Dear Body / 03 INTERVIEWEE
MIANMIAN Mianmian is still learning to understand and accept her body. She hopes to one day live beyond others’ praise or criticism, and define herself on her own terms.
How did you first realise that something was different with your body? I hadn't had my period for five or six months. I was still very young, and I didn't even know what PCOS was. Before the diagnosis, I kept imagining all kinds of possibilities. Strangely, being diagnosed actually made me feel relieved. I finally knew what was happening to my body. Did PCOS ever make you dislike your body? I wouldn't say I hated my body as a whole. But I hated one part of it, my period. Sometimes it lasted for so long that I wished I could simply never have another period again. How did your period affect your everyday life? I loved sports, but when I was bleeding for weeks, I couldn't swim or exercise the way I wanted to. Sometimes I had to keep asking for leave from PE, and I didn't know how to explain it, especially to male teachers. It felt private, embarrassing and exhausting. Did PCOS ever make you feel different from the people around you? Yes. Sometimes my classmates noticed that I had been using sanitary pads for weeks. They were probably just concerned, but I still felt as if something private had been exposed. Everyone else seemed “normal”, and I felt like the strange one. Why did you eventually stop paying so much attention to PCOS? At first, I believed I had to treat it because 1
doctors and adults kept telling me that it could affect my fertility. But as I got older, I started questioning why fertility had to be so important to me. I realised that I might not even want children. Do you think accepting PCOS is the final goal? Not completely. PCOS is still an illness, and it can affect more than fertility. I don't think we should simply ignore it in the name of acceptance. I hope women can receive better information about how PCOS affects their whole body, not just their ability to have children. When did you start becoming conscious of your body? I never really thought there was anything w r o n g w i t h m y b o d y. B u t s o m e o n e commented on how thin I was but pointed out my belly. After that, I started noticing it. What would true self-acceptance look like to you? I don't think I'm there yet. I still depend on other people's approval. When people tell me I'm beautiful, I feel confident. But sometimes one negative comment can destroy all of that. My ideal is to reach a point where praise and criticism no longer define me. I want to simply stand there and let their voices pass by like wind, without letting them penetrate me.
Mianmian / External voices
A girl who loves sports.
Chinese Medicine
What's wrong with my body? I now a s t t is. e l t i A what know
You got this!
DIFFERENT PRIVACY FERTILITY
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Dear Body / 03
Because my menstrual bleeding can last two to three weeks each time, I end up piling sanitary pads in the trash every day. I'm afraid the smell might bother the student responsible for taking out the garbage that day, making me feel like a burden. My roommates also notice that I've been using pads continuously for two or three weeks and seem puzzled about it. 3
Mianmian / External voices
I can't take swimming lessons anymore. Because of continuous bleeding, sometimes I can't get into the water for long periods.
I can't exercise freely anymore. I used to love sports in middle and high school, playing ball or running almost every day, but during my period, my body feels like it doesn't allow me to do intense physical activity.
I hate dealing with a body that constantly bleeds, it makes me extremely irritable. More than just changing pads, what bothers me most is how inconvenient it feels to bleed all the time.
My bleeding might last two or three weeks, and I hate having to use sanitary pads nonstop for several weeks straight. 4
Dear Body / 03
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Mianmian / External voices
Because PCOS caused continuous bleeding, I had to repeatedly ask for leave during physical education classes. Since the PE teacher was male, he assumed menstruation usually lasts only about a week. I saw him puzzled, asking, "You just asked for leave last class—why are you asking again?" He even told me that frequent absences might result in deductions or affect my grades. However, I didn't want to explain my personal condition to a male teacher. I didn't feel comfortable revealing that I have PCOS and irregular periods, as it felt too private, which made me feel troubled and ashamed. 6
Dear Body / 03
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Mianmian / External voices
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Dear Body / 03
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Mianmian / External voices
I still let other people decide whether I am beautiful or not. When they say I'm beautiful, I believe them.When one person says I'm not, everything falls apart.
“Dear body, no matter what others say, my body remains my own.”
Finally, I realised their voices are only wind. They pass through the air, but they no longer pass through me.
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Design & Research: Xingxi Lin Interview Participant: Mianmian Photography: Xingxi Lin Typeface Arial Black Franklin Gothic Book Franklin Gothic Demi Franklin Gothic Demi Cond Print & bind: Printed in Glasgow 2026 Publisher: Published by Glasgow School of Art 2026 © Xingxi Lin 2026 Dear Body is an editorial design project exploring the lived experiences of women with PCOS through personal interviews and visual storytelling. All inter views are published with participants' permission. Names have been changed where requested. This publication combines original graphic design, interview materials, and adapted visual elements. Some collage images were sourced from publicly available online references (Pinterest) and transformed through editing, recolouring, texturing and recomposition for educational purposes.