My body has always had a bit of extra squish to it. As a young child, this didn't bother me. I would allow pictures to be taken of me in tight clothes and bikinis without trying to cover my stomach and position my arms so they looked slim. I don't remember exactly when I learned this was the "wrong" way to have a body, but by the time I was 10 I hated the temple I inhabited. My body was far from fully developed, but I begun trying to change it. I kept food journals of everything I ate, afterwards noting what I shouldn't have indulged in. I weighed myself constantly, infuriated when the number on the scale went up and discouraged when it went down by an amount I deemed less than desirable. I begun to wear clothes that hid the body I had learned to hate. These habits have haunted me on and off throughout my adolescence and now, at the age of 20, I am finally trying to learn to love my fat body.

Western industrialized culture pushes this idolized thin body type while constantly shaming and hating people who don't fit into that ideal. There is no point in denying the validity of this statement, just look at the fun article, "Why Fat Girls Don't Deserve Love", which compares fat women to child molesters and "card-carrying Nazis", or this Reddit sub that states that fat people should just lose weight and have "No respect for fat people who through life choices, chose to be fat".

The body positivity and fat acceptance movements are to help combat this normalized hatred and disdain for people with large, squishy, chubby bodies. These movements say that there is nothing wrong with one's body, no matter what size it is. They encourage people to strive for health, but acknowledge that health is more than just your body, it's your self esteem, your confidence, your sense of self, and your ability to know your self worth.

So many people think that the fat acceptance movement is just making it "okay for people to be fat" (x x x). It's important to understand that that's not what the fat acceptance and body positivity movements are about. I am overweight, but I have always been active and given my body good food. The fat hatred in this country didn't care about my health, but rather the fact that my extra fat was an eyesore and made others uncomfortable. While on the topic of health, I stress that, if you see a fat person on the street and deem them unhealthy, it's none of your business. Someone's health is not public property, and it is not something one has a right to knowing or assuming because of another person's appearance. Their health is between them and their doctor, and others have no right to spread hateful words about fat people under the guise of "caring about their health".

Fat hate isn't truly about people's health but rather the idea that someone can judge someone else and their appearance and decide what their worth is as a human being. It's taken me more than 10 years to realize that my worth isn't based on other people's opinions of my body (though it's still something I struggle with), and for some the battle to self acceptance is far longer and more difficult. Let people love themselves and the bodies they inhabit, no matter what size.

My chubby tummy is cute. My thick thighs are cute. My fat arms are cute. And I promise, even if you can't see it in yourself, your body is cute, too.