When I was 10 years old, I wanted boobs. I wanted boobs so badly I put it on my Christmas list. That blessed, fateful day when my pediatrician told me I was “developing,” I nearly screamed with excitement. The very next day, I asked my mom if I could get my first bra. She laughed as she motioned to my sad, flat chest.

I begged with tears in my eyes until she agreed to take me to Limited Too the following week, where I picked out a simple lace bralette in a size 32AA.

And I still wear that bra to this day.

Yes, that’s right. At 21 years old, my boobs are the same size as they were that day at the mall.

The reality is, I have always been skinny. I knew I’d never have a pair of Ds, or be able to wear a push-up bra. I would never have Kim Kardashian’s hourglass figure or Nicki Minaj’s glorious deriérre. But I’m okay with that. I’ve learned to accept, and even love my thin frame; bony butt, flat chest and all. There was a time in my life, however, when I feared I would never be considered attractive or feminine by society’s standards. And it’s because I was skinny-shamed.

Guess what, skinny-shaming is not a myth. It is a very real thing.

Media and social networking sites (Instagram, Tumblr, etc.) have contributed increasingly to negative body image. So when the “real woman” movement began to gain momentum, I was all in. I thought that this was an incredible step in recognizing that variety was beautiful, that women don’t all look the same, and that this was something to be celebrated. However, I found that thin women were likely to be excluded from this celebration of real beauty.

Fat- shaming, on the other side of the spectrum, has recently seen an inspiring movement to end the horrible social practice. Unfortunately, this has come at the expense of putting down skinny women. But what makes a woman with curves more “real” than a woman who doesn’t?

Listen, ladies: it’s time to stop putting each other down. Skinny-shaming, fat-shaming, it all has to stop. We become hypocrites by demanding acceptance for one size but denying the other. We blame media and society for negative body image, but we’re not helping by perpetuating the same damaging comments towards each other.

Just like you would think twice about making a rude comment to a woman with a fuller figure, you should check yourself before asking a skinny woman if she has eaten today, or if she “needs help.” In the words of Dana Oliver, HuffPost beauty editor and brave fighter against skinny-shaming: “Before you even think about prejudging a woman (no matter her size), think really hard about what it says about you.”