People have always told me that I'm crazy for not liking my body because I'm skinny. You're probably thinking, "well, why would you worry about your body if you're skinny? That's crazy." The thing is, yes, I am skinny, but I have curves. While most of today's culture has defined women who are curvy to be anyone who wears plus-size clothing, that is not the case. I have an hourglass figure, and while my waist is tiny, my hips stick out a lot further than it does. I've always been uncomfortable with it and I felt ashamed to be because there were so many people telling me that I was skinny that I believed I was obligated to be comfortable.
The thing is, there are a lot of days where I'm not comfortable. Both my boyfriend and my best friend have had abs at some point in time and I for one have not. And while I hate to admit it, that always made me feel bad about the way I looked. While I may be labeled "skinny," I don't have defined muscle tone or a tight flat stomach and based on society's definition of the word skinny, I felt that I needed to have those things in order to be labeled with that term.
Lately, I've taken a big step back and realized that yes, I am small and I do not weigh a lot. Yes, my hips stick out a little more than my waist does. Yes, there are days when I am not very fond of the way my body looks, but at the end of the day, I shouldn't be worried about what label best suits my body shape. No matter if I am labeled as skinny, petite, tiny enough to still shop in the children's section (which I can), or curvy, the word I want to use to describe myself is beautiful.
I am beautiful.
Whether or not I go to the gym every week, eat a whole can of Pringles in one sitting, have a six-pack, or a pair of wide yet, voluptuous hips, I am beautiful, and no one, not even myself, can tell me otherwise.