Welcome to 2012

This year at Blogger Body one of the first things you will notice is the awesome new set of bloggers we have. I am truly excited about the people who have joined us for our second year of the Blogger Body Calendar. I know you don’t know who those bloggers are yet. We are keeping each month a mystery until Wednesday. Then starting next week, each blogger will have their own week to tell the world that they are joining this project and why.

It will be the gift that keeps on giving, well, for twelve weeks anyway.

But perhaps the biggest change is the one that will be the most exciting to our loyal readers (and new ones too!) We have a new charity. We LOVED working with NEDA last year. They were gracious and supportive, and we know that they are making a real difference every day in the lives of thousands of people. However, one of things that struck me about eating disorders is how violent it is. It’s almost as if women are abusing themselves. A scary thought, to be sure. But none of us believe that violence against women is something that happens ‘somewhere else’ or to ‘someone else’. It happens to us, our sisters, our friends, our mothers, and while this is allowed, we all as women suffer.

This year, I wanted to spotlight women’s strength. To me, above all, women are survivors. They survive domestic abuse, physical, sexual, and mental abuse, and the abuse we sometimes do to ourselves (eating disorders, cutting, etc.). Part of surviving is telling your story- without shame, without fear, and without recrimination. That’s why this year we are celebrating the strength of survival and speaking out, and what website embodies that more than Violence UnSilenced?

This year, all proceeds raised by the calendar will go to the people who run Violence UnSilenced to use to further their mission. We hope that every time you look at one of the pictures in the calendar you are reminded of the strength each one of us possesses. We have both survivors of violence in our calendar, and women who just want to show their support for women who suffer daily around the world.

Last year we had a conversation about body image, this year we will talk about how abuse how touched our lives and how we survived. We’ll talk about how to get help, how to cope, how to be there for your friend, and, how to have a conversation with your daughter about abuse and violence. I know this is a serious subject, and it should be- but we will hope to make you smile a little along the way.

Join us, won’t you?

Ready? Here we go……