No Such Thing as Fat or Skinny

Senior year- 18 yrs 

Senior Year-18 yrs

Hair School Graduation- 19 yrs

Jr. High-15 yrs

Christmas 2009- 20 yrs
(At my skinniest I weighed 130 lbs. I was very underweight but I wanted to be extra thin for my wedding so I was under eating)

Now-22 yrs

I came across a really fantastic article today while surfing the web. The subject was something that really hit home with me. Now normally when I read articles online I tend to avoid the comments because they can get really nasty especially with more controversial topics. But this one was different. It seemed to be something I could never imagine people arguing about so I took a peek at the first few comments expecting to read heartfelt words coming from everyone. I was sorely disappointed to find that people can find rude inconsiderate things to say about anything. What is happening to this world and the people in it. How has humanity stooped so low that they could make negative comments about an article promoting positive body image in women?! Yes, you read that right. POSITIVE body image. This article was about how we should raise our girls to know that they are beautiful no matter their shape and size, and how we can teach them this through example. How in the world could that EVER be a bad thing?! And the worst part was that almost all of these comments were from men. Men telling women they are lazy and if they just worked out and didn't' eat fatty food they would look like Angelina Jolie. And that it's not. that .hard. Some of the comments I read made me so angry I thought about leaving a comment back to pick a fight. But what good would that do? So here I am on my little old blog speaking out. My whole life I have struggled with body image issues. I may not have shown it, but everyday I had to constantly fight with those thoughts in my head telling me that if I wasn't the flat-chested, boy-straight, size 0 that was so popular at that time, then I wasn't beautiful. Well let me tell you a little about myself. I am 5"8" and I weigh 135 lbs with a BMI of 17.8. Now looking at those numbers you're probably thinking "what does she know about body issues?". Based off those numbers I seem underweight. Now let me give you another set of numbers. I wear a size 9/11 in pants, my cup size is a DDD (sorry for the TMI), and my measurements are 41, 32, 41. Not so small now am I? The reason I shared these numbers with you is because that's exactly what they are. A number. A size 9/11 pant doesn't mean your fat and a BMI of 17.8 doesn't automatically make you skinny. In fact, I would be classified as curvy or plus size by most fashion magazines because of my clothing size and figure, yet when I go to the doctor he tells me I am underweight and need to gain a few pounds. So what am I trying to say? WHY are we using classifications like FAT and SKINNY when I have just proven that doesn't work! There is no such thing as fat and skinny. We should instead be focusing on HEALTHY and UNHEALTHY. Because of the expectations placed on women by media and society, I grew up thinking I was fat because I had curves. And when I wasn't feeling self conscious around all the stick figure jr high girls, I was being objectified by all the horny 14 year old boys because I had a large chest and a small waist. In jr. high I started skipping lunch saying I was on a "diet". In high school I decided it was okay to skip breakfast too. But then I was so starving by the end of the day I would binge eat on junk that wasn't good for me. I may not have had a full blown eating disorder, but I definitely had a distorted body image. Because the world told me that having a very womanly figure at a young age was ugly and the only way I knew to become "pretty" was to "diet". Maybe this is just my opinion, but no girl that young, should EVER have to know what a diet is or think that that's how you become beautiful. Even now at the age of 22, I still look in the mirror and struggle with not thinking that what I see is beautiful. When I try on clothes at the store, I leave empty handed because all I see when I try them on is fat, fat, fat. Swimming suits make me feel self conscious. Pictures of me look like whales. I don't want to feel like that. I know I'm not fat. I've had a freaking baby for goodness sake! But this is what society has done to me. To women in general. Is this really what we want to teach our young girls?! They need to know that they are beautiful NO MATTER WHAT! So to that stupid superficial guy who said it isn't that hard to look like Brad or Angelina and that the people who write these articles are just trying to make themselves feel better because they're fat and lazy.... Shame.On.You.

Women are beautiful. Period. There is no such thing as fat or skinny.

You can check out the original article here.

Mariasha