"Real men are into curves, only dogs play with bones", a comment many have found to be a funny yet true statement. Sharing it to their Facebook wall or posting it to their Instagram feed, comments like this and many more have made their way around social media, only to empower those women who have curves. Although, while they are concerned with empowering women with curvy figures, they are unconcerned with the women who tend to lack those curves. In society today, we tread lightly on the topic of "fat shaming" yet when it comes to "skinny shaming", we turn and look the other way.
It has become more and more evident nowadays that it is acceptable to tell a thin woman to "go eat a cheeseburger", whereas it is unacceptable to tell a more curvy woman to "go to the gym". When someone asks a woman who is thin "Do you even eat?", those nearby begin to laugh. To many, they believe that a comment like such is comical, because women who are thin are often linked with having poor nutrition. Whereas, if someone were to state to a woman with curves "You should go to the gym", those around would be silent, in shock that such a comment was made. To many, a comment like so is considered to be disrespectful since women who are more curvy "can't help being that way". They can't help the fact that their metabolism is a little bit slower or that their family shows a history of higher body fat percentage.
Yet when you are thin, many think it is because you force your body to be so. However, it is not disrespectful telling a woman who is thin that she "looks like a twig". Or it is not disrespectful when a woman who is thin is claimed to "look anorexic". I personally find it to be most disrespectful when someone looks me in the eyes and says to me, "Zero shouldn't even be a size".
So then, what is the difference between a person who is thin being called "too skinny" and a person who is curvy being called "too fat"? The answer... there is no difference. Shaming a woman of being too thin is the equivalent of shaming a woman for having curves. Therefore, why is it acceptable for one to be considered a joke yet one to be considered disrespectful?
We are fortunate enough to live in a world where we are all born individual and unique. No two bodies will ever be the same, each reveling in their own uniqueness. A real woman is not define by the shape of her body but by the kindness of her soul. Our society has come to sexualize women, to make women be seen as objects and not as human beings. We, as women, have come to believe this to be true of ourselves; so much that we begin to shame other women who's bodies look different than our own.
We have repeatedly forced into our minds what we feel the perfect body to be and often times, when we are unable to achieve this perfect image, we seek to find ways to express this distress. Rather than define or compare ourselves based upon the size and shape of our bodies, we should begin to unite and build upon the beauty of one another. Not one size nor one shape is considered to be beautiful but rather all shapes and all sizes are individual, each containing their own beauty. Do not shame your own body or those of women around you because of the way their body is created, instead we should pride ourselves in accepting and loving the bodies which we were given. Curvy or thin and everything in between, it is time to stop the shaming and start the praising.
