And the winner is… Crystal, commenter number 96!
I’m sending you an email now, please make sure you respond by midnight Wednesday or I’ll pick a new winner.
Thanks for participating, everyone!
Fifty Nude Women
And the Winners are….
I realize there are simpler ways to determine a winner, but I’m running on exhausted today and for a number of reasons that seem too much effort to explain, it turns out the more tedious method also happens to be the one requiring the least brainpower. My son – the one who is pictured as a baby sitting on my hip four years ago today, the one who IS FIVE YEARS OLD NOW and just keeps growing up – he pulled these two names out of a brown paper bag. Marissa & Allison, I’m off to e-mail you now to ask for your mailing addresses so I can send out your prize this week! Congratulations!
And thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway and took the pledge. To have so many people promise to start being kind to themselves is absolutely the best birthday present SOAM could ask for. Thank you ALL for making this website everything it is! Here’s to a fabulous fifth year!!
A Birthday! And a Giveaway!
In honor of SOAM’s upcoming fourth birthday, I am hosting a DVD giveaway! I happen to have a couple copies of 50 Nude Women which the producer, Margot, is refusing to let me pay for because she is clearly completely awesome.
I first became aware of this short film through one of SOAM’s readers several years ago, although at this point I can’t remember who it was now (feel free to speak up!) and as soon as I looked into it, I knew I had to own it. It is, simply, footage of 50 very different women, all nude. Tall and short, thin and round, young and old, from different cultures, of different colors, various body marks from head to toe – it is, in a word, women. Despite it’s length of only 12 minutes, the film makes me both laugh and cry. It shows the beauty in the diversity of women, and, actually, in humankind in general. We are beautiful in all our many forms. (I swear I’m not paid to say this!)
I believe Margot has made one of the most beautiful and important films ever, and I hope every woman (and man! and teenager!) finds a way to watch this movie and share it with their friends. And that is why this DVD is what I want to share with you as we embark on a fifth year of changing the world.
But I’m going to make you work for it. How do you enter? It’s simple – just go to Harriet Brown’s website and take her Pledge to Love Your Body. Come back here and leave a comment saying you’ve done that and you are entered to win one of two copies of the DVD that I’ll give away. Winners will be chosen randomly and I will announce the winners on Monday, July 5th, and we’ll have cake (gluten-free for me, virtual for you*) and sing and maybe even dance a little.
So go forth, spread the word on your blog or on Facebook or Twitter, and stay tuned for the festivities!
*I’d share, but cake just doesn’t taste as good once it’s shoved through the internet.
Saturday Night
Last night, at a local coffee shop aimed towards moms, some women gathered with me to watch the amazing film, Fifty Nude Women. I first heard about the film through this site – a reader had sent me a link – and it’s such a perfect idea, and goes so exactly hand-in-hand with The Shape of a Mother, that I passionately feel I need to promote it as much as possible. And local showings sounded like a fun way to do that.
After a few technical difficulties (in that it turns out my laptop needs electricity to run. who knew?) we finally saw the ending on my friend’s laptop (her Mac, although electrified, would not hook up to the projector properly without a certain piece of elusive hardware). Luckily the movie is so wonderful that it was still uplifting even after all that.
I hope very much to have more showings around the county in the future (and I promise to bring my laptop’s power supply!), and I would encourage all of you, Readers, to try the same if at all possible. The license to show it in public is quite affordable and so worth it when you consider the self-esteem of women watching it.
Here are some of the things women at the showing had to say to Margot Roth, the producer of the movie, about it:
Thank you for such a beautiful film. It was amazing to see such a variety of body shapes and sizes. And all the women were laughing and smiling!
I think every woman needs to see this movie. It was very comforting to see such a diversity of women’s bodies of all ages and nationalities. This movie rocks!
This was an awesome film, as it shows us glimpses of how 98% of women look in the “real world.” Hollywood insists on glorifying the 2% who have fabulous bodies and even most of those are airbrushed. Young girls should view this to aid their self-esteem and give them a good body image. Young men should view it as a good reality check.
Incredible! Amazing! It’s true – we are ALL beautiful.
I truly wish nudity was acceptable enough that I could show this to my middle schoolers. Every adolescent girl should see this film. Is there a “50 Nude Men?” (They need it, too.)
I found myself smiling throughout the showing.
AWESOME, AWESOME film that shows what a real woman looks like without clothes.
Thank you, Margot, for giving this to the world. We need it.