Society is constantly throwing images in our faces of what an ideal body shape should look like. You can barely go anywhere without seeing a blown-up picture of a too-perfect-looking human being with white teeth and glossy hair and an unnaturally good looking body that makes you look down at your own with a sick feeling in your stomach. Newsflash, everybody does it. And newsflash, those people advertised don't look like that in real life.
Body image is such a big deal because our bodies our the most vulnerable things we have. They're the first thing people notice and subconsciously evaluate. And that's why people are so worried about their own. If your body isn't "socially acceptable" does that then make you a social pariah? "Fat" has been seen as a negative connotation in society, and we're only now starting to break away from that.
While this is, in general, a great step for society, we've now taken two steps back. And why? Because now "skinny" is quickly becoming the new fat. Nobody wants to be skinny. Skinny is bad. Skinny is unattractive. Popular musical artists are starting to take slams at skinny people. Meghan Trainer's "All About That Bass" pretty much is a giant middle finger to "skinny bitches" and Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" clearly states "F*ck the skinny bitches." Why don't you just eat a cheeseburger, skinny people? Why don't you just put a little more meat on your bones, skinny people? Real women have curves, skinny girls.
As a naturally skinny person, I'm gonna be real honest with you. I'm tired of this shit.
And it's not that I'm just tired of people hating on skinny people. I'm tired of people hating on people in general. It's not "socially acceptable" anymore to tell fat people to lose weight, but yeah, go ahead and rag on the skinny people, they've had their turn.
And it's true, a lot of models are depicted as tall and thin, but really only a handful of the higher-end fashion companes use models that are unhealthily so. And yes, I agree promoting an unhealthily under-weight model is totally unacceptable, but it's less common than you think. So why is promoting unhealthily over-weight models acceptable now?
And let's be real, most models are photo shopped like nobody's business anyway. Those girls with flat-as-a-board stomachs but unproportionally large breasts and asses? Yeah, that's not how it works unless you get plastic surgery. But it's not as if thin girls don't have "curves" either. We have hips and boobs and butts too. We're not two dimensional stick figures thankyouverymuch.
So now let's get down to the nitty gritty of what really is the issue. And let me tell you something, it's a doozy so hang on to your seats....
Everyone's body shape is different.
Wow. Crazy concept I know. Take a moment to recover from your shock. But seriously, nobody (girl or guy) is cut with the same exact cookie cutter shape. We all look different. It's about how we take care of ourselves and how we keep ourselves healthy.
Anorexia and other eating disorders usually blame the "skinny" image placed on society, but eating disorders are an actual diagnosed condition. Like depression or any other mental illness, And no, we shouldn't glamorize the underweight and put models on the catwalk that mimic the bodies of those with these eating disorders. That's wrong. That's a bad influence to other people.
But you also have to take into account that obesity is a HUGE issue in society today. And putting overweight models on the runway is no different than putting skeleton-thin girls on the runway, It's an unhealthy outlook and it's wrong.
Being healthy is what really matters. Yeah, I'm thin. But I eat more than most of the guys I know and I make (for the most part) healthy food choices. I get my exercise in and I (try) to work out everyday. And yeah, I do have the occasional weekend of binge watching Netflix and eating an entire jar of Nutella, but I'm only human after all.
If a particular company is putting pressure on bigger girls to lose weight to look "attractive", they're wrong. If an overweight person who hasn't left the couch in a week or made any attempt to exercise or eat something other than the giant bag of Sour Patch Kids in their hand criticizes a thin girl for her healthy lifestyle choices, that's super wrong too.
Some people were born bigger, some people were born smaller. Just like some people were born with blue eyes and some were born with brown eyes. As I've stated before, no one is better than the other, We're all just trying to get along in life and worrying about whether or not we're too fat or thin shouldn't be made a big concern. Screw society and what they think. Small people are beautiful and big people are beautiful. And why does it have to be any more complicated than that?
For anybody struggling with body insecurity check out this video.
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