Embrace

Embrace is a 2016 documentary made by Australian photographer Taryn Brumfitt who talks about her experience with learning to love her body.  After 3 children and dissatisfied with her body shape she considered having plastic surgery, but instead did intensive training to enter a body building competition.  Upon competing though she knew she was hungry and unhappy and shocked that other contestants, instead of feeling positive and empowered where all focused on all the areas that they didn't believe to be perfect.  So she posted a body building photo with a recent photo on Facebook to encourage her friends, and this goes viral, on tv shows and in magazines worldwide.

This movie talks about how women are influenced by  all the images shown to them about what a perfect woman is, how she has to be tall and slim and athletic instead of celebrating all the diversity of shapes and sizes and celebrating the bodies we are in.  Probably for me the saddest part was when she asks women on the street to describe their bodies and they all reply with negative labels to describe themselves. It was also interesting when she speaks to the editor of Australian Cosmopolitan magazine who says when they first wanted to put a plus size lingerie layout in the magazine,  make up artists, designers and the photographer did not want their names mentioned in the article. 

I enjoyed it - Taryn is a lovely Aussie lady and her charm makes it very watchable. 4/5.