I really wish I could write a post that says it exists and leave it at that. I don't understand why this is such a big argument. Half of the fat acceptance movement seems to revolve around insulting perfectly healthy girls. I'm all for treating fat people like people and not mooing when they walk by or playing a trumpet or whatever new nonsense kids are up to these days, but what bothers me is that people who shame me for my small size are all adults and frequently older adults. I have only been called names once by a younger person and she was clearly very unhappy with her life and very insecure. Instead of taking it personally I wished her a good day and tried not to think on it. So for a background I am 5'3", natural blonde hair, blue eyes and currently 118.2lbs. I am not happy with this size because I am too big for all of my clothes. I prefer to be under 115. On my body that small three pound gain is enough to cause everything to be difficult or impossible to button (which might give you an idea of how much gaining twenty pounds affects me). I am regularly told by "well meaning" adults that I should eat a cheeseburger, get some meat on my bones, I look like a skeleton/anorexic/bulimic/bag of bones, etc. I have had people pinch me to see if I have any fat at all. (I have a fairly curvy shape for how little I am complete with some filled out breasts, plus my bfp is around 26% right now) I do not like being touched and I don't believe these people would have appreciated me pinching them and exclaiming that they must have no muscle at all. I am also highly offended by all of the eating disorder and holocaust survivor comments. I do not look anorexic or like a holocaust survivor by any means. I have seen anorexic women and they have this look about them. Their heads and eyes look abnormally large and their skin looks stretched across protruding bones that I have never seen looking in the mirror at my own frame. Visible chest ribs, no breasts, visible tendons in arms and legs, painful movements, etc. In addition, I have heard these comments for my entire life, including when I was a small child. I am not going to say thin shaming is worse than fat shaming, I am going to say that they're equal. They are equally humiliating, degrading and generally terrible to experience. Women are particular offenders of all kinds of shaming and though I feel it's useless to say I want to let you know that all builds, hair colors and eye colors can be beautiful, especially on a woman with good nutrition and exercise. These two things can really add gloss and health to hair, brightness to eyes and a nice glow to the skin. It isn't a panacea but it certainly doesn't hurt and I'm tired of hearing about how I shouldn't bother exercising or eating healthy because I'm already skinny or too skinny. I have never told someone to stop eating because they're too fat (because it's rude to say these things, and harmful). Why can't we quit being mean and support everyone on a path to health together?
Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment