I will never forget the day that I walked into a Forever 21 and rummaged through the racks for my pants size. To my surprise, my size 9 bottom would not fit into any of the clothing offered. Confused, I looked around the store to see if they had any other options. Low and behold, they did: upstairs in the plus-size section. Imagine that, I was plus sized, all 5'6" and 135 pounds of me. A few years later, I wrote a paper on the female body image, and how bigger was still beautiful.

In America today, the "average" woman wears a size 12-14. The average plus-sized model is a size 8, a common model is around a size 2 and the average Victoria's Secret model is a size 0. While we continue to praise the "average" woman, raising up curves to the sky, ensuring that no woman feels as if they are anything less than perfect, we begin to push thinner women down. With so many ads and articles, commercials and movements pushing towards the plus-sized norm, the size 4s, 2s and 0s get left behind. For years, curvy girls have been scrutinized and judged by not only the media but also by the men in their lives and by other women.

While it is incredible that we have begun to be able to accept bigger woman, a slow-growing phobia of skinny girls begins to emerge. Comments such as, "real men want curves" or "bones are for dogs," are demeaning and hurtful. Criticizing someone for their petite structure or slim figure results in the same pain that the bigger girls once felt.

We can't make ourselves feel better by bringing others down. Woman need to stick together and lift each other up, focusing on the positive, important attributes: not on the physical.

So stop telling her to "pick up a burger" or to "put some meat on her bones." Skinny shaming is just as every bit as wrong as fat shaming. As someone who will never be a size 2 and who strives for that model figure, I can say that I see just why thin women are beginning to feel victimized in a big butt, big boobs kind of world. We are all beautiful; let's start acting it.