UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
(Female pieces only in the exhibit)

* I'm a woman in her late 30's who has had 2 children...when I was younger, I was thin no matter what I ate...now I'm heavier (in a natural, middle-aged sort of way) but I consider my body ugly now because it's no longer as slim as it used to be, even though intellectually I know it's natural to have a bigger belly after children and a certain age.

* I always hated my thighs and belly - I have bought control-top panty hose, corsets and girdles and body-slimming skirts for forever..but no more! After seeing this exhibit its out with the baby tees and belly shirts. I'm ready to show 'em off.
* I hope that all women will someday be able to be happy with their bodies. It is a beautiful gift from God that should be respected and taken care of.

* My best friends called me "fat pig" and ran away laughing when I was young. I live with that everyday. Only when I look in the mirror do I remember I am beautiful. How strange...but recently I took a risk. I danced, I showed my belly. People touched it and loved it and the feeling of hands on my body without being rejected...letting them love me has healed me. Taking the risk, showing what you are, looking at it, seeing its softness, what makes us women...is strong.

* Wow, I've been through times when I've loved my body and times when I have hated it. Lately I have been having issues, but this wonderful celebration of womanhood gives me restored confidence and pleasure in my body and person.

* I love my body even when that's not what the magazines say. I love me and I love my heart.

* The first time, when I was thirteen, I had to learn to love my breasts. Guess what? I love my breasts. Now, it's coming around again. I'm thirty-two and I have to learn to love my belly. I look at my cast, and my belly is beautiful. I'm learning to love it.

* The path is easy for him (or her) who has no preferences. (First Chinese Patriarch)

* Don't care what people think about me!

* Having a hurtful, shameful body image is like shadow boxing blind-folded. Once you listen to the media and cosmetics industry that sells cures for our "flaws", it takes a long time to see your way back to innocence, back to acceptance of your body as a tool of your spirit and mind, an extension of your beauty and power, not a summary of your value. Cancel your subscription to Cosmo and Ladies Home Journal, tell a young woman and your girlfriends you hope they never change - because they are fabulous just the way they are.

* You are dubbed "honorary woman"...a supreme compliment.

* My thighs are fleshy, my stomach is round, my hips are wide, my breasts are small. But that's what makes me a woman and gives me strength to live in a world where women are not supposed to be women.

* Thank you.

* There are so many pressures and images thrown in our faces of what to be and how we can be, these days. I think it is sad because these images do affect society. It is difficult when there are specific standards of what is beautiful. I do believe everyone should love their bodies, but it is NOT an easy thing to do. Someone might say,"screw the media! Just love you body as it is." BUT, it's not that easy if these images keep being thrown in our faces from everywhere and the ideals are perpetuated. I would say, get to know your body, get comfortable in it, within it...DANCE.

* Thank you for all the bodies. Maybe now it will be okay for me not to exercise again tonight. Thank you for challenging me.

* Women internalize misogyny and take it out on themselves and each other. We can be our own and each others' worst critics of bodily "acceptability". Locker rooms, for example, are still sites of terror and un-safety, despite the fact that they are woman-only zones. Women avoid mirrors, each others' gazes and excessive demonstrations of self-care or pleasure - we wouldn't want to be caught loving ourselves, or would we? Smiling in that mirror? This is the dare and the challenge - be caught loving yourself and your woman friends. Love yourself at any size, weight, age, state of health or disease.

* I am a part of all these women...and they are a part of me.

* My ankels are NOT fat!!!!!!!

* We have to be what the media wants us to be otherwise, we aren't worth looking at!

* Hey you - love the belly. Love it.

* As a male in an image oriented society, I've struggled to find true inner beauty, I hope this exhibit reminds us that there should be no standard of physical beauty. And that what is truly beautiful is what is inside each and everyone of us.

* I walk around wondering which body I look like - is that the wrong thing to do? The comparison never ends.

* Last week, my aunt asked me if I was expecting a baby - NO! I said I'm just gaining a little weight! I was crushed! Thank you for showing all these beautiful bodies. I know I can be beautiful too!

* I am attractive.

* I've spent so much time and energy disliking my body. It exhausts me. It makes me angry. Why do people equate self-worth with some ideal that doesn't even exist??? IT'S FAKE. The media and the fashion and beauty industries are feeding us all this crap. I'm trying not to swallow it and to think about other things and to focus my energy elsewhere and a million other thoughts are here but for now - Everyone is beautiful, inside and out. Challenge yourself to see that.

* Life is beautiful. Embrace what you are now. Soon you will not be.

* We are all beautiful. I feel depressed when I see the "magazine" models...can we say "skinny". I used to care a lot about my body weight and breasts and hips. I lost weight but now I gained it back. I'm trying to lose weight. I'm not fat nor skinny. Then people say, if "men" don't like you because of your body, "screw em". It's your smile, mind and soul that counts...power to own own body.

* How absolutely wonderful to discover a male artist who truly loves women! This kind of acknowledgment and celebration of the diversity of women's bodies has been a part of feminist culture for 25 years, but to see a man who truly "gets it", is wonderful!

* Love your body and refuse to be defined. Don't let one aspect of your shape take over your mind. Love who you are for reasons that you cannot see. And love the "abnormalities" for being part of you.

* I've lived with my body for 20 years, day in and day out, through the "chubby/bloated days" and all. What I've learned is that this is the body I have to live in for the rest of my life, so I might as well get comfortable in it. There's no use in wasting my time trying to look like a supermodel because THAT'S NOT ME...oh well! I cherish my body and try to take good care of it, but for my own health (not for the sake of what the media tells me I should do).

* This is an incredible exhibit. When I was younger, I was as skinny as a girl could be. Now, at age 20 I have more of a womanly figure. I constantly worry about looking fat. I feel unconfident walking down the street...this exhibit really made me think, reading others' thoughts made me feel better about myself. I can't say I won't stop worrying about my looks, but I did find strength in reading others thoughts and seeing this exhibit. Thanks.

* Success = loving/enjoying myself as I am right now.

* I really enjoyed the pieces and I think they are very good and well detailed and designed. I am a big girl and I love my body and I love my shape. I think nobody should dislike themselves just because of what somebody else says.

* I wonder what people think when they see me. We all classify people in our minds - gender, race...we classify by body type too. I'm not small enough to be "normal" but I'm not fat either. Would people treat me differently if my tummy was smaller...if I was taller?

* Your body - no one else's - love it 'cus you can't leave it.

* Since middle school, boys called me "thunder-thighs". I refused to wear shorts or short skirts because I was so ashamed of my strong muscular legs. It's very difficult to mentally combat socially constructed messages about beauty, especially when human beings reinforce such nonsense in every way imaginable. Without my strong legs, I wouldn't be a green-belt in karate, a kickboxing instructor, a runner, a dancer and a swimmer. My legs are "as sturdy as a tree", as my friend once told me and I'm proud of them and the rest of my body. I know I'm beautiful...aren't we all?

* I am enough.

* When I was 9 years old, a boy at the pool told me I had a fat butt. In retrospect, that was the first time I was conscious of my physical body and how others, male and female alike, perceive me. Since then I have struggled to remind myself that there is no such thing as perfection. I am a size 6 and still am not comfortable with parts of my body because of remarks like that kid at the pool said. So, I thank you and all the others who have commented on the exhibit for reminding me about the sources of beauty.

* I have never had a problem with my body, but when I say this many people shun me because it is naturally small. They say that I have nothing to worry about, I'm "so skinny". And when asked what my favorite part of my body is, I answer, "My jiggly thighs", because they're fun to play with, but then everyone says, "come on, they're not jiggly". Like jiggly is a bad thing. Dare to love your jiggles!

* Who says it's not a cultural thing? I once read the results of a survey assessing the body image of women in different countries: Danish women ranked in the high end of those who felt positive about their bodies, in fact, 95%. American women, though not the lowest, were in the lower half, ranking 20-25% of them happy with their bodies.

* You gotta deal with it all. The ass. The tits. The tummy. The thighs. And it's all yours - like you've never seen it before. And you really have to ask yourself - DO I REALLY SEE ME? REALLY? REALLY? Think about it.

* I am woman and I am proud of myself. We have come so far!

* My body is beautiful! I love my skin and I love my hips, waist, thighs, neck, breasts. Your body is beautiful too. Take a look, a long hard look. And cry. Cry because it feels good and cry so that you can clean your eyes and everything that people are telling you to look at. You are so beautiful.

* I have just read all the writings on the wall - some have it, some don't. Who the hell cares about how you look. You are not what you see, you are who you are. If you are in good shape, fine - who cares. If not, fine - who cares. What is important to you?