Mar 10, 2021

My “Women Laughing Alone with Salad” Moment

My “Women Laughing Alone with Salad” moment 😂 😢

This photo was taken in 2012, when I was deep in the (White) wellness & personal development world, immersed in the fatphobic, thin-obsessed, patriarchal doctrine that permeates so much of these fitness & nutrition spaces.

(I was also well on my way to a “Clean Eating” inspired eating disorder, which was furthered by the “education” and trainings I was receiving at the time.)

This photo was taken for my ill-fated health coaching practice. I was already resisting the toxic positivity of this world (although I didn’t have the language for it back then), and the insidiousness & hypocrisy of “mindset gaslighting” was not lost on me, either.

But since no one else seemed to be talking about any of that, I thought it was just me. I played along.

This photo, though…

THIS was what I thought I had to be in order to “succeed.”

thin. pretty. smiling. eating salad.

🤢

For the past year or so, I’ve been grappling with the harm that was done to me, and the harm that I unwittingly did to others, during my time in the fitness / wellness industry…

…AND in my early copywriting days, working for (or with) paternalistic, misogynistic, gaslight-y men, and buying into the language of empowerment that was & is used to get women to oppress themselves.

It’s a lot, and I’ve been hesitant to talk about it publicly.

But, it’s important. So I’m gonna try.

This 2nd photo is from 2018, after I’d been writing professionally for 3 years.

Before the shoot, I researched poses & privilege, so I could exude strength & badassery without perpetuating the

male gaze or patriarchal standards of beauty (s/o to Kelly Diels for her tips on this).

It’s a lot closer to the real me—big hair, what-the-fuck.

I still like wearing red though. 😉

Samantha Pollack

About Sam

Samantha Pollack is a Copywriter & Creative Director who works with ethically minded, mission driven businesses who are actively trying to reshape our culture (and possibly tear down the patriarchy). She’s also the founder of The Highly Sensitive Business Owner, a 12-week online program that helps HSPs & neurodivergent business owners create healthier, more sustainable systems in their work.

Sam also writes about feminism, privilege, pop culture, entrepreneurship, the creative process, and whatever else is on her mind. She currently lives in Asheville, NC.

Emails for cult thought leaders.

(Personality included.)

Want to learn how to craft emails that inspire action and engagement WITHOUT the “tried and true” (cough: patriarchal) norms we’ve all been taught?

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(But sometimes, I also like to write about the books I’m reading, or the creative process, or the entrepreneurial experience, or why I hate Steve Jobs, or how I met my BFF. I’ll send you emails like that, too.)

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