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i don’t want to manage a body, i want to live in one 🌀 body trends, self-surveillance, and pleasure



i don’t want to manage a body, i want to live in one 🌀 body trends, self-surveillance, and pleasure

after writing about discipline as pleasure, I knew I had to write about body discipline, body trends, and how they connect to our eroding sense of self, and lack of meaning and creativity 🌸 give Headspace a try entirely for free for 60 days to build better sleep and stronger mental health into your routine! use my link: https://headspace-web.app.link/e/NMO

I have a book club https://ninamontagne.substack.com/

CHAPTERS
0:00 your body is not a project
5:22 body ideals are a trap
11:06 manageable and obedient bodies
16:11 achievement society
19:10 the quantified self
22:35 story as medicine
25:53 real bodies in the real world
27:46 pleasure is a compass

Resources:
Pixel Flesh Ellen Atlanta
Women Who Run with the Wolves Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Crisis of Narration Byung-Chul Han
Burn Out Society Byung-Chul Han
Gender Trouble Judith Butler
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-06198-5

The Problem With Treating Women’s Body Types Like Fashion Trends


https://psyche.co/ideas/the-achievement-society-is-burning-us-out-we-need-more-play
https://www.dazed.me/beauty/the-bbl-is-dead-but-we-still-arent-free

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19 Comments

  3. @blooome on

    nina
    greetings from an italian girl living in canada

    i have been watching your videos for quite a long time, but have never left you a comment. so i am taking a minute to let you know how much i love your discussions. you are so passionate about learning and knowledge, and it is a pleasure listening to you. coffee is always better with dear, sweet, beautiful nina.
    thank you

    ciao bella
    xo melina

  5. @milikoshki on

    I am trying to organize my thoughts. I appreciate hearing your perspective. It's funny, because for me, injury made me into an athlete I probably never would have been otherwise. I was almost killed when I was hit by a car in a crosswalk, and spent 2 years dealing with the acute repercussions- broken bones, hospitalizations, multiple surgeries, temporary disability to the point of being unable to bathe. My injury completely ripped away the illusion of safety or the idea of guaranteed long healthy life. But it was also a (p radical) preview of infirmity, of what can happen when you go your whole life putting up no fight to the slow decline that comes with the modern sedentary life. For me, I am all in on doing what I can to be as mobile and fit as my current ability allows because being strong and getting injured or ill is better than being weak and getting injured or ill. It only took me one day in the trauma ward after my accident to see that. When I was still fully non weight bearing, I discovered I could do pistol squats with my healthy leg, just from being on crutches. It's just crazy how our bodies work around stuff and still manage to do amazing shit. My injury completely reintroduced me to my own physical self, completely rewired what matters, what hard feels like, and what my priorities are going forward. I remember distinctly when I finally worked up the courage to go to the pool (I was scared of slipping) and got obsessively into lap swimming, and after one swim I was standing in front of the mirror when I had the thought "my body is my own." I looked at myself only with my own eyes. I swam ONLY for me. I guess getting hit by a car knocked all the shitty thoughts and voyeuristic self appraisal out of me. Since then my body and what I can do in the pool and on my bike, the two sports I fell in love with post injury, is a celebration of being alive and being so lucky to use this amazing instrument to have fun, see new places, meet new people. The more fit I am, the more fun I have, the more mentally well I am, and the less scared or embarrassed I am to try new stuff. I really hope more people can find their way to this headspace, because it's not made easy ever, but esp not now. sorry to make it all about me in a classic anon comment way, but I just wanted to share 🙂

  6. @AlexReilly on

    This was a GREAT video – lots of threads I wanna follow, many related to what I've already been reading, listening to, and writing about. Appreciate your take on this! 🩷

  8. @roob9747 on

    Thank you for this video and these perspectives. I think I found myself being too busy, too harsh. I just want a body I want to care for and love

  9. @AaronLance on

    Thanks for covering this topic. I think you're underestimating the performative culture on men, who are actively pressured to disregard how we feel. We push through and deny pain, and generally how we feel. A lot has been said about how men our out of touch with emotions, but that's a byproduct of denying our senses. Since we deny how we feel, we can't hope to understand how others feel.

    We can't hope to connect with others when we actively deny our own senses. If we overly focus on how we look and metrics, rather than deeper comprehension of how we feel, we're ignoring deeper sensations like interoception, proprioception and nociception. The men are out of touch, and mislead fitness culture because we're literally out of our senses.

    Men in particular need practices like Yoga, Pilates, meditation, and other movement practices to overcome our detachment and be more human.

  12. @carolbiagio2238 on

    one of my biggest desires in life is to have as much aknowledge as you one day, honestly. thank you so much for this video, it was really impactful for me

  13. @MilkandMoss on

    Thank you for your thoughtful videos. I never quite thought about things in this way before, and you really make me think more deeply about life and the choices I make. I always come away with a new perspective. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us.