For the first time ever in my life I heard the word sizeism. There was a group of college students doing a project called “The Body Project,” and they asked me if I wanted to participate in their project. I asked what it was for and they explained how they want to end sizeism here on campus. I knew people judged others for their body types, but I didn’t know it had a specific name. As a person who is confident with my own body, of course I said I would participate. They had me write an inspirational message about bodies, or if I wanted I could hold their already made sign that said #bodylove, and then they took my picture and put it on Instagram. For my message, I put “anyone can wear a crop top” and I lifted up my shirt to show my stomach for the picture. I thought it was so awesome these students were doing this.
These students were in the campus center the whole week and I happened to be tabling for Dance Marathon that week. They were always near our table, so I got to see how people were reacting to this project. There were quite a few people who were totally on board and participated and there were a lot of people who either ignored them or completely shut them down. I even witnessed a girl say to one of the students, “I don’t like my body.” It was heartbreaking to watch and hear people be so negative about themselves. I mean, as a dancer, I have heard people make remarks about their body, but to hear anyone bluntly say "I don’t like my body" was awful.
Curves are beautiful, skinny is beautiful, muscles are beautiful, petite is beautiful, tall is beautiful, and everything in between is beautiful. You are beautiful. We are all different and some of us have the body style we have because of genetics or some medical reason. If a person is happy and healthy, that is all that matters. A lot of people are affected by sizeism. Most of us associate body discrimination with bigger people, but other body types get it just as bad. When you tell someone they are too skinny, that can hurt just as much as calling someone fat. There are people who literally can’t gain weight.
When you tell someone, especially a girl, that she is too muscular, that hurts too. I know after starting dance I developed a lot of muscles, especially in my arms. At first I was a little embarrassed and felt like I looked weird. The more toned and muscular I became, the more my friends said I looked good. Luckily, I have amazing friends and told me how great I looked and I was able to be more comfortable with my muscles. Slowly after looking in the mirror (the dance studio is basically covered in mirrors), I started to like what I saw. I also realized how my muscles were a sign of hard work. My muscles reminded me how many hours I trained in dance. Now whenever I look in the mirror, I think I look hot and embrace all my muscles. Now, if only every one around me could look in the mirror and say their body is beautiful, then the world would be such a better place.
Sizeism doesn’t need to exist. Instead of judging and putting other body types down, celebrate body differences. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it. There is no rule anywhere that says you need to be a specific size or height or whatever else.
