The journey from Laos to the United States is not so far with March Playmate and lifelong explorer Anita Pathammavong as your guide
The journey from Laos to the United States is not so far with March Playmate and lifelong explorer Anita Pathammavong as your guide.
Marigolds fill the pool, and I breathe in the verdant aroma as the florists trim their stems. In front of the lens I can move, flow and express myself completely.
I am naked; all around me, the energy is strong.
The confidence I feel today is the result of an ever-evolving journey of exploration and self-acceptance. Coming from a multicultural background—I was six years old when my family moved from Laos to the Virginia suburbs—I’ve always had a kaleidoscopic view of beauty standards, societal expectations and my own identity.
My dad first relocated to northern Virginia during the Vietnam war, and my mother went to an all-girls Catholic school in Thailand before she moved to Washington, D.C. at 17. I was raised with pretty traditional views surrounding femininity and sexuality.
The American school system wasn’t much help, and my relationship to my body was mostly informed by what I saw on television. It took years of curiosity and community building to get to a place where I felt grounded and comfortable in my own skin. Even now, at the age of 23, I’m still learning new things about my body!