Love Body – MAGAZINE

A South Asian’s Story: NEDA Week

Posted on Mar 3, 2023Mar 27, 2023 by Mauli Chopra

I have felt guilty all my life. Guilty about leaving, guilty about conforming to outdated standards for girls, for eating too much, for eating too little…

Skin Up: Essay by YA Author Heather Cumiskey

Posted on Aug 19, 2019Sep 22, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

Reclaiming the power (and pain) our complexion has on us “Ewww! Your epidermis is showing!” I can still see those three saucy girls approaching me and every other vocabulary-challenged kid on the blacktop during elementary school recess. Such good actresses they were, each one wrinkling up her face in disgust to sell their ruse and […]

The Problem with Body Positivity

Posted on Jan 30, 2019Jan 30, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

Saying high school and teenage life is rough is an understatement. As articles in Germ Magazine attest, high school is an awkward period that can be quite challenging to endure. In so many cases, it’s not at all like the perfectly curated images and videos you often see online, as many of us struggle with […]

Self-Acceptance Is a Mental Hurdle

Posted on Dec 4, 2018Dec 5, 2018 by Germ Magazine guest author

Modern media typically portrays high school as a very special phase in a person’s life, but the industry does not usually show the entire picture. For many people, high school was a mostly awkward period that they had to endure. In many cases, it’s far from the images that you see in movies or magazines. […]

#UnfairAndLovely

Posted on Oct 13, 2018Jan 16, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be pretty. What “pretty” meant was a mystery to me. In some ways it still remains a mystery to me. In the eyes of many African and Asian girls, “pretty” entails Eurocentric features: lighter pigmentation, lighter eye colour, a narrow nose—everything that has […]

Author Nancy Richardson Fischer: The Words That Shape Us

Posted on Oct 11, 2018Jan 16, 2019 by Germ Magazine guest author

Two truths and a lie… When I was seven, a man said I would eventually go crazy. My mom used to tell me: I love you, but right now I don’t like you. A teacher told me that I’m smart but intellectually lazy. Figured out the lie yet? It’s impossible to know without knowing me, […]

Low Self-Esteem Is a Serious Concern for Your Mental Health

Posted on Mar 10, 2018Mar 9, 2018 by Masooma Memon

Most of us do a good job faking false smiles when there are really just frowns underneath. Our social masks pretend that we aren’t offended. We also boast steel hearts, laughing with the group that apparently jokes about us smack dab in our face. A new sunshine and most of us forget yesterday to pursue […]

Fat Is a Neutral Word: Good nor Bad, It Just Is

Posted on Nov 29, 2017Nov 29, 2017 by Shelby Padgett

I have a certain memory from years ago that I can’t seem to shake. A friend one day wore a pink shirt paired with a long green skirt – an unusual but nice combination. It definitely caught your eye. A mutual friend went in for a hug, and with a smile he said, “You look […]

Turning Unlovely to Lovely: Essay by YA Author Heather Cumiskey

Posted on Nov 20, 2017Jun 22, 2018 by Germ Magazine guest author

When heaven gave out locks before my debut as a newborn, my angel on the assembly line must have gotten distracted and given me five times the normal allotment. Perhaps he or she had skipped breakfast. It happens. My mane is not your normal girl’s hair, with its unenviable coarse, horsetail texture, curly frizz on […]