Media plays a huge role in today’s society, whether it's pictures in magazines, interviews of celebrities or music videos. Often times, young adults can take away the wrong message from these ideal figures they look up to. Many look up to Victoria's Secret Models for their tall and rare stature and for so long I was the young girl who stared at the screen in awe at what an inspiration they were. But I’ve found a new inspiration—Bythe Baird, a college student, actress, feminist and poet.
During my freshman year at Penn State I went to a slam poetry session, not necessarily because I wanted to but because a friend asked me to go so she could receive extra credit for bringing someone along. I knew I was going to enjoy listening to people share stories so close to their hearts in the form of poetry and I did. As a girl I could relates to some of the slam poems shared by other girls about feminism, body shaming and rape culture, but I kept waiting for a poem regarding mental health to come up and it just didn’t. Part of me was disappointed because unfortunately I know how that can be such a relatable topic but then it’s also not something people are always comfortable talking about.
Then I found Bythe Baird through a YouTube search and her slam poems were everything I could ever want to say but not have the strength to put into words. Now all of her poems aren’t focused on mental health, she addresses feminism and feeling like you need to shrink your beliefs when you are a girl amongst all the boys. She tells how she is reassured sexism is dead but in the same sentence told to always carry pepper spray. She also addresses many other struggles and issues in today’s society.
The first slam poem I heard by her was “When The Fat Girl Gets Skinny,” a title that draws attention to it immediately. This poem goes into her days struggling with anorexia, her fears and what led her to become so in love with her illness— feeling as if anorexia was the most interesting thing about her, feeling pretty only when she is hungry, feeling proud of being cold in a warm room. All things that show you’re eating disorder is winning the battle against yourself and all things relatable to many who suffer with this illness. Throughout all of the reasons she fell in love with her eating disorder she gave one reason to hate this illness that will always personally stick with me, “if you are not recovering you are dying.”
So Blythe Baird, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for your amazing strength and courage to voice your struggles in such a beautiful way. Thank you for not holding back and not sugar coating anything because eating disorders, rape culture, anti-feminism, and homophobia are not rainbows and sunshine’s. I also want to congratulate you on your recovery and wish you the best.
