Love thine own happy trail

[al]

There are a lot of parts of my body that I'm in a process of learning to love, and I'm sure that's true for a lot of people out there- especially when mainstream media presents that there are only a few specific body types that are acceptable or attractive. I'm working on it day by day, and one of the parts of myself that I'm feeling the most love for at the moment is my happy trail. Yes, that hairy lil line was once the bane of my existence because I thought that it was "just a guy thing" and that it made me gross and ugly. But over time I've come to stop hating on it and actually start to like it. I think it's kind of weird and cute, and it makes me me. I've found a lot of peace in letting go of that frustration and self-deprecation, and even though it's a battle every day to treat my body with kindness and respect, it feels like it's worth it.

How about you folks? Do you have any quirks or parts like that? Things you felt self-conscious about but have learned to love (or are still learning to love)? Tell us all about them and we can celebrate the uniqueness and awesomeness of bodies together.

[Heather]

In the 80's, in case this is fun for you, I remember Moon Zappa (Frank Zappa's daughter) calling that a "treasure trail."

One of the things I have found getting older seems to help with - for me, anyway - is acceptance about how any part of my body looks. As things feel less and less awesome, and more and more things hurt or start to break down, it gets a lot easier to be at peace with how anything looks, because it's just kind of the least of my concerns. Give me my big cheeks and round face, how my two prosthetic fingertips look, my thick legs or my Mediterranean honker any day over my aching back or my decreasing energy levels!

[Onionpie]

Yes! My happy trail has been one of those things for me, and I know several of my friends have had the same struggle with theirs. I don't actively LOVE mine now, but it doesn't bother me at all -- it's just a part of me. Like my elbow. What's there to be bothered about by an elbow? One big thing (or two big, jiggly things... haha) I've been working on loving are my legs. I have THUNDER THIGHS. I always imagine that someone gave me regular legs, and then just cut off a few inches from my ankles and glued my feet on there. And they must have done the same to my femurs because those are bizarrely short too. And the shortness of my legs, added together with the way my body holds all of its fat around my butt area, I just have... super stubby-looking legs. I used to HATE them, especially since my mother made lots of *sarcasm* WONDERFUL comments about them being "chunky". I didn't wear shorts until I was 19 years old. NOW I WEAR THEM ALL THE TIME F*** YES. My thighs are covered in stretch marks. THAT'S OKAY, I'M A ZEBRA! ZEBRAS ARE CUTE! I started biking more, and now my thighs are not only jiggly, they are also muscular and they just look like I could kill a thousand men. I AM A SUPERHERO RAAAAHHHHH

[capablehippie]

I also have a happy trail which doesn't get much appreciation. This was my explanation/story for it: When I was nine I noticed my female babysitter had hair on her stomach, and I thought it was weird and gross. A few years later, I had hair there too, and I remembered making fun of it on my babysitter (in my head). Obviously, I had grown hair there too as the result of a sort of karma-curse! So, I didn't mind it when I was twelve and my friend exclaimed, "You have hair on your stomach!" because I knew she would get it too now. It bothers me sometimes now, and sometimes I remove it.
I also used to have a hard time accepting my small, kind of pointy breasts. I tried going braless, and skipping the bra when I feel like it has really helped me feel more confident and comfortable with myself.

[al]

Capablehippie, that's awesome that you've been able to go braless sometimes and feel comfortable! I am a total fan of people ditching others' standards and doing what feels best to them, especially if it makes them feel more confident and at ease. Like I mentioned earlier, it can be a difficult process, but it feels worth it.

Onionpie, I've totally got your back. I read a story once about a young boy who saw his mother's stretch marks and asked her about them, to which she replied that they were her "tiger stripes". And apparently he became really excited and eager for the day that he could "earn his tiger stripes too". So ever since then, I've looked at my tiger stripes in the mirror and thought to myself, "I earned these. I'm fierce." You're a zebra, I'm a tiger, bodies are interesting and beautiful, and we're all superheroes.

[Ashleah]

For me it's my stretch marks! I've never really had a problem with them, but I know they are much hated in society. I think part of that is knowing that they aren't going anywhere and there isn't anything that I could have done to prevent them. Bodies do what they are going to do and, in this instance, I'm cool with that. I actually think mine are pretty cool They go all the way up my thighs and cover my butt. To me it looks like I got into a pretty intense fight with a tiger and survived, so kinda badass lol.