body image Archives

You Attack My Size 0, But I Can’t Attack Your Size 16

“No, I don’t starve myself. I’m naturally skinny and probably eat more than you.” -Anonymous

Why are you allowed to say I’m too skinny when I’ll be publicly torn apart for saying you’re too fat? This has been a topic of discussion that I’ve been seeing everywhere lately.

The god-awful phrase “real woman” makes me grit my teeth with true anger. Apparently, only women who are a size 8 and above are real women.

I don’t know who died and made these standards but please, let me know. Now I know what people are thinking as they read this,that size 0-2 are the general beauty standards, which is slowly fading.

Yet when was it okay to pick apart a young girl or a woman saying that she needs to eat a cheeseburger? Since when has it become socially acceptable to bully one size but when it’s done in reverse to a size 16 everyone is in an uproar?

We all want to preach about unrealistic body standards, but what’s the harm of being naturally thin or desiring to stay within a smaller weight range?

Does that make us smaller individuals, not real women? Do people realize the young thin girl may feel self-conscious when she reads things on Facebook of people ripping someone her size apart?

You bigger girls are no better than the skinnier girls bullying peoples’ weight online. I’ll probably be fused at for saying this but women are the first ones saying us skinny girls aren’t real women but you’re also the first ones wishing to wear the crop tops and short shorts I wear.

Is it that you secretly wish you could look like me or is it that you truly hate the body I possess?

Or is it an insecurity that your man would want someone like me over someone like you. If that’s the case then he’s obviously not someone you should be with.

Rather it be insecurities or not, please figure it out and stop body shaming us and we’ll stop body shaming you.

I’ve been made fun of a lot, especially by men, that I’m to skinny. I don’t have an ass and my breast aren’t big enough. I’ve been told I need to eat more than I would care to hear.

My own family remind me on the daily bases they would love to be smaller but not my size cause I’m way too skinny.

They say it like it’s a bad thing. When I complain about how I feel no one listens cause I’m luckyto be skinny so I have nothing to complain about.

So I’ll leave you with this wonderful quote I found online that I wish I could identify who wrote this lovely very true statement:

“Hey eat a cheeseburger gang. Iv’e seen you around Pinterest and Tumblr, and blogs with your obvious concern for skinny women. While I appreciate your desire to lead them to a healthy way of life by eating crappy food, I would respectfully suggest that you stop attacking other women’s bodies. Stop throwing around the cheeseburger line along with these silly ones.”

‘Real women have curves’ There are no fake women.

‘Men like women with meat on their bones’ My self worth isn’t determined by men or what my body looks like.

‘She looks unhealthy’ Really? Do you personally know her? Are you suddenly the body police and get to decide what is and what isn’t healthy.

Attacking other women’s bodies isn’t concern for healthiness, it’s called Misogyny.

10 Ways Getting Tattoos Helped Me Love My Body

I’ve always struggled with body image issues, as most young girls unfortunately do. Growing up, I struggled to see anything but flaws on my body. Even parts I like about myself, I would scrutinize because they still weren’t perfect. As a curvy Hispanic girl, I didn’t really see anyone who looked like me on TV. All I wanted was to be skinny like the Olsen twins, but alas, I never would be.

Sometime in my freshman year of college, after spiraling into a deep depression, I realized that I would literally never look like anyone but myself. I began a journey to loving my body for what it is and having the autonomy to change parts of myself through tattoos helped me along that journey.

1. I reclaimed my body

I got my first tattoo when I was 19 after a musical festival. I had wanted to get one before I got the idea to wander into the tattoo shop at midnight, but if I’m being honest, I did this mostly on a whim. I got the number thirteen in roman numerals on the back of my right ankle. It was 2014 and the previous year had been an especially rough one. When I first got it, I loved looking at it. I loved wearing anything that showed my ankle because I felt like I owned this tiny piece of my body. I finally got to choose something about the way that I look, which made me want more.

2. I began to love specific body parts

Tattoos allowed me to mark my skin with the things that I loved and I began to see parts of myself I disliked as in a positive light. I have a human heart on my hip that my best friend and I got as semi-matching tattoos. I used to despise my hips. They kept me from wearing so many trendy clothes when I was younger because they were too wide. I chose my hip because I wanted to like to look at my hips and to see something beautiful when I did. I now see the beauty in my hips, even if they did prevent me from participating in the jean skirt phase of 2006.

3. Tattoos remind me of positivity

I got a tattoo after I graduated college that says “it’s all happening,” which is a quote from one of my favorite movies “Almost Famous.” I used to obsess over the movie in my teen years. It’s part of what inspired me to pursue journalism. It felt fitting that I’d mark (literally) the end of my college career with something from the movie that made me want to do it in the first place. It’s a positive reminder to keep going and that everything will happen in due time. Having the positive reminder etched on my body makes me love it a little more.

4. Their meaning has evolved with me

Although I did get some tattoos in dark periods of my life and they had a specific meaning when I got them, their meanings have continued to evolve over time. This has been a great reminder of how I have changed and how far I have come. I love being able to have something permanent to remind me of this.

5. They allowed me to change parts of myself

In a world where we are given one body that we can’t choose, having autonomy to change parts of yourself that you don’t particularly love is freeing. Even though I do work on loving my body as it is, being able to mark myself with art that in places on my body that I don’t love makes me love my body that much more.

6. Tattoos have marked my life trajectory

I’ve made it a tradition to get a tattoo when I visit new places. This might eventually die out because I travel a lot, but it has allowed my body to become a map of memories. Every tattoo holds a special memory of a happy time in my life. They each tell a story about specific moments of my life and I get to wear that on myself every single day.

7. I take my body less seriously

I have a light bulb tattoo on my forearm that serves as a reminder that I am more than my body. It represents my intelligence, my ideas, and my creativity — all of the other things that I have to offer that have nothing to do with the size of my pants. I realized that my body is not all that I am and it doesn’t really matter how big or small it is. It is mine to shape, mold and mark.

8. I feel more myself

As I’ve continued to get tattoos through the years, I’ve felt more and more comfortable in my own skin. Having chosen to present myself with art that I feel represents the ~real me~, I’ve never felt more myself. The ink I have has allowed me to express myself fully.

9. My “flaws” turned into art

When I look at my body now, I still see flaws, but I don’t hate them. I don’t scrutinize myself the way that I used to. Rather than seeing stretch marks and cellulite in the mirror, I see little pieces of art. And more importantly, I see a whole person. I see the good and the bad without judging each part.

10. I’ve gotten a higher self-esteem

I can’t completely give credit to tattoos for my higher self-esteem, but I know they definitely helped. I feel hotter with my tats, honestly! Apparently, I’m not the only woman who feels this way. Women with multiple tattoos report higher self-esteem than anyone else, according to a 2015 study.

“I think women, especially, are more aware of their bodies through, among other things, fat shaming, the cosmetics and plastic surgery industry and hyper-sexualized imagery in media,” Sociologist Jerome Koch of Texas Tech University said. “What we may be seeing is women translating that awareness into empowerment.”

My tattoos are part of me and my favorite accessory. I look and feel better than ever and it’s (mostly) thanks to some tats. It’s amazing how small changes on your body and in your mind can make loving yourself a little easier.

Skinny Girls Have Curves, Too

It’s disgusting to think that one group of women has to put another group of women down to feel better about themselves.

Some women, like myself, are naturally thin. Yes, I eat. Yes, I’d love to gain weight. I’ve tried my whole life to have thick sexy legs, but my frame was built tiny and no matter how much I try I may never achieve those legs.

And just like heavier girls, I’ve been teased too.

Skinny girls can’t help being skinny any more than overweight girls can help being overweight. We’re both human, and we’re both vulnerable.

The media has un-deliberately vilified thin women by holding them responsible for society’s beauty standards, and accusing models for example, of having eating disorders and setting a bad example for girls everywhere.

To counter that, many campaigns like Dove have risen to promote “healthier” body types.

“Real Women Have Curves” Dove has used it in its Real Beauty Campaign and it’s one of the most used quotes when showing support to women who are… well, curvier.

Technically all women have curves, big or small, they’re there; curves are a part of all feminine silhouettes, but people have taken this quote that’s meant to celebrate women of ALL body types out of context.

Instead they use it to support all body types THAT ARE NOT thin types, because apparently if you’re thin, you don’t have curves. Hence, you are not a real woman. Sorry.

Oh damn! I forgot I don’t have “curves” because … well, that’s just been genetically impossible for me. Damn you fast metabolism! Now I can’t ever be considered a REAL woman. I guess all there’s left to do is to pretend to be one!! HA!

Another one is “Being skinny is not good, being healthy is.” Many girls that are skinny believe it or not, are in fact, healthy.

Most of these “confidence boosters” are counterproductive. They enhance one groups confidence while they scrutinize and put down another’s.

Not everyone who is thin wants to be, just like not everyone who is overweight wants to be either. Messages like the ones I just discussed are in the public eye everyday and sometimes we think them and sometimes we say them, and we don’t know how they will affect the receiving end.

If you have to put someone down to validate your own weight then there’s a deeper self-esteem issue lying there. Instead of worrying about others focus on yourself.

Work on the body you want to achieve. A body that you believe is healthy for you, because what may be healthy for you may not be healthy for others. You’re only given one life, and in that life only one body to through it with, so love the body you’re in.

I love mine and I think it’s beautiful.