Okay, so all women should be happy with their body types, right? Right. But have you ever noticed that no one is?
I don't mean necessarily that women always complain about their figures (stereotype, I know, but it's true in a vast majority of cases). That, of course, is additional proof, but I mean that they devalue other body types in order to feel better about their own. Think about it. My guess is, you're thinking of skinny girls who always make fun of larger girls. While this is true, it's comparatively rare to the reverse.
A movie came out a while ago, "Real Women Have Curves". Even if you've never seen it, the title basically says it all. But where does that leave the skinny girls? They are somehow lesser women, and thereby lesser people, simply because they were not given fuller figures, for better or for worse. You always hear men in the media discussing the fact that they prefer women who have more "meat" (for lack of a better term). This, of course, is a matter of personal opinion, but no one ever quotes a man saying that he prefers a skinny woman; that might be deemed offensive.
There's a war on thin women going on, and it's entirely unfair. It's easy for people to make fun of these girls, calling them anorexic, skin and bones, and all the rest of it. No one calls bigger women fat anymore, because that's offensive. And it is -- but so are those other terms. Skinny girls are dehumanized in our culture; they aren't even considered to have feelings, apparently. (Most) thin girls can't help their figure any more than (most) larger girls can help theirs. It's really disgraceful that only large women get to be happy with their bodies; skinny women have to gain weight if they want to be normal.
In ads and promos for "real beauty" and the like, one will find that it's only more curvy women who are represented in this: you can't see the ribcage of a single one. Look if you disbelieve me, it's sadly true.
In a world of self esteem uber alis, one would think that everyone would get equal treatment in the boosting of it. Not so, apparently. It's not rare at all to hear someone telling a thin girl, "I can see your ribs, that's disgusting! Gain some weight!" No one EVER says, "Hey, your fat rolls are pretty nasty, you should go on a diet!" Neither of those things are kind or funny. And yet, people seem to think that the former is both those things.
I'm not so sure about how this works for men, because I'm not a man, but I think I can fairly safely say that the same rules apply as far as muscular versus more wiry builds on their part.
My point, then, is: shouldn't all women get to feel beautiful, even the ones who make everyone apparently feel sick, since you can see some of their bones? I'm not saying that curvy women are lesser in any way. I'm just saying that they are equal, and should be treated as such. Again, there are some areas of this that are questions of personal taste; that still leaves the fact that no one seems to want skinny women to exist anymore.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
"shouldn't all women get to feel beautiful, even the ones who make everyone apparently feel sick, since you can see some of their bones?"
Not if they intentionally starve themselves to get the figure they have. There are people who are naturally skinny and can't gain a pound even if they eat an entire turkey, and [i]they[/i] deserve to feel beautiful. But letting anorexics feel beautiful will just encourage their unhealthy way.
**Should we split U.S. in two?
I know, but the majority of skinny girls have no choice; it's just the way they were born. No matter what they do, they can't seem to change it. But the same is true for large women; why should those who eat unhealthy foods get to feel beautiful? There are women who are naturally big, and there are women who are naturally small, and they should be equally appreciated.
if an anorexic felt good about their body, they would have taken a huge step in recovering, actually.
Thanks for saying what I've thought for a long, long time, Julia! Hope you don't mind a comment or two from an old- and thin- broad who was just cruising by.
I've always been skinny. At the age of 52 I don't think I'm likely to change! And I've always gotten flak for it. I've had total strangers approach me in the grocery store ("Put some FOOD in that cart, girl!"), the clothing department ("You better go to the little girls' department... or maybe [snicker, chortle] the little BOYS' department!"), and in my younger days, in bars and other pick-up joints, nice-looking men would ask me if I was anorexic.
Your points are right on. I would never, ever, say any of the things to a heavy person that have been said to me. It upset me terribly when I was younger. I felt SO unattractive and unfeminine! Once in a while in my old age I'll now challenge some of these rude folks, telling them how rude they are and I ask them if they would say similar things to a fat person. Invariably the response is something like, "Sheesh, lighten up, willya?" Sigh.
So how come we don't judge men solely by their looks and their umm... figures?
So how come we don't judge men solely by their looks and their umm... figures?
I though all women did that. Maybe I will get a date for friday after all.
Haha! That is a liiiie. I totally judge a guy on looks, and any girl who says she doesn't can only have ONE excuse, she is BLIND. It is human nature, none of us can help it.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
Check out my latest blogs! :]
I understand where you are coming from. I can see how a girl that is naturally really skinny and has people tell her all the time that she needs to gain weight can start to feel down on herself. It is also like you said though, people make comments on other girls' figures not necessarily because they think they are unattractive but to make themselves feel better. But bigger people do still get called fat and all too often. That is still one of the biggest prejudices today. The fact that anorexia and bulemia are still so very prevalent shows that there is too much pressure to be thin. Pressure to be thin means thin is the standard of beauty to live up to. Look at the amount of media conveying small, skinny, supermodel type girls compared to the amount of media conveying large women. It is only recently that these ads started to appear. And still, these women are called "plus size" women instead of just plain beautiful women. If you are already naturally thin, embrace it because you do not have to go through any of the work and stress that many women go through to look like you. I can attest to the fact that big people do get told to go on diets, and if the complaining skinny girls gained weight, they would too see that others will look down on them and prefer them to lose weight.
I am one of those who is naturally skinny and i used to hate it and try to gain "healthy" pounds, lol but yes i am finally happy with myself yet i also do take looks into the mirror and imagine a little more curve here and there.
I have heard that movie is real good and every woman should watch it.... I am going to have to!!
~<3~Love and be loved!~<3~
In the past two and a half years, I have dropped 4 dress sizes. I'm still a pretty big girl. No matter how hard I try, I'm never going to fit into any single digit clothes. That being said, I remember in high school, I was walking down the hall and some girl came up to me and asked me if I was pregnant. I was probably about 15 at the time. I'm sure when my little sisters were younger and I"d be walking them around, people would think that they were MY children, and that I had gotten knocked up again. That's NOT an easy thing for a girl to deal with. Now that I've grown into my body, I don't get nearly as many comments. I also wear a lot less baggy clothes, and I feel more beautiful than I ever did. Yet I still wonder why my boyfriend is attracted to ME and not the skinny girl standing next to me.
I'm truly sorry that skinny girls are feeling 'oppressed', as you make it sound. People are ruthless when it comes to making themselves feel better. Still, I think the skinnier girls have it better off. They can hide any ribs that are showing by wearing the right clothes. It's realllllly hard to hide too much fat.
~C
Visit my blog.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
"My guess is, you're thinking of skinny girls who always make fun of larger girls. While this is true, it's comparatively rare to the reverse."
Again, you've got to be fucking kidding me.
"No one EVER says, "Hey, your fat rolls are pretty nasty, you should go on a diet!" "
They most certainly do. Try being overweight, maybe then you'll hear it. -_-
Look, I completely sympathize with any female, thin or not, that is made fun of because of the way she looks naturally. But if you HONESTLY believe that naturally thin women are losing their power in society, you ARE mistaken. EXTREMELY mistaken.
By the way, the Real Women Have Curves campaign is NOT a jab at thin women. "Real" is a reference to realistic-the majority of women have a little extra baggage-that's the reality of our society. It has nothing to do with being a "real woman". They are just looking at the fact that the majority of women in society (the REALity) are underrepresented in the media.
I have to disagree. I have been a bigger woman all my life for health reasons. I have to say that life being an overweight woman aint as easy as being skinny.
Most overweight woman have little to no self esteem because we are always insulted, picked on by people who really have no heart. Skinny woman have it easier they have nice clothes, better chances at dating, better jobs.
"No one EVER says, "Hey, your fat rolls are pretty nasty, you should go on a diet!"
ha... ha.. ha.. yes they do trust me! they even say worse things. I understand where you are coming from that about being insulted both skinny and overweight because it happens. Trust me this whole thing about overweight woman not being told their fat because its offensive and it stoped? uhh think again because thats totally not true... you said most guys like some "meat" on there girls right? I have known guys who think the opposite and a huge hugeeee amount of guys who never look in my direction more than twice or at all because I am overweight.
I think people forget about overweight children - I was one up until about middle school when I grew about 5 inches taller and finally evened out.
And I can't really relate to what skinny girls had to endure during their childhood years, but I'll always remember when I was on the playground in third grade and one of my classmates called me a "fatass." I was eight years old and I can't tell you how much that hurt - nor do I think that many eight year olds make fun of "skinny girls" because they don't even know what anorexic means.
You can't please everyone, so don't bother trying. Please yourself first, and the people who matter will fall in line.
When I was a sophomore in high school, I had a bunch of girls come up to me and ask me if I was pregnant. That was a fun day...
~C
Read the news.
Nominate a featured blogger!
I quit showing negative emotions to fat insults in middle school. When I started saying, "Yes, I am a fat bitch, thank you so much for noticing," people gave up and found someone else to pick on. Being a smart ass is a great self-defense mechanism. Of course, it means I can't take a compliment if my life depends on it, though it is more difficult to insult me. I've tried for years to straighten my mind out, and I realize that everyone is born a certain way, with a certain figure. That certain figure is different, and it's what's beautiful, so long as it is not abused. If you were born to be skinny, you're beautiful skinny. If you're born to be fat, you're beautiful fat. If you're somewhere in the middle, that's what is beautiful for you. Don't try to change yourself for anyone but you, by which I mean health reasons. It's not possible for everyone to be a size 0, only some of us. Others are better being a 10 or a 20, and these women shouldn't try to be a 0.
"Don't try to change yourself for anyone but you, by which I mean health reasons." Live a health life no matter you are big or small, fat or skinny.
Don't try to change your life style unless you feel really good in that way. You only need to change your own opinion about being big or skinny. It's easier to change yours not all others.
Erica
http://www.largeplace.com
Very true.
The first time I ever felt degraded for being thin was by my hero, my protector; my older brother. His girlfriend is curvier and she was telling me how much she wished she could lose weight. I told her the basics; eat healthy and exercise. She apparently thought I was being rude, ran to my brother, and the next chance he got he mocked my body.
We were going swimming and I pulled my shirt off (was wearing the bathing suit top, of course) and he shuddered and said, "ugh. Your ribs are disgusting. No offense, but that's really gross."
Can you imagine the backlash he'd received if he'd told his girlfriend her muffin top was gross?
"No offense..."
"Happiness only real when shared".
This is a little off if you ask me. No I am not over weight, I am by nature a very small person ( I have tumors that prevent me from growing to my full potential) and I know things you don't seem to acknowledge in your blog. I don't have time to go over all of them but this one really bothered me:
"No one EVER says, "Hey, your fat rolls are pretty nasty, you should go on a diet!"
Is that a joke? I hear it ALL the time. One time my aunt said, "Well I guess it isn't over until the fat lady sings", in referring to Christmas dinner ending at my house which my mother so generously cooked, and she just so happens to be over weight.
People more often stare at fat people than skinny people, you really need to think more abou this topic because there really is no comparison in the way skinny people and over weight people are treated, it is completely on different levels.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
Check out my latest blogs! :]
Attraction is a weird thing, I love skinny and voluptuous, actually I love all women but especially love girls which are not complaining about the physical body they are living in.
I witnessed and understand people can be harsh, but then again, they will learn to behave better or grow old soon!
Myself I’m a kick ass gorgeous piece of male, apparently I carry the finest ass in the world, not that I believe so to be, but I can witness the looks of despise and wonder when walking down the sidewalk.
I hardly ever go out to a nightclub only to avoid trouble, some males freak out when they witness their babe throwing a look at me with dilating pupils, lol.
I had girlfriends of which others referred them to be ugly as hell, I loved them with all of my heart, but they all grew sick on me, becoming weak and lost by fear of competition and jealousy.
There are so little women out there which carry self-esteem, really sad that is.
All because of that stupid mind TV which tells them how to live and look!
Oh, I forgot to mention, from the inside I’m as beautiful as the Kingdom of God!
And yes, I love myself, handsome, but I can live with that, the funny thing is that many people assume beautiful people have more easy lives, it is actually the contrary in many ways.
I got over it all, I don’ care less of what people might think of me, I see many before the time they can see me!
Other than that, I’m very modest, I don’t usually talk this way, lol
What the heck...