Most people are familiar with the term “fat shaming.” It’s ever-present in society today. Women are labeled as “plus-sized,” and cast into minute sections of popular stores. Heavy women are judged and their bodies are critiqued by complete strangers. They are subjected to being considered less desirable, and others make assumptions about their health and well-being. “Fat shaming” should not be understated, and it is absolutely still happening today, but as confident women seem to become more proud of their heavy bodies, there is a growing backlash against thin women.
Today, we are seeing more and more “skinny shaming” than ever before. Thin women are type cast into the role of the “skinny bitch” who has no value in a world of real women. It’s as though the notion that human beings come in all shapes and sizes has been entirely thrown out the window. As one group of shamed women begin to emerge out of their societal oppression, they begin shaming their opposites. When did it become that a group of people can only be accepted, if we can find another group to hate? That’s not a way for society to move forward, but rather to remain in some nauseating back-and-forth motion of who is worth loving on any given day.
Celebrities, such as Meghan Trainor in particular, have turned the idea of body positivity on its head. Her song, “All About that Bass” preaches self-love on its surface. A catchy beat and lyrics like “If you got beauty beauty just raise 'em up 'cause every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top” make you want to get behind it, but digging deeper into the song reveals a very conflicting message. Trainor goes on to say, “I'm bringing booty back, go 'head and tell them skinny bitches that” in the very same song. Her lyrics also lead to the conclusion that a woman should only love her body if it’s desirable to a man. She tells listeners that her own mother comforts her by telling her that her butt and curves are what will land her a man. What sort of message does that send to young women of any body type? No one should be judging their self-worth by whether or not the size of their butt will make a man want to hold them at night.
I am a huge proponent of self-love, but not if loving yourself means putting other people down. Regardless of your natural body type, we should all be striving to reach our healthiest and most confident version of ourselves—whether that’s a size two or size twelve. We come much closer to reaching this goal if we build each other up, rather than tearing each other down. At the end of the day, a body positivity movement is an amazing thing, but it would be truly amazing if we all worked a little harder to make body positivity actually positive.
