Bodies

"I am the worst kind of fattist...I am a fat fattist" from Dex in the Tao of Steve

So, I was sitting at the wavepool at Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, and I was having a good time catching up on phone calls from work and trying to get a little theological reading in after being with the kiddos for most of the week on our trip.

And here we were. Sherie, our secretary, who has a very thin build and eats hardly anything. And me in my deck shoes, khakis and hawaiian shirted, buddha-bellied, friar glory. And we were both in the deck chairs. After about a half an hour I turned to her and said, "Its great people watching here isn't it?". She agreed. Then she continued to try and secretly check out the twenty-something body builders.

I was checking out a lot of the folks walking by myself, and what struck me was the varieties of human bodies I saw. And within this variety, how the person felt about their body in relationship to how I thought they should.

Of course...my first thought was that people should have more regard for societal standards of beauty. Bald men under 5'5" and over 300 pounds with three times as thick of hair on their back as the top of their head should not be running around without a shirt or a care in the world I thought. They should be like me and spare the rest of the world the horrid sight of their bare chested glory.

And then there was a lady about 30 yards to my left that was thin, about 60, tan as she could be, and with more wrinkles that I could have imagined on someoene in a white bikini. And she was smoking cigarettes like a fiend and tanning. She reminded me of the more mature female roommate on "Something About Mary". And I thought to myself...that is disturbing. Then I thought...no... that is amusing.

Then I looked around at this sea of humanity and it was amazing to see the differences in body types and corresponding body images. There were modelesque types of women in their early 20s that seemed uncomfortable with their bodies no matter how good they looked. And there were men wearing speedos that could have made Jack Black look like a men's underwear model. And there were a lot of people who were just happy to be out playing and could care less what they looked like or what other people thought.

And then I looked around and thought about how their were so many varieties of beautiful around me as well. Black women with wide hips and large rear ends that looked gorgeous. As well as thin Asian 30-something mothers of three. Maybe I am just not picky enough on the female body and physical appearance, but there seem to be thousands of different kinds of beautiful if you look for it. Of course their are hundreds of different kinds of ugly too.

Then I spent the next week at camp. In a rustic cabin. With middle school boys. Leading a middle school camp.

And, strangely, this blog that I had planned in KC, continued to grow.

Their were these girls that were nicknamed the Barbee girls cause they all wore matching Barbee t-shirtsand they were all from Pueblo. And they spent hours every day doing makeup.

And, if you think adult bodies have a lot of variety in how they look...just spend a week with middle schoolers. Boys who shave more often than I do and boys who have not entered puberty. Girls that still look and act like 4th graders and carry around stuffed animals and girls who are 6 feet tall and have legs longer than mine.

And equally interesting is who they find attractive. Because most of it is based on pecking order and popularity, it isn't always what you would think. And sometimes, in a new environment like camp, the people who are not as popular at school all of the sudden become the "hotties of the week" at camp because kids see them in a whole new light than the people who live with them and have grown up with them.

And again, and I mean this in a non-creepy or predatory way, it is amazing how many types of beautiful there are. And how people can have opposite body types and each be adorably cute.