Why Hippolyta's I Am episode is not about her beautiful curvy body

If u watched this episode thinking only abt Hippolyta's body, u missed the nuanced work of one of the greatest actors of our generation. Pay attention to what really matters.  This episode was all about Hippolyta's major emotional chords: the freedom that she withheld from herself because her world told her gifts didn't matter.  Freedom is something you take, not something that is given.  It is in self-definition: when you determine what is valuable to you, the world will follow your lead.  If you check in with the world and its varying money-driven, self-esteem questioning values, you will never meet up.  We live in a world where entire empires are funded by your self-doubt.  Freeing yourself is a personal act that is completely within your powerl

That inability to value your whole, true self is exactly what the episode is abt. Framing her world from the inside out instead of confining herself to the shallow, violent, limiting world outside of her. Women who were uncomfortable with Hippolyta's beautiful normalcy fear that kind authenticity. Watch it again, grow...

#WomantheFuckup

"Sometimes, I wonder if people know what IRL women actually look like anymore.

Despite what you commonly see on Instagram, women in 2020 still come in varying shapes and sizes. Even many of the women on IG who look “perfect” in photos, aren’t the same size and shape in life.

I’m watching all these reactions to “Hipp” from #lovecraftcountry showing her naked, 51 year old body. It was a good body to see. Surprisingly rare to see on TV, given that the average American woman is a size 14, but that’s another topic.

I noticed in conversations about Hipp’s body, she keeps being referred to as “confident” and “brave” for showing herself, either nude or barely feathered. There are even those that, as a kind buffer of sorts to explain her shape (which needs no explanation), suggest she gained weight for this role.

I’m sure folks mean well, but notably, no one calls a woman who has the “ideal” shape “confident” or “brave” for being naked. (There are other names for women who do that.) To call a woman “brave” or “confident” for showing a body that doesn’t fit the “ideal” is implying that the woman is flawed and to show such flaws— really, ones you would never dare to— must mean she has some outlier level of self esteem to display herself when she isn’t “ideal”.

Again, I think you mean well here. So maybe instead of a backhanded compliment, try, “she looks great!”

Not for her age.

Not for her size.

Not for her [insert any thing else.]

Just “she looks great!”

The End."

---@demetriallucas

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A post shared by April Yvette Thompson (@aprilyvettethompson) on Oct 9, 2020 at 11:36pm PDT