As I turn on the television to relax and enjoy myself for a few hours, I seem to be constantly bombarded with weight loss commercials – commercials telling me about magical pills that will simply burn the fat from my body effortlessly, or special diets that will make me lose ten pounds in just the first week, or even a special surgery that will just cut the fat out of my body “just that easily!” (Allow me to cringe for you). And you know, it is not actually these commercials that irk me so much, but rather the message behind every single weight loss commercial or advertisement out there: you are not, cannot, will not be beautiful unless you are getting thin. And here is my response to that message: my weight is none of your business!
I have struggled with my self-esteem in regards to body image and dress sizes for most of my adolescent life, because that has been the clear communication of society. Most people featured in popular magazines, commercials, or television shows are men and women who are very slim, muscular, and clearly in better shape than me. And this observation is not such a bad one, because I find people who are healthy to be worthy of an applause – being healthy and fit is a good thing! I’ll be repeating myself when I say this, but it is not the actual people in these magazines or television shows that bring about my concerns; it is the underlying, conspicuous moral of the story that “these kinds of people” are acceptable human beings, and we should all strive to look like them. Which is nearly crazy.
In my humble, clichéd opinion, beauty is not simply skin deep. I find all human beings to be beautiful just because we are alive! Tall or short, blonde or red, thin or curvy, small chested or voluptuous – it does not (or should not) matter. The point is, if you are a kind and decent person, I believe you are beautiful regardless of your body type or physical appearance. If you want to spend your money on that liposuction surgery to remove unwanted fat, then do it because it is something you honestly want to do for yourself – not because society is pressuring you to be thin. If you want to start a new diet plan to kick start an awesome workout program you have signed up for, then good on you! That takes a lot of strength and motivation and should be commended as such. And if you want to eat that cheeseburger because you are nearly drooling over those ever-so-tempting fast food commercials, for goodness sakes eat the damn cheeseburger and be happy.
Being healthy and being happy should go hand-in-hand, and being healthy does not always mean being skinny. Let me tell you, when I was at my thinnest – a size 5 dress – I was not in the least bit healthy. I was skipping meals, and using diuretics to dehydrate myself, because I felt that the number on my scale entitled my worth and beauty. In hindsight, I feel pretty silly at how miserable I was making myself by skipping out on eating with friends or family just so I could become the definition of beauty that society tells. Presently, I work out as much as I can in my busy school and work schedule, and I try to eat in moderation and make healthier choices. But I am no longer a size 5, and my hips will probably never match the hips of the STAR Magazine cover model. But I am healthy and happy. And that makes me pretty damn beautiful, wouldn’t you agree? So please stop feeding into this fable that only thin is beautiful. Because we are all beautiful: every shape and size.
