Body positivity is always marketed as something that is easy to have. Countless companies have embraced this movement as a marketing tactic; we’ve seen it with Dove, Victoria’s Secret, and Aerie with their “no-retouched models” campaigns. Like many things, feeling confident about your body is something that is way easier to be said than done. It takes forty-five seconds for my shower to produce hot water, but in that amount of time, the issues with my body are glaring as I stand in front of the mirror. My stomach should be flatter and my thighs shouldn’t touch when I’m standing. My hips shouldn’t be so wide and I should squat more so my ass is lifted and perky. I don’t intentionally pick apart my self-esteem, it just happens.
I don’t know if tactlessness is a norm in Asian cultures, but there are always family members or family friends that are painfully and unnecessarily truthful. All I hear when I see relatives is, “wow, you’ve gotten fatter” or “oh, she’s so bulky!” I never know what to say to any comments regarding my size, because what the hell are you supposed to say to people who blatantly insult you? I’m really sorry that unlike the petite girls in Asia, I have tits and an ass. This isn’t me being arrogant and cocky; it’s a factual comparison. I’m 5’7” and 145 pounds, so of course I’m going have a little extra meat in some areas. I visit my family in Hong Kong every so often and nothing ever changes; all I see are 5’2” skin-and-bones, size 0 girls. On the subway, I can see over the heads of way too many people (men and women included), and I’m pretty sure I would crush a few people if I were to fall on them when the train lurches forward abruptly.
I have never had a delicate or small physique and because of that, I’ve always been self-conscious about it. I hate being naked in front of the mirror, so you can only imagine how I feel about being naked in front of other people. The sad thing is, I don’t think I am really considered “fat”. I have an accurate BMI; my doctor says I’m the perfect weight for my height. So why is it that every time I walk by a mirror in my underwear, I hate myself because I can see the stretch marks on my thighs and butt?
It’s great that pockets of society are encouraging the public to be confident of their body types, but people seldom question why the movement to think positively about yourself was made necessary. If it weren’t for the act of fat and skinny shaming, body positivity wouldn’t have to be promoted. It would be self-learned rather than taught by companies who are really just trying to make themselves appealing to the general public by hopping on the bandwagon. Feeling comfortable in your own skin should be a natural feeling; so why is it that people have to be reminded to feel that way?
