I apologize in advance for my feminist rant that will be encompassing the bulk of my column this week. But I think it’s important to address the issue of body shaming and how it has really taken over our culture.
In a nutshell, body shaming is when people claim that there is only one way a woman can look. For decades, the argument has been thin versus curvy. With posts on the Internet claiming “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” and “bones are for dogs, real men want curves,” it’s no wonder that young girls and women have such low self-esteem.
In today’s society, there is so much pressure put on women to look a certain way. Society tries to squeeze us all into one, tiny mold and the truth of the matter is that the majority of normal, everyday women don’t fit into it.
Don’t count celebrities and models. They have makeup artists, stylists and, most importantly, photoshoppers, to give them that highly unobtainable look. And while I generally love everything about magazines, I’m not so naïve to think that the women who appear in those issues look 110 percent like that in real life. Because the fact of the matter is, they don’t.
So I guess the age old question of why we all can’t get along applies here, too. I think it’s an important message to send to everyone. There’s a reason that so many girls have low self-esteem and self-worth and it has more to do than just the fashion industry; it’s the mentality of the world.
There’s a constant battle between being naturally thin like Taylor Swift and being curvalicious like Kim Kardashian. I have an idea: how about we embrace and love both?
Saying things like “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” and “bones are for dogs, real men love curves,” is essentially the same thing. Both are attacking the way a person is naturally and it’s got to stop.
Some people are born with curves for days and others are naturally skinny. It shouldn’t be acceptable to criticize either body type. The most important thing for a person to be is healthy; for some people that’s a size 2 and for others that’s a size 12. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with either one of those sizes.
I think the worst part about body shaming is that the majority of the time it’s women doing it to other women. And that really pisses me off.
We have come so far as a group and to me, the way we are constantly pinning women against each other is ridiculous. For what reason? Because we think that’s what men really want?
I say screw that. Be healthy, be happy and be yourself. Don’t spend your time wondering what someone else is going to like and try to conform to that.
Do what you want to do and be who you want to be. Because at the end of the day, it’s what you’ve done and how you’ve treated people that really matter – not what size your jeans are.
SAMMIE JANIK
