Earlier this week, I went on a small rant in a Facebook status because I am tired of people skinny-shaming. Body positivity is saying that everyone is beautiful, no matter what they look like, but it is difficult to not take offense at one of these posts.
Does that mean that girls who are size zero cannot be beautiful because it is "society's standard?" These are also degrading to men, but that is another rant in waiting. Honestly, these photos are more harmful than people realize. Everyone is always upset if something is mentioned to a girl about being overweight when she is not, but when people make fun of skinny girls, others join in. They say how unhealthy it is to be that small.
The double standard needs to stop!
I am a size zero and I am not unhealthy nor am I a "stick" or a "bone." That also does not mean that girls who are bigger than a size zero are not healthy as well. Everyone should be comfortable in their own body. Posts like the one above create problems. I have never put anyone down because of their body and I just do not understand why it is acceptable to put me down because I cannot gain weight.
This is a very sensitive subject for me because I have been bullied just as much as anyone else for being "too small." I go for a yearly checkup at the doctor's office every year and they tell me that I am perfectly healthy. They also say that my weight corresponds with my height, so I am not "too small" nor am I "sickly."
I saw this on Facebook and it perfectly says what I am trying to explain.
This is body positivity. This is what I want everyone to take away from this article. There is no correct or incorrect way to have a body and putting someone else down because of it does not make anything better. Skinny girls are criticized heavily if they say anything to another woman about their size when, sometimes, the skinny girls only say something to watch out for the others' health. However, if someone says anything to the skinny girl, there is nothing that is said about it and people go on with their business. If someone is genuinely concerned about health issues, then there should not be any problems, but just shaming someone because of a number that is written on a tag is unacceptable.
I apologize if I offended anyone in this article, but I needed to express this because I am tired of hearing that I am "too small" or that I "need to gain more weight." Body shaming of any kind should not be an issue, but, for some reason, it is. I want to end this by saying that I think that everyone is beautiful and I hope that you own what you have. This world would not be interesting if everyone had the exact same body.
