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Observe a few comments from an article I recently read on Yahoo!:
"Super-skinny is not pretty! I'd rather see a REAL woman than a fake size 0 model!"
"I don't know what it is about so many young "stars" who feel that they must be an unrealistic size 0. No one over 10 years old looks good as a size 0."
"I look at those women skinny as rails, they look like clothes hangers, not humans."
"A woman without curves is just purely boring, unexciting and can't keep you warm on a cold night"
"Super skinny is so gross looking"
"Women with meat on them are always more attractive than a skin and bones one that looks like a starving horse that needs to be shot and put out of its misery."
"Kelly Clarkson has things the "super skinny" types don't have...an abundance of talent and a great attitude and personality"
"Super skinny like Angelina Jolie is grotesque and vain"
Wow. . .Ouch. I happen to wear a size 0. I'm not a model. But I am real. I really hate when people say that "REAL women are curvy" as if the rest of the non-curvy women are not real, or as if they are somehow less valuable as a person because they are skinny. I'm so sick of people talking about how "normal" is better than "skinny." Size 2 is just as normal as size 4 or 12 or 18! You wouldn't walk up to a larger person and tell them they look obese, so why would you walk up to a skinny person and tell them they look anorexic? I'm so tired of being called a twig. It's like telling a large person they need to lose weight. Just rude. Also, people telling skinny girls to "go eat a hamburger" is like telling a large girl to lay off the cake. It's just as rude, and yet some people seem to think that just because girls are skinny their self-esteem is through the roof and that comments like "go eat a burger" or "oh my gosh you're a twig" or "you're so skinny you look anorexic!" won't actually hurt. People seem to think that only bigger people's self-image should be protected and the skinny ones can be cut down for being skinny, and no guilt will be necessary because after all, it's impossible to hurt a skinny girl's self image. I'm just a little mad that in the eyes of society, I'm not as "real" as a size 16 woman just because I wear a smaller size skirt. Ladies, we're all real here, can't we just stop cutting each other down?
I'm glad when a girl is confident, no matter what her clothing size. I know that beauty is more than skin deep, and a girl that can be comfortable with who she is inside is prettier than any model. The computer generated models that have been airbrushed and photoshopped bother me. Although I realize that they are the source of strife for curvier girls, it also gives the wrong impression of the thinner ones and can end up making people feel like they have the "right" or the "duty" to make up for the curvier girs' hurt feelings by bringing the skinny ones down and making them feel inferior. You wouldn't make a large person feel bad for being large, so why make a skinny person feel guilty about being skinny?
By society's standards, I am "too skinny." By the creators of the comments above, I am fake, unrealistic, ugly, inhuman, boring, unexciting, gross looking, talentless, grotesque, vain, have no personality, a bad attitude, and am comparable to a starving horse that doesn't deserve to live. Will someone please tell me why people feel no guilt or shame posting these things about thin girls? Will someone please explain to me why backhanding the self-image of skinny girls makes the curvy girls feel so good inside? Please, somebody tell me why it's okay to strip every bit of self-esteem from a skinny girl's image but mentioning the word "weight" around a larger person is like blasphemy.
I mean no offense to any girl of any size. I just simply want the support to go both ways here. Isn't there any other way we can support the confidence of one body type without destroying the confidence of the other?
Now here's a puppy picture just 'cuz.
Great post. Many people wish they could be thin, but are not willing to take the necessary actions to get to that point. Therefore it is easier for them to put down thin people. God made us in all shapes and sizes and we should celebrate who we are rather than tear each other down.
ReplyDeleteI think most of us are envious of people who are thin without ever thinking of the problems that they might experience. I was just talking to a thin person today who said that during the winter he must eat about twice as much as usual just to stay warm.
Keep up the writing and never apologize for having an opinion or size 0 clothes.