There's A Double Standard In Body Shaming And It's Holding Our Movement Back
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Health and Wellness

There's A Double Standard In Body Shaming And It's Holding Our Movement Back

It's time to talk about what has been going on here.

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There's A Double Standard In Body Shaming And It's Holding Our Movement Back
Flickr

Body shaming is a huge issue in the world right now, especially with young girls.

Body shaming by definition is "the action or practice of humiliating someone by making mocking or critical comments about their body shape or size." Mocking or criticizing any body type is considered to be body shaming, so let me ask you one question: why humiliate girls who are a size 0? It's time to bring to light the double standard of this 'anti body-shaming' movement.

Why can you disrespect me for my size if I am told not to disrespect you for yours?

Songs like "All About That Bass" do exactly this. When referring to "skinny" girls, she addresses them as "skinny bitches." So just because I am skinny means I am not a nice person? Do you feel the need to mock and criticize my body type because it is not yours? So much so that you write an entire song about it? But it doesn't stop there. Then, we are told that these skinny bitches are insecure and think they are actually fat. Hmm.

And if that doesn't convince you that skinny people are body shamed, we can thank Nicki Minaj for the next example. When singing "Anaconda," she repeatedly chants "F—k those skinny bitches... f––k you if you skinny bitches." Wow, and that's coming from a true feminist herself! When you put other girls down, you can no longer claim to be a feminist or an advocate to end body shaming.

Now, if these songs were to actually say "Fat bitches" and "F––k you if you fat bitches" there would be an issue here. Well, if we are being honest, we would never even get to hear these songs because they would never make it to the radio.

But when its trashing skinny people instead, let's all sing along and make millions off of it.

Throughout high school and even now, people will make comments like "do you even eat?" or "you should gain some weight." Now, imagine if I was overweight and people said "how much do you eat?" or "you should lose some weight."

Imagine the controversy that would cause -- so why is it allowed to happen the other way around?

I know that in the past, our culture has promoted a 'cookie cutter' type body in magazines and TV shows, and I definitely do not agree with that.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with any body type, which is exactly my point.

The way to promote all body types in our society does not work if one is being constantly put down. People who assume that skinny girls have an eating disorder or that they focus too much on their bodies need to just stop.

Stop passing judgment on other girls if you yourself claim to be so against judgment when it comes to you. This is a two-way street, and as women, we should all be working together on this and not shutting out another side.

And for everyone who is reading this right now thinking "skinny shaming isn't real" or "it's not as bad as fat shaming," think about it. To get rid of body shaming, you must stop shaming.

Why are we allowing some forms shaming over other forms?

Does that make sense to you? Doesn't that completely contradict what ending body shaming is supposed to be about? If you are seriously going to argue that one type of shame is better than another type of shame, you should really reconsider.

So if you ever find yourself bashing a skinny girl for her appearance, remember that you are body shaming. It goes both ways. And if you do it, you clearly are in favor of body shaming.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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