It is with great joy that we present to you The Body Issue, in which we seek to explore our relationships with our bodies.

Marks on belly, breasts, leg and feet
I am old
I am living spirit

Because this big dick energy
Only reminds me every day
That cancer
Can go fuck itself.

And I was told Little girls were just that.

Little.
They were to be little.
Not big
Not chubby
Not husky
Not thick

But little.

I dream of a time when every body
remembers that their vessel is divine.

For far too long, our bodies have been
Objectified. Criticized. Fetishized.

Cuando eres chingona
they hear you coming.
With each step,
tacón to floor,
the force of fleshy fat,
la tierra tiembla.

I don’t want top surgery.

I want to live in a world where my top doesn’t need surgery to be shown and perceived the way I want it to be.

This started a life-long battle with my body, with how I perceive it, how I feed it, how I dress it, and how I move in it. It all changed at that moment. My body, which up until that point was to me an instrument of play, became a battleground for all the expectations that society puts in bodies and became a painful reminder that I will never fit those expectations.

Body, I am
Body, I feel
Body, I thrive
Body, I ache