Dyspraxic Adults

Hello everyone, hope you're coping OK with the lockdown!

I have a question I'd be particularly interested to hear from the other women on this forum about - do you consider yourselves to be 'body positive'? I broadly consider myself to be a feminist, and I read a lot of online feminist articles about how you should be proud and positive about your body even if you're not conventionally attractive. I agree it's bad for your mental health to spend a lot of time disliking your body, but I can't help thinking body positivity wasn't created by or for dyspraxic people.

Personally, I dislike my body. I'm not particularly conventionally pretty, but I honestly don't mind that so much. I'm very uninterested in fashion and femininity. But my real issues with my body aren't about my looks, they're about the dyspraxia. I have immense difficulties with any form of physical exercise or hand-eye coordination. Every time I try to attempt a simple physical task, like going for a run or carrying out basic repairs around the house, I can either only do it very slowly and with a lot of mistakes, or I fail altogether. My entire relationship with my body is about thinking of it as a separate force from me, that I have no real control over and that frequently blocks me from living the life I want. I feel frustrated and ashamed about my body, not because it doesn't live up to a beauty ideal, but because it can't complete the simple practical tasks that most people take for granted.

I feel like I'm failing feminism as well - feminism is about proving that women are strong and competent and I'm a woman who's, physically at least, weak and incompetent. Quite often I have to get my Dad to do my home repairs for me because he's the only person I know who's good at them, oh the shame. I feel like I confirm all the worst sexist stereotypes about women. I think I do have good self-esteem overall, but that's because my good qualities are all in my brain - I'm highly intelligent and I try to be kind and ethical towards others - not in my body.

I'd be interested to hear how other women in this forum feel about your bodies, if anyone's willing to share. Do you love your body, hate it or feel neutral? Do you feel like your body works with you or against you?

Thank you for your post.

I feel like sometimes my body works with me and sometimes against me. I can swim perfectly fine but practical DIY and team sports no. Luckily, I don't have to involve myself in team sports anymore because I always got picked last. I do feel body positive yes, 10 or so years ago, I would say that wasn't true. Certain jobs, I've had either work with me, or against me in terms of being able to do it and swiftly.

I feel, like I want to go faster at times, then my body will carry me. I feel like people judge quickly because of my slowness in body, they probably at times misconceive that I'm slow in mind too. I keep myself to myself because I feel people judge my ability, through how I present myself. I am body positive in the sense that if people aren't going to take the time to understand how I work, I'll just make less of an impression, to become invisible to them and appear boring.