Pleasure Mechanics

Body Positive Instagram

Ready to curate an Instagram feed that nourishes you and reminds you of the glory of your human body? Here are some of our favorite Instagram accounts to follow! Have others you love? Follow us on Instagram and send us posts, we love hearing from you in our DMs!

As you scroll this page, notice what it feels like to scroll through a collection of images created by people who are living in their bodies without apology. Does this feel familiar or new? Easy or challenging?

Fill your social media feeds with people who make you feel excited to be alive! Unfollow and unfriend accounts that shame you or make you feel lesser than. Notice what it feels like to engage with the app as you make this change!

Get permission to express yourself more fully and wonder what YOUR version of body expression would be without all the “shoulds”

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in my training to become a sex therapist i was offered an expanded understanding of sexuality, beyond penis in vagina intercourse (which is often what sex is diminished to when we’re still assuming cisgender heterosexual sex is the best and only valid sex). sexuality includes a biopsychosocialspiritual lens, using the Circles of Sexuality model (google). there’s an entire circle on Sexualization, which covers issues like flirting, seduction, sexual harassment, media, and sexual assault. in my workshops with sexuality professionals, i explain how the harm experienced by fatphobia and diet culture belong in this circle. the same way white supremacy affects the way folks of color experience their bodies, we need to understand these as things that impact sexuality . fatphobia involves a kind of inescapable surveillance that can affect the way we fear eating in public, dress for our shape, speak in ways that take up less space, or avoid PDA for the rest of our lives. it’s not like street harassment, aka fatcalling, where it ends when you go back indoors. fatphobia follows you anywhere there’s another fatphobic person nearby and it can also become internalized where we become our own fatphobic police . sexual harassment is defined as behavior characterized by the making of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances in a workplace or other professional or social situation. the practice of sexual harassment can become sexual boundary violation. a child cannot consent to a diet the same way a child cannot consent to sex. the behavior of passing on fatphobia to another person is harmful, and as a sex therapist i identify the ways fatphobia impacts our ability to experience sexual liberation . folks struggling with internalized fatphobia may avoid emotional or physical intimacy altogether, convincing themselves they are undesirable or undeserving of pleasure (bc capitalism does not value the fat body as productive or desirable). they may only eat health foods as a way to deny pleasure. they may struggle with assertive communication and taking up space in convo and friendships. they may be unable to masturbate, orgasm with others, or enjoy PDA

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📸🙌 I present: my stomach covered in visible stretch marks. Rolls that form under a tight bra. My face without the "smile" that we often demand of women. My lack of "good-naturedness" that is expected from fat folks to compensate for our body size. It's me, in a serious and candid moment. Here I am, just as I am. Offering this publicly and without an apology. – This is exactly the kind of picture I would have immediately 🗑deleted 🗑when I first started blogging, but things have changed in the last seven years. I was unaware that my partner snapped it during one of our porch hangouts and when he showed it to me… I was stunned at how beautiful I found both myself and the image. Instead of being repulsed by my authentic body, I was entranced. This was an unexpectedly pivotal moment for me. – I've made a point to try and share "trash-bin worthy" photos of myself since I began blogging. Posting double chins while jumping, cellulite highlighted on my legs, close-ups of my sideburns (courtesy of PCOS), nearly naked photo shoots captured by other photographers and other images that I've had to take a deep breath before hitting publish. Honesty was important to me, sure, but… it was more selfish than that. It was a visual way to personally ✨shove shame aside and watch myself survive millions of people seeing my body as it is every day✨. – It's amazing how much braver you become with every "post" button you hit. I'm finding that with each step that I take outside my comfort zone, the bolder I become🎉. – And now? 👉Now it's your turn, my friend. Try this practice. See what happens. Watch yourself not die. 😘 Step into your full self; all of it and see what happens! – (You can read the entire post "Why the World Needs More Unflattering Pictures" through the link in my bio. GO GET IT!) – [ID: Jes sitting on a chair with belly rolls, stretch marks and cellulite visible and prominent.]

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Laziness is a myth that's forced upon us to make us fear slowing down and taking care of ourselves. Laziness is a weapon of capitalism, ableism, and fatphobia. . I promise you – no matter what, you are NOT lazy. . Here's what I know: most of us are overwhelmed, because as Isabel Abbott says, the system is designed to be overwhelming. Most of us experience constant stress, worry, and busy-ness. A great many of us experience anxiety, depression, and a shortage of crucial resources. . Our bodies NEED rest. Our minds NEED rest. And yet, we are so terrified of falling behind, not measuring up, not fitting in, or discovering that we're unworthy or unlovable, that we fill every single moment of every single day with SOMETHING. . Which leads us to numbness, dissociating, disconnecting, and exhaustion. . What many people label as lazy is actually trauma, bone-deep exhaustion, and survival. . It's hard being in a body in this world that is profoundly unfriendly to bodies. Often, our fear of laziness is actually a fear of fatness, a fear of softness, a fear of vulnerability and receiving help, a fear of uncertainty, a fear of feeling, a fear of disability and aging. . It is violence to expect ourselves to do it all, have it all, be it all. It is violence to force our bodies to perform like inanimate machines instead of soft, wise, living, ever-changing beings. . You are not lazy. . You deserve to rest. You deserve to slow down. You deserve nourish yourself: to sleep, to eat, to play, to have fun, to feel good. You never have to earn those things because those things are what it means to be human. . Let's break-up with lazy. Let's burn it to the ground. Let's rest. Let's center pleasure. You are worthy & deserving without doing a thing. . #yourpleasurematters #powerinpleasure #haes #mentalhealthawareness #recovery #bodytrust #bodytrustprovider #eatingdisorderrecovery #edrecovery #fightfatphobia . Join my new course, Power in Pleasure to explore this even more. Link in bio.

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I want to see those hands up. 🥰👑

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bitch, don’t I look like a pharaoh?! – today, I’m luxuriating in the juicy fruits of my labor. I’m celebrating myself for all that I’ve been through & accomplished. I’m welcoming all of the pleasure, abundance, & opulence en route to me & I’m giving myself permission to claim it as my birthright. I’ve been working so hard to get to where I am at currently with my career & to finally be getting the recognition, respect, & support for my expertise feels like wearing a gold crown. also the fact that the sun is out & I can wear a tank top comfortably without freezing is doing wonders for my mental health. goddamn, I’m glowed up. ✨ thank you for witnessing my radiance. – song is “Glowed Up” by Kaytranada . & @cuccia.co, your underwear is so comfy-sexy ❤️❤️❤️

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It was such an incredible honor to support @lagrosera in their run for Ms. SF Leather on a platform of making kink spaces accessible to disabled folks, with an understanding that this will improve the (sex) lives of ALL kinky & leather folk. . And it was such a travesty & disappointment for the judges to fail to select the only Bay Area born & raised AND person of color running; instead, they opted to replicate white supremacy, patriarchy & ableism in leather spaces through selecting a thin, white non-disabled masc transplant. It was a huge loss to the community, an embarrassment for them, and a shame to have such an opportunity to extend the work & sexuality of fat crip people of color & fail to actualize it. . Nonetheless, I’m so proud of & happy for @lagrosera, who ran an incredible & objectively unparalleled campaign, & is already doing so much to make leather & kink accessible to fat, crip folks of color. Congratulations Lola, I’m so happy, grateful & blessed we are in eachothers lives 🐽⛓✨ . [[ID: first image is Caleb posing against a wall, with their right foot rested against a chair. They are wearing black leather ankle boots, high waisted black pants, a black long sleeve floral print button up opened at the waist, with a mesh top underneath. They are accessorized with gold chains & rings, and a leather suspender harness from @leathercoven. 2. still from Lola’s fantasy skit: Caleb is on all fours on a purple velvet ottoman while Lola stands behind them, spanking them with a walking cane while dressed as Misstress Piggy, a leather version of the muppet.]]

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