&401&f=2108&img=2108_254923.jpg&h=450&w=401

So, ladies, the next time you get an invitation to a pool party, throw your fears to the wind, wear your tiniest bikini, suck in your gut and jump in.

When the guys gawk at the flash of skin and a bigger flash of confidence, you'll feel as babelicious as Katy Perry.

By Georgina Chang, georginac@mediacorp.com.sg, 05:55 AM Aug 14, 2010

The writer is the senior creative director of 987FM and Lush 99.5.