Down the Drain

by Julia Fox

I’m forced to face the unsettling reality that the people who are supposed to protect us are sometimes the same people we need protection from.

Maybe she wants to protect me, but it feels like she’s projecting her own limitations onto me. As I think to myself that my mom just doesn’t realize what I’m capable of, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not good enough.

I don’t understand why these men are lamenting about getting older. It’s not like they’re given expiration dates, the same way women are.

I’m an artist in the role of a lifetime, playing Me.

As I shed weight and lose my famous curves, something unexpected happens. Men no longer find me attractive, and strangely, it’s liberating.

I don’t want men to like me anymore. I’m over it. I’m reclaiming my body and rejecting the notion that I exist only to be visually pleasing.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the countless mistakes I made to get here. It’s okay to live with regret. It’s not okay to let it consume you.