All photographs by me (Jade Beall) of the incredible mother/dancer/breastfeeding advocate/blogger Ms Wright's Way. More photos below.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I signed up to go study abroad through the Rotary Club for my junior year in Argentina. I went to all the meetings, paid all my fees by babysitting and was ecstatic for the trip and beyond ready to go! A stack of guide books lived next to my bed which I would hungrily study every night, Argentina saturated my dreams. But then a week before I was to depart, the Rotary Club called my dad to tell him they regretted to inform him that they thought I was too flirtatious and too "risky" to send to Argentina under their agency. I heard those words as "you are a slut and we don't wan't you." Mind you I didn't have a boyfriend at the time because I was obsessed with dance performances and photography competitions and had a 4.0 GPA. And had I truly been "too risky" I still do not understand why they didn't give me the news instead of having my dad deliver me the heartache, as if I were not worthy of being told in person that they had judged me. I never heard from them again, after months of preparations, there was just abrupt silence. They dumped me without even talking to me about their decision, that is to say, their assumption of who I was. It left my heart dented like a sweet and tender apple after an unexpected hailstorm. I am still recovering, because they were not the last to slut shame me.

When we were little innocent girls, many of us learned from other confused adults who led by example to distrust women and for that matter ourselves. We were taught to size each other up/tear one another down based on who had the cool toys and who had the name brand undies with the days of the week printed on the waist band (I wanted those undies so badly and secretly resent deeply that Marina had them) and latter on who was promiscuous and who was not, etc. We learned to size each other up and then to release that built-up pressure of dislike, we learn to talk in deeply dishonoring ways about one another with our friends. For me this meant that as a little girl and then as a teen I trusted no one, not even myself. I desperately wanted to be anybody but me, and I wanted the clothes that Heather had. I was in a bit of a pickle. But it felt more like hell.

Thankfully, I had some amazing life coaches help guide me out of my personal distrust and consequently into trust with other women, my sisters. I remember the day when I looked at a woman who I had secretly envied for years and instead I loved her and realized that she and I are made of the same stuff: love! And that's when I started to be successful not only in my dance classes and in my friendships, but also with photographing women the way I had always loved photographing women since high school: nude, bare, without any adornment or makeup. Here is the thing: because I finally trusted myself, other women started trusting me and success followed!

When I see other women doing things that I do not understand and by learned un-authentic habit I want to 'judge.' But then I remember my truth and I internally smile: their unique way of living which I do not understand and which I need not make assumptions about is an incredible opportunity to expand my ability to love and my understanding of this world of being human! Most of the time we are making assumptions about other women ie: she is a slut because she dresses that way/has many lovers, why does she pole dance, why breastfeed a toddler, why does she do this, that or WHATEVER. It just does not matter, any of those assumptions! Things that truly matter: Respect. Honoring one another matters. Seeing ourselves as beautiful so that we may see others as gorgeous matters. Supporting each other matters.

If we can be taught to be unkind, then we can learn to be wholeheartedly kind! We can honor our varying sexuality needs and we can agree that we are powerful as individuals and phenomenal when loving or at least honoring each other. I love my friend who has the most abundant libido of any other human I have met in all my years on this planet and I love my friend who recently became a nun. They are both my Sheros for different and awesome reasons! We are all worthy of love, we are all worthy of beauty, we are all worthy of being free from shame.

BIG love and thank yous to Ashley Wright aka Ms Wrights Way for being so courageous with sharing herself, without makeup and perfect all around and for making these images with me for all of us to love, some of my favorites to date.