Skinny Shaming

Body image is becoming a very big issue in our society today.  Promoting self-confidence and making sure women and men are comfortable in their own skin is everywhere in America. Whether it’s Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign, Victoria Secret “Body” line, or just plus size models appearing more and more in our magazines and televisions. It is wonderful to see that our society is changing its perception of a beautiful woman. While I am certainly happy to see this change, I realized that there is certainly a negative outcome that has surfaced.

As our nation is now promoting “normal”, bigger, curvier, looking body types into our ads and commercials, what we now believe is “not normal” is a skinny body. A skinny body type is now known as “anorexic”. Models who are skinny are known for not eating or going on an extreme diet. Shaming skinny body types has become more and more prevalent in the news and no one is really taking notice. Yes, you might say that being skinny is a good thing, that people aren’t shaming skinny people, they are complimenting them. But is being called anorexic a good thing or a compliment? Anorexia is a disease that is very harmful to our human bodies and can even lead to death. This disease cause severe emotional and physical damage to our body. Being called anorexic is just the same as being called obese. Both bring harm to us. We not only need to accept curvier, bigger, body types, but accept skinny body types as well.

When I was younger, I was always the skinniest among my friends. It’s not because I didn’t eat, trust me, I ate a lot. If I saw a Hershey bar at the table, you can count on it being devoured in 5 minutes. It’s just how my body was built. I have a fast metabolism and a small body structure that lead me to a skinny body. The constant, “You are so skinny.” And “Go eat a hamburger” became a daily reminder. I was so called “complimented” for having a skinny body, but it sure felt like I was being shammed for being skinny. 

I’m not trying to say skinny women are the definition of a beautiful woman, but I’m not saying curvier women are either. I want to get across to ladies that a healthy body is a beautiful body. No matter if we are curvy, skinny, tall, short, we should never be shamed on because of our body type. Everyone is different, but as long as we are healthy and happy, who should get to tell us what is beautiful and what isn’t. I am very grateful our society is promoting curvier, bigger, models to promote self confidence for women today, but shaming on a different body type was not suppose to be the outcome. Skinny shaming won’t end fat shaming and bringing in new hate doesn’t end hate. Be proud of who you are, whether you are big, small, skinny, or curvy.