Throughout my life, I have noticed trends and outlooks that are none other than a thing of the past. Everyone has different body types and everyone develops at different paces. So why is it that we ridicule those with smaller figures or girls that are considered to be "skinny"?

Ever since I was little, I've always had a petite figure. My mom is small, my grandma is small, and just like them, I am small. Because of my petite figure, I have found that people would judge me frequently saying that "I don't eat" or "I'm unhealthy", etc. This just goes to show how differently people are looked at based off of their weight or physical appearance. Just because I have a smaller figure and considered "skinny" does not mean that I don't struggle with my body image issues or have all the self-confidence in the world. Although I've never been the one to go on diets or watch what I eat, I've always been self-conscious of my figure and how "small" I am.

I will never forget going to the mall last year with a couple of my new college friends. Looking through clothes and picking them out to try on, I was constantly worried that nothing would fit. While I would enter the fitting room with 10+ items, I would most likely exit with one or two pieces if any. When my friends and I reconvened, everyone questioned why I had no clothes in my hand. When I exclaimed they didn't fit, everyone said something along the lines of "What do you mean nothing fits, you're so small, you can fit into anything."

Although it can look like that on the outside, I always find myself struggling to fit into things because of my small and petite figure. What I dislike most is the idea that "skinny" girls have no care or insecurity in the world. Compared to all of my friends, I was always looked at as being "smaller" and I hated it. While I had insecurities like everyone else, no one would ever acknowledge how I felt because they thought being skinny was anything but a problem.

My friends and I still go to the gym when we have a chance, but I am not one for the daily workouts. I'll go to the gym if I feel like I need more activity a certain day or if I'm feeling "blah", but it has never been a priority for me. While my friends can drag me to the gym, I will constantly stay behind because I don't feel as if I need to that day, or just want to cut myself some slack. Different from my friends, I've never been the one to watch what I eat. Now getting older, I see friends going on diets, etc. to maintain a healthy lifestyle and I applaud them for that.

But no one should ever judge you when you don't want to go to the gym that day or criticize you because you have a faster metabolism than them. One day when I exclaimed that I didn't want to go to the gym my friend exclaimed, "You know, your metabolism is going to catch up with you someday". And although that is true, that I might not have this figure forever, no one should ever be ridiculed for there body image or being "skinny". I am looked at as though being skinny is a problem, people now associating being skinny with the social construct of modeling what is has done to the body image standard. It is as though because I am skinny, I have no body image problems and people can say whatever they want about my body.

Body image is a thing that everyone struggles with, whether it be a major or minor thing in their lives. I should not have to apologize for my fast metabolism, because that is how I was born. I have always eaten a lot, but it has never showed. So please don't tell me I need to eat more, or that I'm anorexic because it's not true. I may be small, but I am considered healthy for my size and honestly, it is no one else's business. Everyone has different body types. The new movement of every size is beautiful is amazing for the social construct of body images. Just realize that EVERY SIZE is beautiful, so stop criticizing girls who are "skinny", they have feelings and insecurities, just like everyone else.