Voices
media profile removed is a 21stcentury, privileged problem — but
it is the way a lot of us live. These
profiles mimic our physical selves
and a lot of the time are even more
important. They are ways to connect with an audience, to start
discussion, and to create change.
Through this removal, I really felt
how strong of a distrust and hate
we have towards female bodies.
The deletion of my account felt
like a physical act, like the public
coming at me with a razor, sticking their finger down my throat,
forcing me to cover up, forcing me
to succumb to society’s image of
beauty. That these very real pressures we face everyday can turn
into literal censorship.
If the Internet mimics real life,
then there is no doubt that real life
can mimic it. That if we allow ourselves to be silenced or censored,
it can happen in real life too. That
if an online society of people can
censor your body, what stops them
from doing so in real life? This is
already happening, you experience this every day. When someone
catcalls at you, yells “SLUT,” comments on all your Facebook photos
calling you “disgusting,” tries to
physically violate you, spreads private nude images of you to a mass
PETRA
COLLINS
HUFFINGTON
11.03.13
I’m used to seeing cover
after cover featuring stories
about a popular celebrity being
fat-shamed during pregnancy...
I don’t want to be used to this.”
amount of people via text, calls you
ugly, tells you to change your body,
tells you are not perfect, this cannot
continue to be our reality. To all the
young girls and women, do not let
this discourage you, do not let anyone tell you what you should look
like, tell you how to be, tell you that
you do not own your body. Even if
society tries to silence you keep on
going, keep moving forward, keep
creating revolutionary work, and
keep this discourse alive. To those
who reported me, to those who are
disgusted by my body, to those who
commented “horrible” or “disgusting” on an image of ME, I want you
to thoughtfully dissect your own reaction to these things, please think
about WHY you felt this way, WHY
this image was so shocking, WHY
you have no tolerance for it. Hopefully you will come to understand
that it might not be you thinking
these things but society
telling you how to think.
Petra Collins is a Toronto-born
artist and the founder and curator
of The Ardorous.