She got shamed for sharing her boudoir images...

Last week one of my lovely clients got some flack for accepting/loving/sharing herself. She had bravely shared her GORGEOUS boudoir images.

A woman went out of her way to make a post saying something like.. “I’ll never understand going to a photographer and posting pictures of myself damn near naked. No self respect.” I was happy to see that many people stood up for the lovely lady and I chose not to engage with the post for my own mental peace, I just blocked the woman because she was on my friends list. She could have unfollowed/unfriended/blocked me because seeing women undressed upsets her and my business is all about just that. I'm not judging her because it stirred up memories…

     I used to hate seeing women that were freer than me too. I also remember that years later when I started being OKAY in my own skin because photography was helping me and belonging to bellydance class truly helped me, that it upset people in my circle too. I remember a friend saying, “That doesn’t need to be on the internet.” It was a beautiful side profile image of me at the beach barely dressed. Something I had long struggled with being able to do, and her comment hurt because it was such a struggle to get to that point. I went dig up that photo of my young body and what do you know? The legs are cropped off because I had cellulite.

     I vividly recall my high school self working at a house painting job and the fury and jealousy I had felt when the girl across the street went check the mail in her bikini… or was it underwear?! The audacity. We were in school together and I had long been jealous of that crowd… the cheerleaders, the dancers, and the girls that played sports. They all had nice legs. They all seemed confident. They had pool parties and beach parties that I was actually invited to a few times, but felt too inadequate to be their friend.

     I took diet pills that I was too young to even buy for myself and walked laps after school to be the thinnest I could be. It had been years that I stoped wearing shorts in public because of my cellulite ridden legs. My mother had me wearing long shorts to school before we had to wear uniforms. I didn’t have the cellulite yet, but she was teaching me modesty and to be safer in the eyes of men. Then I was molested just a few years later. That plus how I was raised was a whole mess of sexual shame... and I hated and judged women expressing themselves that way.

     Photography has healed me in so many ways with finally seeing my own beauty, body image acceptance, and bodily autonomy and I have countless clients that have also had healing. For example- Multiple clients that were good wives and mothers that were cheated on, multiple clients that are recovering addicts due to domestic abuse, older women that needed to feel beautiful, plus size women that needed to feel beautiful, "tom-boys" that needed to feel beautiful, women lost in motherhood and need to get back in touch with themselves...etc...

Ahh. I think I will wrap this up here.

Boudoir is common, it is beautiful, and it is here to stay.

You don’t know why someone would do a session like this and decide to post them, so just keep your judgements to yourself and unfollow if it is not your cup of tea.

SURPRISE! EVERYONE’S SOCIAL MEDIA AND BODY IS THER OWN.

Everyone's journey is unique.

This is me at 36 in my bedroom today. Next age 7 note the long shorts, Age 17 note the long shorts, Age 21 note the photo is cropped at the leg, Age 25 still growing in confidence through being photographed, being in a loving healthy relationship, and a bellydance class with women of all ages where being A WOMAN WAS CELEBRATED..

You are more than your body and your body is beautiful and miraculous.

xoxo Lainey