Over the past few years, we've heard from celebrities, YouTubers and just bloggers constantly talk about the effects of fat-shaming. But what about the effects of skinny-shaming? Lyrics from Meghan Trainor's, "All About That Bass" and Nicki Minaj's, "Anaconda" are just two examples from the many songs that promote curvaceous women by putting women of a lighter weight down.
"I'm bringing booty back/Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that/No, I'm just playing I know you think you're fat."
"You know I won't be no stick figure, silicone Barbie doll"
"F**k you if you skinny bitches."
How do you think teenagers who idolize these singers feel when they listen to songs like this and realize the way they look isn't up to par with how their favorite artist sees them? This type of stuff causes body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). BDD is a mental illness involving an obsessive focus on a perceived flaw in appearance. BDD can lead to anxiety, depression and death.
Having to constantly hear that you're a bag of bones or that the wind will blow you away is just as hurtful as a larger person hearing that every time they walk, the ground shakes. I've had a fast metabolism since I was young, so I was always underweight and I was told that I needed to gain more weight. I've always hated my weight, I always wanted to weigh more, but it was just physically impossible for me and that's what some people don't realize.
I'm writing this to raise awareness of the flipped side of the body shaming spectrum. We need to stop saying that skinny-shaming isn't real and that people are just skinny because they're anorexic or bulimic. Skinny-shaming is real and it's hurtful and can cause people to hate themselves. What sucks is having to hear my friends constantly say they feel fat or that they need to lose weight and then have to tell them they look fine the way they are but when I say that I finally gained weight, they put me down and say hurtful things like, "I'm the size of their pinky minus 10 pounds." It makes me feel like all the hard work I put into finally trying to reach my goal weight and feeling comfortable in my skin was for nothing because everyone still sees me as a bag of bones.
People have a preconceived notion that people who are skinny have no problems in the world and they're accepted by everyone. In fact, may people who are labeled skinny, are constantly ridiculed. It's nerve wracking to wear a bikini sometimes fear that someone will call you anorexic or ask you if you ever eat. Men who are labeled as skinny, are also ridiculed because society shows all these models who are muscular and have abs. That type of promotion causes men to also feel inadequate when it comes to their body type.
Skinny-shaming is just as prominent as fat-shaming and that's what people fail to realize. Body-shaming, in general, shouldn't even exist. Everyone is a different size so who are we to say which size is correct?
Skinny-shaming is not OK. Skinny-shaming is real. Skinny-shaming needs to end.
