I once read an article titled "Better Skinny or Curvy?" In this article, you see a picture of a celebrity before their weight gain on the left, and, on the right, you see a picture of that same celebrity after their weight gain. On top, there is a caption saying whether or not they look better skinny or curvy. It also talks about the “ideal body shape” and how you can achieve “the body of a model." This article really pissed me off.
Here's the deal: We aren’t all built like models. That’s all it is. Models were built for modeling. You don’t grow into your natural frame and decide to “slim down” to a model’s size and become a model. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the world works. Some bodies are set for a model type and some bodies are not. Some people’s frames can’t support that kind of body shape. People often gain weight because of mental and emotional reasons or health reasons. Instead of comparing and making decisions for them as to what size looks best, how about we leave them alone and not make assumptions?
I personally have never been naturally super thin. I have always been curvy, and thanks to ski racing, volleyball and boxing, I have pretty muscular legs. That’s what my frame supports and that’s always what it has been for me. However, when I was in my disorder, I dropped to a very dangerous weight, which forced me to temporarily have that model body type. I am not saying that women who are thin like models are “unhealthy.” I’m not even saying that models are unhealthy. I am saying that for my personal growth line, frame, and height, I was never meant to be a model. That is ok. Not many of us are.
I know that people tend to say that models are “unhealthy." Don’t get me wrong, some models are definitely unhealthy. In fact, I recently learned that some models have to dip cotton balls in orange juice and eat them in order to stay full. However, many of them are healthy for their BMI and growth charts. We just don’t see it. What we as a society fail to realize is the fact that all frames are different, and each frame can support a certain body type and weight.
What I did notice about this article is that all of those celebrities looked happier at a certain weight. For some of them, when they were lighter, they looked miserable. For others, when they were heavier, they were miserable. I am not in their head so I don't know if that's how they felt, but my point is that we don't have the right to decide who looks better in what size.
Body shaming is becoming a serious problem in our society and it has to stop. Eating disorder, suicide and self harm statistics are through the roof, especially in women, because of body shaming. It’s time to take a stand. We need to stop listening to the media when it comes to “the perfect body” and how we should look. It’s just sick and it’s not the way that I want my children to grow up.
These articles are pointless, uneducated and insensitive. Body shaming in our society is completely out of control and it’s articles like these that light the fuse. We need to take a step back and realize what we are doing. We are calling healthy looking people “fat.” We are calling skinny people “anorexic,” curvy people “ugly,” obese people “inhumane.” We are destroying our society and the balance of nature by taking body shapes, giving them a label and statistic, and then mocking them without knowing the facts. Instead of saying “Real women have this" (curves, small waists, etc.), how about we say, “Real women are just that... real, not cookie cutters.”
If we just take a moment, think and put an end to body shaming, our world would be a better place. Maybe eating disorders, suicides, cases of depression and self-harm would decrease and we could potentially live in a more accepting society. But it all starts here. It starts with simple articles like these. It’s time to say "enough!" It’s time for the media to take responsibility for what it is doing to our society and it is time for us to stop listening.
