Writing the body paper was quite difficult, becuase I felt at times there was so much I could write about and then at other times, I would have nothing. It was also an obstacle to try to formulate my thoughts into a coherent flow. The prompts were helpful in clearing the shadows in my thoughts and giving me some ideas of where to commence this little journey. However, there was also another aspect about the assignment that was daunting, which was the implied intimacy this assignment had (at least to me). Many good ideas popped into my mind, but then they would seem so personal and I wasn't sure if I was ready to explore that realm yet- much less share it with others. I was nonetheless able to write a thoughtful first draft of the body autobiography and it did move me to explore my first thoughts in a more private sector, so that maybe when the final copy is due, I could possibly incorporate it into the paper. It was an interesting assignment and definitely not like many of the other assignments I have received in the wonderful world of academia. This paper allowed me to think about certain things that I normally don't think about or don't have the time to think about and it showed me the menagerie of impacts body image can have in any and all facets.

First of all, I love to write--almost any time, any assignment--so this was bound to be interesting for me. I really enjoyed composing the body paper, mainly because it gave me an excuse to finally put down in writing many ideas and feelings I have long harbored concerning my physical self. I have conflicting feelings about this subject, but am heartened to have come to the overall conclusion that--all in all--I could feel a whole helluva lot worse about my body than I do.

This paper was enjoyable for me because of its permission of creative boundaries. I feel more confident in myself as a writer when given these types of creative assignments. The parameters were broad and open, unlike the normal academia of typical college writing. I felt that making our own decisions about subject and form was the perfect way to go about such a personal essay. I agree with Puja that it was difficult to formulate such a personal and private essay, but it was also liberating at the same time. There were things too that I could have written about that are deeply personal to me- so i decided to focus on four aspects of my body: my hands, hips, head, and heart. The four sections of my essay described the things that have shaped and sometimes altered my view of the corresponding body part. It was a helpful and exploratory project in examining how i see those parts of my body and why they are the way they are. Despite its wavering difficulty, i enjoyed this assignment very much.

First of all I did enjoy writing this paper because it forced me to see myself and write in a different fashion. However, I must be honest and say this is probably is a paper that really lacks clarity in its explanation so I hope with class time I can recieve helpful hints as to how to express my thoughts in a more coherent fashion. I am hoping by the end of the semester when the final draft of this paper is due to kinda of combine some of my thoughts into more of a journal or diary form. In other words, my goal for this paper was to write with my readers' knowledge of some of the aspects of my topic but explain my thoughts in a way that I was writing in first person and they were picking up various excerpts from a journal entry that I had written from a few years back. So hopefully I will get this accomplished!

This paper brought out several emotions out of me. I think with the right amount of time, I could really make it a much better and more detailed paper. There is so much more that I wanted to expand on, but I couldn't find the words to do so. Hopefully later on in the semester I will be able to do so.

I agree with Erica, about not knowing how to express the emotions that the paper brought out in me. I had just started by writing about different things I like or don't like about my body, and I got a good deal of things written. But when it came time to then put them into a paper, I felt like some things were just too miscellaneous or that I was rambling instead of making any sense. But maybe the more I work on it, the more I'll be able to fully express what I'm thinking in coherent ways.

Edited by author 01-30-2004 11:40 AM
I wrote about the "doubting thomas's" that think the sports I play or have played are too tough for me to handle as a not-so-big guy. I was told I was always too small but in this paper I was able to put in text how I really felt when people would make ridiculous statements. I did not really look at it as a venting exercise but more as answering questions like, "everyone is so much bigger than you...why are you doing this to yourself?" I went about writing this paper somewhat arrogantly but that's how I have always handled answering their questions. I really enjoyed getting a lot thoughts and ideas down on paper. It was not one of my best written assignments but I think I will learn how to write an excellent essay about a passion.

i wrote about a picture taken of me sophmore year. i tried to analze and remember how i felt about my body and then further how my soul or my mind was in unison with my outer image. i played around with the imagry of body image and finger prints, more or less the idea of what is is being impressed on people. usually what a person stamp on another person are the things that are not seen at first and are usually the most important characteristics of a person. i tried ti convey that how you feel internally is reflected externally.

For the autobiography of my body, I chose to write about the history of my body image. I started with when I first really started thinking about my body in terms of how others viewed me. I also talk about what it took for me to overcome the need to try and please others with my body appearance and to, instead, focus on my body's health.

I have to admit, like some of you this paper was hard for me to write. In fact, it was probably the hardest paper I have ever written. I did not know what to talk about, so I just wrote about how my feelings about my body evolved through the years. It seems that my paper probably wasn't as personal as it should have been. But, like I said, it was REALLy hard for me to write, and it almost made me feel worse after writing it because I talked a lot about what I didn't like about my body. However, I to.o am hoping that it can get better as the class goes on, and may actually become something worth reading

Well, the common refrain appears to be, "this paper was hard to write for me!" I'm no different. I knew exactly some of the things that I'd be covering in the paper from the first day that we talked about the paper, but I still found sitting down and reading it extraordinarily different. Probably because some of the things I wrote about I am still struggling with, and thinking about the other things I no longer worry about makes me remember how much pain was caused. There were things from my past I had completely forgotten before I started thinking about this paper, and some of them I'm not terribly pleased to have remembered.

It's interesting - I find that I resonate more with the work we're doing and reading than I perhaps expected at first. Maybe that's because there's so much more crap about body image in the male gay community than there is among straight men...

I think of myself as being a confident person, but I do have to agree with my fellow classmates, it was difficult to write this paper. The prompts given were a much appreciated help. But even with the prompts, my problem was being able to put down on paper, my thoughts and feelings about my body and body image in clearly and conscisely. I do feel comfortable in what I have started with, but I am glad that there is an opportunity to build and expound on this writing project. As far as the mission statement goes, I think that a great job was done on it in being able to combine thoughts from numerous people and it will present clearly what we as a class are looking for.

When we were first given this assignment, I was completely perplexed as to what exactly to write about. I ended up writing about an accident that I had about a year ago. Overall, I felt that this paper was really challenging but that it was also a step in the right direction for me in terms of body image. This paper forced me to dig up some of the things that I have had buried for years. I think its kind of funny the way some things sound when they are actually down on paper.

This assignment had to be one of the hardest that i ever had to do, which is funny b/c its always easy to talk about yourself. I have rarely been assigned a creative paper since I have been in college. Though it was refreshing,it was equally demanding b/c it requried me to really search within myself. I was worried about being to surface with my writing. Since it was about my body, and we're learning how bodies are seen in so many different ways, I wanted to be honest and thourough. I wanted to take the opportunity to really address my body and give the voice that has rarely gets to be heard. It was also hard for me to get started on the paper because I kept being tempted to seperate my body into a particular part. Instead, I shaped my essay around one part (my hair) and formed the rest of my story aroud that. It was very challenging but I enjoyed it and can't wait to see how the finished product turns out.