Dasha
Snyder strips down for our feature on the beauty and blemish
of the human body.
Dasha Snyder,
38
Baltimore
Likes: brain and feet --
“because they get me where I’m
going”
Dislikes: scarred abdomen
“Being
naked in front of other people is sort of revolutionary, I
think,” says writer and filmmaker Dasha Snyder.
“You have to take several steps to get
there.” For Snyder, that involved a lot of
conversations with her girlfriend, who encouraged her
to strip down in an effort to grow more comfortable
with herself. “I’m not a size 2,” she
says. “I’m not tall, blond, and skinny,
which is very much the ideal here in Los Angeles.”
Still, Snyder says she’s comfortable with her body
image -- for the most part. “Feeling
self-conscious about my body is not so much about the way
I’m shaped -- it’s attracted my girlfriend and
it’s gotten me where I am -- but I would love
to tuck my shirt in and not have a big roll there.
That’s the one thing that irks me.”
An effusive fan
of The L Word, Snyder notes the show is not very diverse
when it comes to body types -- a fact she tried to remedy
with her film The D Word, a spoof of the
Showtime drama. “Some people hear you’re
a lesbian and they think it’s a hip, cool thing.
And I’m all for being hip, cool, and in,” says
Snyder. “But they’re also puzzled when
you don’t look like Leisha Hailey or when
you’re not this tall, gorgeous Jennifer Beals.
I’m never gonna look like that -- and neither
are most of my friends.”
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Profiles by Neal
Broverman, Kyle Buchanan, Japhy Grant