Ladies, you are worth so much more than the number on your pants. You are worth more than what society has to tell you.
I recently wrote an article about why I love my body and why I have started accepting it, despite what society has to say about it. It reached a lot of people and it got me to thinking, does everyone just hate their body? Does every female look in the mirror and see something that isn't good enough? I honestly have been so worried about women and how society has made them feel.
Today on Facebook, as I was eating lunch, I scrolled past a picture my friend had shared. It was of 'Calvin Klein's' first "plus size" model. This girl is in no shape, form or fashion plus size.
This is not plus size. This girl right here is a healthy weight. She isn't plus size in any way. I've read comments like "She's the model. She signed up to be considered a plus-size model" and "Her boobs are what make her plus size." Honestly, I don't care if she signed up for the money and wants to be called plus size. I have a problem with Calvin Klein (and other industries) illustrating the image that this is considered plus size. I have a problem with women in our society thinking they have to be smaller than this because "plus size isn't a compliment." Let me tell you something, ladies: You are beautiful no matter what size you are.
You know why size doesn't matter? Because the size number on your pants size is literally just a number and it changes all of the time. I read all of the time on Facebook the things my friends share because when I don't want to be doing homework or I'm just really bored, I turn to that. Back in May, I came across something that really hurt my heart. Missy Rogers posted on Facebook a pair of pants she got from American Eagle. It broke my heart to see what I was seeing. Here is the picture she posted:
Rogers says, "This is a photo of two pairs of shorts both from American Eagle. The black pair is from two years ago and the maroon is from this year. The black is a size four. The maroon is a size 10." I'm sorry...what? Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I just read that these are the same
shorts and the number on the tags are different? Ladies, this is why I
view our society as messed up. Rogers goes on to talk about how she went
to try on a size four and she couldn't even get them up her thighs. I have
had this same issue. I went into Gap one day to buy some new jeans. The jeans I tried on were a size 10 and I couldn't even get them up my thighs, but yet I was wearing a size six jeans that I had just bought from Gap the previous summer.
These numbers do not matter! I want every woman out there to know that the size you wanted to pick but couldn't fit into is not the size your body has to be. The size you pick doesn't define who you are because you are not a size. We need to quit asking women what size they are because I'm here to tell you that I range from a size four to 12. That's a pretty wide range if you ask me. You are not plus size because the numbers say you are. You are not fat because you can't fit into that size two anymore because the sizes have changed. You are not too skinny because none of your friends can fit into your size four. You are not what the numbers say.
So, ladies, can we please stick together and quit asking people what size they are and calling them names because they can't fit into a certain size? Can we please join forces and support one another? I am so tired of girls thinking they are ugly or have to be a certain size because of what a number and industry says they have to be. We have got to quit worrying about our tags on our jeans. We need to love who we are.
Here's my challenge to all of the ladies out there: take a picture of yourself, post it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, and use the hashtag #loveyournumber ... We have got to join forces and quit body shaming! Follow me @shelligrace (Twitter) and @shelli_grace (Instagram) to see my post.
Disclaimer: I am not body shaming any size or weight. I think people are beautiful the way they are. I just want to end body shaming all together.