As a plus-sized girl, I live in a society where being 6 feet tall, having a tiny waist, having blonde hair and blue eyes and having no blemishes are the ideal beauty standards. And when society is talking about curves, what they really mean is having bigger boobs and a bigger behind—the waist still must be tiny in order to be considered “pretty” by today’s standards. But my boobs and behind can’t be too big, either. If they are, I will be considered “fat.”
Sure, with the new “body positive” movement, you think that I would feel better about myself, right? Well, you thought wrong. I don’t.
As somebody that has been on the chunkier side for most of my life, it’s really hard to be body positive when I look in the mirror and see stretch marks, cellulite, and excess fat on my body. Especially when the fashion magazines highlight these size zero models with the idealized bodies that have no pimples and perfect hair—something that we all know to be an unrealistic standard.
For instance, remember when Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries stated that he would never allow his company to make plus-sized clothing because “he didn’t want overweight or unattractive people to wear his clothes”? Yes, Jeffries, I’m talking to you—aren’t your statements kind of ironic since it looks like you can’t fit into your own clothes? But I digress.
It’s even harder when society encourages us to be body positive and to love ourselves; I can guarantee you that if I posted a photo of myself in a bikini on my social media with a caption like, “Curves are better than bones!” (I won’t—I’ll save you from any mental scarring), I would be ridiculed and fat shamed, and would be told to put down the chips and salsa and to pick up some celery sticks.
And how dare I make fun of thinner girls, for “All bodies are beautiful!” Look what happened when Meghan Trainor came out with her hit single, “All About That Bass.” She was attacked for “skinny shaming” girls and promoting the fact that being fat was a good thing. I find it so funny how it’s OK to make fun of heavier people, but not thinner people. Double standard? I think we can all agree.
I guess what it boils down to is that, from my experience, being a plus-sized girl in today’s society is probably one of the most confusing situations to be dealing with. Do I choose to crash diet and go to the gym for three hours everyday so I can conform to today’s beauty standards? Do I choose to hate myself for not looking like those Victoria’s Secret models? Or do I not conform to society and give them the middle finger because, to quote Christina Aguilera, “I am beautiful no matter what they say?”
