We live in a world that simultaneously tells us how to work out to get our best bikini body, then tells us “real women have curves.” Those messages are further confused by celebrities, magazines, articles that tell us "how to dress for your body type!" and also disparage, "The 20 Things No Woman Over 30 Should Wear." It’s no wonder so many girls are unhappy with their bodies by the tender age of 12, as reported by 2011 documentary Miss Representation. How do we ever feel like we are enough, just as we are?
There are those whose intentions are to combat this toxic way of thinking, even if they tend to miss the mark. Take, for example, Meghan Trainor’s (undeniably catchy) 2014 hit, “All About That Bass.” Despite the body-positive lyric, “Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top,” Trainor received some serious criticism for not only skinny-shaming and making a dig at those who decide to get plastic surgery to alter themselves, but for insinuating that appreciating one’s own beauty stems from how attractive men find them: “Yeah, my mama, she told me, ‘Don’t worry about your size’/She says, ‘Boys like a little more booty to hold at night’/You know, I won’t be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll/So if that’s what you’re into, then go ‘head and move along.”
It’s true that Trainor isn’t necessarily saying that all naturally thin women are less beautiful than naturally curvier women, and there are many women who feel empowered when this song comes on the radio. Still, in a society that tells fat women to “put down the fork” while dismissing skinny women with “eat a cheeseburger,” it would be great if there could be similar song completely lacking in any kind of body snark, whatsoever.
Despite the overwhelming amount of pressure coming from the media to look a certain way, there are, thankfully, role models present on social media who have made it their mission to let women know that there is no wrong way to be yourself. 30-year-old model Tess Holliday, known for being the industry’s first size 22 model, started the Instagram hashtag, #effyourbeautystandards to promote the idea that there is no one specific way to be beautiful, especially when it comes to one’s weight. The hashtag has since gone viral, with over 1.2 million posts to date. Holliday often takes to Instagram to speak out against the backlash that constantly body-shames women and fat people in general.
Holliday has posted on her personal Instragram, @tessholliday, numerous times about her healthy eating and exercise regimens, but more importantly states that our individual health is no one else’s business. She told Paper Magazine back in January, “At first it was very hard, and I blamed it on myself, and then I thought…my health is none of their business, I’m modeling for this clothing company, so why are people dissecting my body and telling me that I can’t wear some things?” Holliday is proof that every body is a good body, and women should feel free to wear whatever they like.
On the term “plus-size,” Holliday stated, “The term has never been used in a negative way. It’s never been used as hurtful, it’s something that’s basically just for women to kind of find where they want to shop…I do think it’s very important, especially for young women who are kind of coming into their bodies, and older women who are becoming more OK with their bodies, to have terms for being bigger.”
Australian model Stefania Ferrario thinks differently. Smaller than the average American woman but curvier than most supermodels, she is between worlds. She joined Ajay Rochester’s own social media movement, #droptheplus, stating on Instagram, “Unfortunately in the modeling industry if you’re above a US size 4, you are considered plus size, and so I’m often labelled a "plus size" model…Let’s have models of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities, and drop the misleading labels.”
Megan Jayne Crabbe isn’t a model at all (though she certainly could be one), but “your average 23 year old, taking a stand against a world that profits from teaching us to hate ourselves.” Known as @bodyposipanda on Instagram, she has over 184,000 followers, and uses the social platform to teach girls about her own battle with anorexia and to show them that recovery is possible. She posts friendly reminders such as, “You don’t have to be ashamed of your appetite. Food is not something that has to be earned or burned off. How much you eat doesn’t determine whether you’re a good or bad person.” What a refreshing message, teaching girls not to feel food guilt instead of telling them to count calories all day!
Whether we use the term “curvy,” “plus size” or something different entirely, it’s amazing to see women like these whose message is rooted in the idea that our bodies are good as they are. We don’t need to lose 20 pounds or gain five pounds to beautiful. We don’t need to run sprints every day for a month to be “ready” for the beach. Life is happening now, and we shouldn’t miss it because we’re too busy staring at a number on the scale.
