The Lingerie Addict

January 7, 2013

Reblogging because of the Gossard bra (gorgeous!!!) but also to answer the questions here:

sailorv:

I was speaking with The Lingerie Lesbian about this recently, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Have you posted photos of yourself in underwear/lingerie on the internet? If so, I’m interested in knowing your experience. Particularly:

Do you have any regrets? If so, what? I have posted photos of myself in my lingerie on the internet, but I don’t have any regrets. I do think it’s something to think over carefully before deciding to take the leap because once it’s on the internet, you can’t take it back…it’s there forever. It’s also worth thinking about what kind of images you want to have online (pin-up, boudoir, portraits, faceless, erotic, etc.) because again, once it’s there, it’s there.

Have coworkers/employers/potential employers seen the photos? Do you think it has affected or will affect your ability to get a job? Yes. To both. I know for a fact I have not been offered jobs because there are photos of me in my underwear online. And I’m not talking nudity or pornography either…they’re mostly pinup shots. In my case, I’ve always been up front about my lingerie blog because I don’t want people thinking I’m hiding something or ashamed of something (it’s bras and panties…why should I be ashamed?), but some workplaces are more conservative than others and some will hold it against you if there are photos of you in your lingerie out and about.

Do your parents or other family members know you have posted them? What was their response? Yes. My parents know, my fiance knows, his parents know, and our extended family knows. I haven’t had any negative responses (at least to my face). For me, I don’t take any photos I wouldn’t be comfortable with my Mom and Dad seeing. If I feel it’s something they’d be ashamed of or embarrassed by, that’s a sign to me I shouldn’t do it. But of course everyone else’s personal criteria varies. The way I feel about it, as least as far as my extended family goes, if you don’t like it, don’t look at it. I also check in with my fiance before posting new photos of myself just so he’s aware of what images are out and about.

What type of positive and negative feedback have you received? Most of the feedback to images of myself online has been overwhelmingly positive. I think a lot of that is because many women want to see alternatives to the traditional beauty norms that are out there. Women (myself included) want to see other women we can identify with in some respect. Of course, I have gotten some negative feedback (people have said I look like a “tranny” for example, which is obviously really gross and transphobic), but I don’t focus on that. I like how I look. My fiance likes how I look. My readers like how I look. And if I’m not your cuppa’, well, that’s okay…I don’t have to be.

Did posting lingerie photos online increase or decrease your self-esteem/body image? I’m not sure it had any effect on my self-esteem. My body image was already pretty stable and my self-esteem was already fairly high before I started posting photos; I wasn’t trying to work through any body issues by putting up images of myself. But I do think, especially if you’re prone to negative body image, it’s worth thinking through all the possibilities (including negative ones) if you decide to put photos of yourself online.

Hope this helps someone!

You can message me on Tumblr or e-mail me (catherine@seecreatures.com). You can be anonymous or not! Images not required unless you want to. :)

I would love to know what everyone has to say!