Body Image

Understanding Pregnancy Emotions

/ cammih

It is very normal to experience a range of emotions when you find out you are pregnant, since it is a major life event that brings about a lot of change. It’s important to remember that every experience is valid and part of the parenthood journey.

Common Reasons for Pregnancy Emotions

Hormones: There are significant hormonal shifts, which can have an intense impact on your emotions. Your estrogen and progesterone hormones fluctuate, which then influences the hormones that regulate your mood (serotonin and dopamine), leading to mood swings and heightened emotions.

Body and body image changes: Your body goes through a lot of physical changes (weight gain, changes in posture, changes in skin, etc.) which can sometimes provoke emotions about body image and self-esteem. Some expectant parents may feel proud that their body’s changing to nurture life, but others may experience feelings of discomfort or insecurity.

Stress: This is a very stressful time for parents, and you may feel stressed about finances, relationship adjustments, childbirth itself, and parenting. Your body heightens its stress response system (your cortisol levels) which can lead to feelings of anxiety, mood swings, and irritability.

Fatigue: Changing hormones, difficulty sleeping, and stress can cause fatigue and exhaustion, which is very common during pregnancy. This can further heighten feelings and make you emotional.

Emotional Changes Throughout Pregnancy

First trimester: Can bring on a lot of early pregnancy emotions and first-trimester mood swings. You may experience a whirlwind of feelings as you come to terms with the reality of being pregnancy, and may feel excited, anxious, and/or overwhelmed.

Second trimester: Experience a welcome break from intense emotions of early pregnancy. You may feel more stable and have more balanced emotions, but you may continue to feel anxious or stressed.

Third trimester: As you’re preparing for childbirth, it can evoke even stronger emotions. You may be fearful of the unknown, but also excited about the arrival of a child. Common feelings include anticipation and excitement, occasional impatience, and anxiety.

Managing Emotional Changes During Pregnancy

It’s important to be able to identify and label what you’re feeling, so that it can be addressed in healthy and effective ways. Be mindful of what you’re experiencing in the present moment. You also should practice self-compassion by acknowledging the work that your body is doing by being pregnant, and accepting these changes.

NewYork-Presbyterian provided some strategies to manage your emotional changes during pregnancy:

Title: Managing Emotional Changes During Pregnancy. On the top-right page, black and white clip art of an ultrasound and a sock. Two boxes on top, two below. Upper-left box: Connect with Others: Reach out to friends and family members! Let them know how you're doing and how they can help. Upper-right box: Take Time for Yourself: Spend some time doing activities that bring you enjoyment; You could read a book, watch a movie, or listen to music. Bottom-left box: Find Ways to Manage Stress: Make time for a stress-relieving activity every day, such as yoga or meditation. Bottom-right box: Write About Your Feelings: It may help to write down your feelings about having a baby or becoming a parent. At the bottom of the page, a clip art image of a person holding an ultrasound of a fetus.

When to Seek Help for Pregnancy Mood Swings

There is no shame in reaching out to a mental health professional when you’re struggling. Symptoms of depression can sometimes resemble pregnancy mood swings, but the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends to speak to your provider if you have any of these signs for at least two weeks:

  • Depressed mood most of the day, almost every day
  • Loss of interest in work or other activities
  • Persistent feelings of guilt, hopelessness, or worthlessness
  • Difficulty sleeping or sleeping more than usual
  • Loss of appetite or other concerns around weight
  • Trouble paying attention, concentrating, or making decisions
  • Thoughts about death or suicide


Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents

/ cammih

Gender dysphoria is a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their sex assigned at birth and gender identity. In adolescence, especially around puberty when young teenagers’ bodies are changing, and they begin exploring their sexual and romantic identities, gender dysphoria typically increases around this time. Included below are some helpful definitions to include in discussions around gender dysphoria, a visual aid tool to discuss how someone may feel if they experience gender dysphoria, and helpful resources from transgender people talking about their gender identity.

Definitions to incorporate while discussing gender dysphoria:

  • Biological sex – label assigned at birth based on physical characteristics (e.g., chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs)
  • Primary sex characteristics – changes in the reproductive organs (males: growth of testes, penis, scrotum, and spermarche; females: growth of the uterus and menarche)
  • Secondary sex characteristics – visible physical changes that occur during puberty (males: broader shoulders, a lower voice; females: breast development, hips broaden)
  • Gender Expression – learned roles, behaviors, and actions of women/girls and men/boys (i.e., how society expects certain genders to act and look like)
  • Gender identity – our sense of who we are and how we see and describe ourselves
  • Transgender – people whose gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth

*For clarification: based on your biological sex (what physical characteristics you are born with), society assigns you a gender (how you should act, what you should be interested, and your role in the world)*

Title: Gender Dysphoria. A single text box titled "What is it?" with the definition below: gender dysphoria is a sense of unease a person may feel when their gender identity does not match their biological sex. A single-column table titled "How you may feel:" In descending order: your gender identity conflicts with your biological sex, you are comfortable only when in the gender role of your preferred gender identity, a strong desire to hide or be rid of physical signs of your biological sex (e.g., breasts or facial hair), discomfort with your body or anatomy, and/or a preference for gendered clothing.

Helpful Resources:

Teen Vogue has an article discussing what it’s like to be transgender and living with gender dysphoria.

The Guardian also has an article where people who identify as transgender discuss their experience with exploring their gender identity. Although gender dysphoria is not the main focus, it is thoroughly discussed in the experiences of the transgender people featured.

This article from BuzzFeed includes people with disabilities exploring their gender identity and how it intersects with their disability. Gender dysphoria is mentioned, but the article mainly focuses on how society has created barriers for transgender people with disabilities. It would still be beneficial to use, as it brings attention to an often overlooked area of the disability and transgender community.

Sex Education for Individuals with I/DD

/ Kaitlyn Myers

Sexual Education is known to be a vital part of education that many people with disabilities do not receive. The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) developed an excellent series of youtube videos aimed to help close this gap. The sex ed for individuals with I/DD project is a 10 part video series that can be seen on youtube. The project contains videos that discuss a range of important sexual information from healthy relationships and consent to how to use a condom. The videos also contain self advocates. Understanding that individuals with disabilities are sexual beings and informing such individuals on all sexual topics is extremely important. The NCIL’s video series is an amazing resource. Linked below is the introduction video to the series. The videos can also be accessed though the Nation Council on Independent Living youtube channel.

NCIL Sex Education for Individuals with I/DD Project video one

Accessible Lingerie

/ Kaitlyn Myers

In a world of increasing accessibility, more and more clothing brands have begun producing products with accessible modifications. Unfortunately, undergarments and lingerie are important categories often forgotten. Individuals with disabilities are sexual beings and have the right to feel confident in their own bodies just as able-bodied individuals, and accessible underwear is a major factor in this.

In order to shine a light on these hidden categories, it is important to understand what accessible undergarments aim to do. Accessible underwear provides clothing that can be used by individuals with disabilities; Understanding that not everyone can use common closures or typical underwear styles. Accessible lingerie is also a growing category.

Slick Chicks, a growing adaptive underwear business, is a prime example of a company combatting this issue and empowering individuals with disabilities. The company sells a variety of accessible underwear and includes many images and videos to show just how easy it is to use their garments. They are specialized for women who may be in wheelchairs or have limited mobility but can be used to improve the accessibility of underwear for many individuals.

Another excellent resource is Devovere, an Etsy shop, aiming to provide lingerie that is made for you. Through custom orders an individual can request front-facing closures or adjusters, velcro closings rather than clips or buttons, extra fastenings, and more for no extra price. The owner of the company identifies as disabled and has set out to make inclusive clothing.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DevovereOnline

https://slickchicksonline.com

Wait, What: A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up

/ Kaitlyn Myers

The recently released comic book, “Wait, What: A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up” by Heather Corinna and Isabelle Rotman gives insight to a sexuality, gender, and related issues in an inclusive and fun format. From the publishers:

“Join friends Malia, Rico, Max, Sam and Alexis as they talk about all the weird and exciting parts of growing up! This supportive group of friends are guides for some tricky subjects. Using comics, activities and examples, they give encouragement and context for new and confusing feelings and experiences.

Inclusive of different kinds of genders, sexualities, and other identities, they talk about important topics like:

– Bodies, including puberty, body parts and body image
– Sexual and gender identity
– Gender roles and stereotypes
– Crushes, relationships, and sexual feelings
– Boundaries and consent
– The media and cultural messages, specifically around bodies and sex
– How to be sensitive, kind, accepting, and mature
– Where to look for more information, support and help

A fun and easy-to-read guide from expert sex educators that gives readers a good basis and an age-appropriate start with sex, bodies and relationships education! The perfect complement to any school curriculum.”

Sexuality and Disability: A Guide for Women with Disabilities

/ Kaitlyn Myers

Sexuality and Disability is a free blog dedicated to providing a resource for women with disabilities. The blog answers questions pertaining to sex, the body, relationships, and more in a safe and open discussion. The welcome statement of the website encompasses this;

“Our site starts with the premise that people with disabilities are sexual beings – just like anyone else. sexualityanddisability.org is constructed as a bunch of questions a woman with a disability might have – about her body, about the mechanics and dynamics of having sex, about the complexities of being in an intimate relationship or having children, about unvoiced fears or experiences of encountering abuse in some form.”

Sexuality and Disability also includes an award-winning section that appeals to many individuals with disabilities that contains stories from the point of view of an individual with a disability and gives an in depth and realistic view on sexual topics.

Image depicts the webpage described in the post, Sexuality and Disability.

High School Human Sexuality 101 Week 2- Anatomy

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FemaleReproductiveSystem_Lateral_250w

Anatomy and Reproduction were the topics for week 2. We started off the session with a game called “Parts and Post-it Notes” to talk about body parts with the participants. To play this game we had a giant piece of paper with the outline of a body on it. We gave the participants post-it notes to write down the body parts that they knew and asked them to place them on the outline of the body.

After this activity, the participants were told that for the rest of the class they would be focusing on body parts related to reproduction (another way to refer to sex organs or private parts). The participants were then directed to the next activity where they practiced saying terminology related to reproduction out loud and recording their responses to how saying the words made them feel.

When the participants finished the terminology activity, we spit them into two groups to start the fruit anatomical model of reproductive organs using fruit. The participants were shown a picture of the parts of the body and were giving tooth picks and flash cards to label the fruit parts and their functions. This activity was great for the participants to learn the vocabulary in a little abstract and safe way! For a more concrete example of reproduction, we used the “Miracle of Life” video to explain the process.

We ended this session by having the participants briefly summarize that they learned during the session.

For more information on anatomy view our Human Sexuality 101 Week 2- Anatomy, EXPLAINING ANATOMY, YOUTUBE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES: HEALTHCHANNEL, SEXPLANATIONS, AND CSPH, ADULT HUMAN SEXUALITY WEEK 2- ANTATOMY & REPRODUCTION posts

This Week’s Materials

Week 2 Lesson Plan

Week 2 Slides

Parent Letter

Worksheets

Anatomy labels

High School Human Sexuality 101 Week 3: Body Image Lesson Plan

/ sarahlcurtiss / 1 Comment

IMG_20120718_152104This lesson plan revolved around teaching what body image means, understanding that people feel differently about their bodies, and that people change how they feel about their bodies over time.  After doing several knowledge based activities, we moved to exploring how the students felt about their own bodies.

There was one theme that was really relevant for the student we were working with.  She was really interested in her perception of self and others perception of her.   In her self-portrait, she focused on the things that make her her; most of these were things you couldn’t see.

We also read body stories.  Each had a picture of a body.  Just seeing the images was really moving.  We were planning mostly for girls, but I included a story that might be more appropriate for a male audience.  The young woman chose to read the story about the women who was the most traditionally beautiful (not really a big surprise).  This was a story about a woman with chronic illness.  Serendipitously, the body story resonated concepts that this student was working through.

Materials

Lesson Plan

Slides

Parent Letter

Body Stories (all female) from This is Who I Am by Rosanne Olson (her website is http://bodyimagebook.com)

Body Story (male)

Dove Clip

Human Sexuality Week 6- Body Image

/ sarahlcurtiss / 1 Comment

This week, we focused on body image.  This was probably the most difficult concept for students to grasp so far.  In other weeks we’ve focused more on content but this week was more about self expression and they could connect the expression components, however, they really struggled with what exactly body image is and their own self awareness.  For some of the students thinking about body image melted into feelings of self worth.  The strategy we introduced, positive self talk, was also difficult for them to understand.

Activities this week…

What is Body Image? We’re used a pretty simple definition of body image: how you think and feel about your body and appearance.  This definition highlights the cognitive and affective components of body image.

How I Feel About My Body  For this activity we asked students to write down how they feel about their body.  We then collected all the responses, redistributed them, and read them out loud.  This activity allowed students to express their feelings about body image.  It also exposed them to the thoughts and feelings of others.  For the most part students in our group expressed feeling good about their bodies.

Positive Self-Talk  We introduced positive self-talk as a strategy for managing negative ideations about body image.  Each member of the group practiced positive self-talk by using affirmation statements in the mirror.  This was very difficult for some students, even with the scripts.  This may be because they didn’t understand the “why” behind the activity.  This activity exposed them to a strategy for promoting a healthy body image and gave students an opportunity to practice that strategy.

Role Play  Because we know that often, negative thoughts and feelings about body image occur while we are with groups of people, we role played using positive self-talk when in a group.  This was essentially an extension of the previous activity but we made the task slightly more difficult.

Self-Portraits  Body image is one of those topics that is not just about learning facts but mostly about self-awareness and self-expression.  In addition to teaching some concrete strategies for promoting positive body image, we also wanted to provide opportunities to explore thoughts and feelings about appearance.  The self-portraits were another strategy for helping students explore their thoughts and feelings about body image.  For the most part, the kids were really excited about this activity.  We promoted trying to reflect a positive self image, but this didn’t come naturally to all the students.  We also wanted to make sure we respected the right for students to express their genuine emotions.   

Just a note on classroom management.  Distractions were down with the implementation of our simple rights and responsibilities, more firm “nos” and the stop sign.  We did have one student who had a hard time because they had to wait until next week to take the pictures home so the paint could dry.  This is something to anticipate for the future.

Materials for this week…