In the past few years I’ve noticed a size problem.
No, I’m not talking about the obesity problem.
I’m talking about the obsession with being thin problem.
Over the years we have set unrealistic and unhealthy body expectations. Photoshop hasn't helped, magazines haven't helped, and the size deemed "acceptable" for models hasn't helped. But a few days ago, I found another thing to add to the seemingly ever growing pile: the sizing of clothes.
Pictured are two pairs of shorts that I own. The bottom pair (blue jeans) are a size six and the top pair (gray) are a size eight.
As you can see, the top pair is almost an inch smaller than the bottom pair around the waist.
The bottom pair was purchased between 2011 and 2013. The top pair was purchased between 2014 and 2015, and both are made by the same company.
The size of the shorts got smaller, but the labeled size got bigger.
Today it's a just a size difference in a pair of shorts, but tomorrow (or maybe today, this hour, this minute, this second), it's the thing that pushes someone over the edge. It's the thing that someone feels in the dressing room when they pull on this size eight pair of shorts, knowing already that they won't be able to button them because they're too small, and they'll need the next size up, even though they could've SWORN they were a size eight IN THIS VERY BRAND. This could be the thing that gets them to skip breakfast...then make lunch just an apple...then just no breakfast, no dinner, and just the apple for lunch...then half an apple a day, which turns into half an apple a week....do I need to go on?
The statistics are not hard to find. Eating disorders kill. Eating disorders ruin lives. Eating disorders rule lives. Eating disorders are mental illnesses. Eating disorders need to be taken seriously, and not encouraged. Weight loss shouldn't be encouraged, HEALTH should be encouraged. The body image standards presented to us are unrealistic.
10-year-olds shouldn't be afraid of getting fat. 12-year-olds shouldn't be ashamed of their body. 15-year-olds shouldn't think they need to lose weight, but that's how many people have felt, for years. I know I was a number in those statistics. I saw myself as fat even though at age 16 I was a size eight. The only thing that kept me from an eating disorder was the high school health class that made it sound like a death sentence. I wanted to live more than I wanted to be thin, but a lot of other people can't say the same. Far too many have already died trying to be thin.
Know that what we see isn't what we get. Just know this, PLEASE know, that on top of Photoshop, the media and skinny models, that not even a single company stays consistent year to year with their size markings, and that size is just a number - an inaccurate one at that
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