Putting together this issue has been deeply uncomfortable, and I genuinely think that is the first time I have ever said that. This discomfort is surprising when you consider the topics we have covered without a glimmer of awkwardness over the past decade; sex, drugs, death, religion, rights, politics and a long old listgave women the stick they already craved to beat themselves with. Women are forever being policed – we see that now more than ever – and was born into a period when women were humiliated for having celluliteor stretch marks. Our stance was clear: we’d have no part in that. In its place we championed body positivity and acceptance; a generation of role models who looked more like the women we see around us. It felt like progress, and it helped, we’ve seen the evidence. But the downside was it closed the door to speaking about how we really feel about our bodies, it became a secret shame. Which is why, when the Stylist team sat down to discuss our own perceptions of our bodies and, more exposing still, wrote them down for the world to read, we all felt so deeply uncomfortable. These gnarly admissions, usually reserved for the privacy of our internal self-talk, were put out in the open – and with it came the risk of judgment. But we learn from experience that silence is not the answer. That only by opening up and putting a name to our emotions and thoughts can we find a way to better how we feel. Which is what this issue is: a chance to speak candidly about how we see our bodies in 2022. Thank you to all the women who shared so honestly. Although many of the conversations triggered a heartfelt sadness for what we experience, it also motivated us to be partof the change that stops women torturing themselves as a consequence of how they look. So let’s make this issue the start of a conversation that is the catalyst to allowing women to be truly comfortable in their own skin.
