In the past few days an article called "Sorry I'm A Size 00" has been going viral. Having struggled with my body image my whole life, I was super excited to read this because sometimes thin girls are completely overlooked in having their own struggles and I am all about empowering every single woman no matter the size. This article, I thought, was supposed to be about how we shouldn't body shame women, but when I read it, I felt as though it was more of a self-pity party about how hard it is to be skinny and that thicker girls are now the ones who have it easier. So here is my story and some of the big points that I feel the writer overlooked.
My whole life I’ve been a little thicker—which is kind of an understatement. The number of times I have heard that I am overweight is more times than any adolescent should have. I have felt insecure my entire life. I remember getting those check-ups from the school nurse and then receiving the envelope with your height, weight, and BMI. I never ever opened mine while still in the classroom in fear one of my friends would see the way larger number that I allowed to define me. In 5th grade I weighed 120 pounds and I was also 5’1. That is the size or bigger than some grown women. I was so embarrassed by my weight and height that it was even hard for me to look in the mirror sometimes. In case you haven’t put two and two together I was struggling to even looking at myself when I was 10 years old.
I watched so many people in my family and just people around me struggle with their weight and not feel beautiful and, at such an influential time in my life, how could I not feel the same about myself? I envied my friends who all had what I thought were normal bodies for our age. Society told me that I was fat and, at my most vulnerable ages, how could I even argue?
As high school came along I was now 5’9 and 212 pounds. I was the fat friend. I was the girl who guys would befriend just so they could have an in with my hot, thin friends. I never ever held this against them because I understood why boys would find them desirable and I understood that they didn’t control the way society was. My struggles with my weight were not my friends fault so why would I ever project my hurting and insecurities onto them. I was insecure and it was no one’s fault and I never body shamed anyone for it.
When I was a junior, I suffered the loss of my Dad and from my new found struggles with anxiety and added stress I unhealthily lost 60 pounds within two to three months and dyed my hair blonde. Everyone thought I looked great and I didn’t even notice that I went from a size 16 to a size 10 that quickly. I too heard rumors that people thought I had an eating disorder, but I wasn’t skin and bones so that couldn’t be true. Everyone was so focused on the fact that I looked so much better that no one even stopped to think if it was physically ok for my body to change at the snap of a finger. I looked good so how could anything actually be wrong? Who cares how it happened as long as you look good? I suddenly was more insecure with my new body because I was still not thin enough for me or society’s standards.
I have 4 friends who are the same exact pant size as me and look completely different. Before I knew that we were the same pant size I envied their bodies. Size looks different on everyone and that is why we cannot let it make or break us.
Because of things like the Dove Real Beauty Campaign and companies like Aerie, I have gained so much more confidence. They have taught me that the real me is beautiful no matter what the scale says or what my waist size is. These campaigns are about how EVERY SINGLE WOMAN is beautiful no matter your size. These campaigns were not created to body shame the thin and praise the thick. These were created so we could stop body shaming each other, learn what is healthy and the norm for our individual bodies and to stop defining us by a pant size. No one is here to try and tear down skinny girls. This is about ALL WOMEN. Whether you’re thin or thick or anywhere in between, we as women have to stop victimizing ourselves and come together as one force to be reckoned with. Body shaming will never stop until we stop to accept ourselves and each other just the way we are and stop focusing on the petty details.
