Our modern, contemporary culture has allowed us to speak up about whatever we want, always pushing our own worldview as the best one out there. It has altered the media, especially the way fashion magazines and advertisements present themselves in regard to a woman’s image.
Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is perfectly flawed. Everyone deserves to be heard, not just some more than others.
Stores that advertise “real clothes for real women” often don’t take into consideration that petite and skinny women still exist. Skinny women are still just as real as plus-size women, and we should not segregate one side of the spectrum to make the other side feel better. It is not a bad thing to be a size 0 and it’s not a bad thing to be a size 10.
Being a size 4 in jeans does not make you “unreal,” it makes you human. Models are real people and those who say they aren’t cannot consider themselves to be accepting. We should lift everyone up equally without dividing ourselves based on appearance and popularity.
The standards on how women treat each other should not be based on whether you shop in the petite, regular or plus-sized section of Old Navy. Don’t make women feel bad for being skinny and don’t make them feel bad for having curves. It’s as simple as that. We have the choice to divide ourselves based on a number that appears on a scale, and we have the choice to lift each other up.
Everyone matters equally and I am proud to be part of a generation that strongly voices its opinion on acceptance and open-mindedness, so let’s take that into consideration and not push one view more than the other.
Some problems in this world don’t have clear solutions, but I believe this one does. “Skinny shaming,” a term used to describe someone being insulted because they are skinny, is just as bad as “fat shaming,” a term used to describe someone being insulted because they are overweight.
All bodies are good bodies. All sizes are good sizes. If we are simply conscious of that, we can stop the low self-esteem epidemic that has taken over our generation and replace it with words of encouragement.
