A Community of Acceptance
Photo by Terrie Alfieri
What do you see when you look at this picture? I'll tell you what I see. I see two sisters laughing. I see an unscripted moment between two women who work hard for their community to lift them up and celebrate them. Two women who work so hard to support everyone from the Freshies to the Experts, from their close friends to the journalists they work with every day. I see outfits they worked hard to coordinate and make sure they both felt good in. I see two women who have been told their whole lives they are at once too much and not enough.
Some of us spend our whole lives with people telling us to cover up, be less, show less, and wear more for the simple fact of the way our bodies are shaped. We are told to both fit society's ideal and also feel shame for the way we are. Enough. We are not doing this anymore. At Fresh Starts, we celebrate you and what makes you feel good and happy–– full stop.
We received an email regarding this photo on our Open House sign-up page. We host Open Houses once every other month for prospective Experts, and so far, they have been wildly successful–– we're hosting one on September 20th for anyone interested! This person, who was so upset by my chest and my revealed leg that they took the time to email me, told us this would alienate women and only attract men. They assumed our community was suffering from the same insecurity and misogyny as they clearly do. This person assumed wrong. Our Expert community is comprised of nearly 100 exceptional, brilliant and ever-evolving Support Experts...and most of them are women.
So when they were so upset with whatever internal trauma they were holding onto to ask us to unsubscribe them from a newsletter they had knowingly signed up for, I was happy to help.
We have built a community here filled with love, acceptance and support. To quote the Ethos every Expert must agree to before they join the community:
"We believe in fresh starts, no judgment. Self-belief and imperfections. We reject shame, secret and oppressive moralistic values."
We want to remind you that merely existing on the internet is not a reason for anyone to come into your [proverbial] home and tell you how to dress, what to post or shame your body. We want you to know you're beautiful and worthy and deserve to fill your community with people that raise you up. Our community does just that for us, and we hope to return the favor. No meanies here.