We’ve come a long way since the days of body-shaming. Or…have we? People used to fall for the photoshopping of magazine covers, the extreme diets of models, and the idealization of skinny as a norm. While this may not sound completely different from today, we, at least, have to recognize that we’ve made progress. With Real Body Campaigns, make-up free encouragement, empowerment for women of all sizes, and a movement to “love your curves," it seems like the problem is going away. Unfortunately, as is often the case when we try to stop discriminating against one group, we’ve started shaming another group. Ladies, gentlemen, others, it’s time to stop skinny-shaming.
Before it used to be if you were overweight, you became the center of jokes and criticism. Now, with so much outpouring of love for people of different sizes, we’ve created this negative stigma around skinny people. The thing is, when we say, “love your body," we need to apply that to all body types. We can’t take away the hard work that people put into staying fit. We can’t take critique those people. If we didn’t like it being done to one group of people, it’s not okay to spit the hatred back and fight fire with fire.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was a box office hit. There is literally no denying that it broke records. Let’s talk about one of the main characters, though. Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, has already stirred up some social controversy. Hasbro left her out of their Star Wars Monopoly game, and Target customers were outraged when they noticed the lack of Rey figurines in Star Wars action figure sets. Not only have we seen a lack of support for Rey in marketing, but now we’re seeing a bigger issue.
An Instagram user recently called Ridley out, posting on a meme of the actress, "I can't believe the unrealistic expectations I'm setting for young girls. Who cast me anyway? Don't they know real women haves curves?” People were quick to respond, including Ridley herself, shutting down the user by saying, "Real women are all shapes and sizes, all ethnicities, all levels of brave, have families, don't have families. I'm a 'real woman' like every other woman in this world." Later, the actress also added, "I will not apologize for how I look, what I say and how I live my life cause what's happening inside is much more important anyway and I am striving to be the best version of myself, even if I stumble along the way."
While it’s great that Daisy Ridley stood up for herself and for “real women” everywhere, we can’t ignore the fact that this should have never even occurred. I applaud her for recognizing that she doesn’t need to apologize for how she looks, but I would love to know where she thinks she’s “stumbling”." Rey is a strong, revolutionary character that countless women can relate to and can see hope in. Ridley, as an actress, is no different. It’s great that this generation is gaining a strong role model who can demonstrate how to maturely shut down bullies while still exemplifying a beautiful sense of confidence.
