I had a great conversation with one of my co-workers today. We were talking about how in her culture it is acceptable, and actually PREFERRED, to be “FAT.” For them, it is a compliment. It shows they are healthy, that they are doing well. If you are thin in her culture, it means you are sick and something is wrong. I wish America lived in this way. I wish I grew up in a society and culture where it was ok to be who I am. America is killing itself, and I do not want to be a part of that death sentence anymore.
My beautiful wonderful sister wrote this the other day and I love that she expressed this concern.
Being thin is easy, society tells us, look at all those models. What they don't tell us is the average women is size 12, which is considered 'plus size' and that those models are usually aged 12 to 19. They are 5 feet 9 inches tall and 120 pounds. That's not average. And that is not right.
But we continue to feed the society and continue to feel the pressure. I've been lucky to avoid that pressure and I have no idea why. I have never tried to lose a lot of weight, just continued to stay healthy (work out and eat right). My weight is an unknown and it will stay that way, except for doctors visits.
I've been obsessed with Marilyn Monroe for a year now. Her image, her beauty and her figure. I'm a bra size away from having the same body type; our measurements match up close to inches of each other. (According to the website I looked at.) She's been admired as the 'fat' celebrity but what about her was fat?!?! Yes, she was bigger than most of the movie stars during her time, but that doesn't make her fat.
[photo source: here]
The funny fact about her is that she got most of her clothes custom made. Was this because she was rich and could afford it? Possibly. But I think the other reason is that most clothes didn't look good on her. I have the same problem. I put on jeans and all I can see is my hips; I have to wear certain bras with certain shirts or layers of shirts so I can cover up what I was blessed with in the chest region. It's a pain in the butt and would love to have custom clothes. But alas, I am a student and have to stay with in my budgets.
About two weeks ago I caught myself calling myself fat. I was completely disgusted at my body. But then I asked myself, why should I be disgusted? I work out almost everyday, I eat as healthy as I can. I treat my body right and it treats me right. So why so I tear myself down because I don't fit the 'thin' standard? I get that enough from the media. So I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom, naked and called myself all the positive words I could think of.
I no longer want to be part of the death sentence as well. So what if I am twenty pounds heavier than the heaviest reported weight of Marilyn Monroe? I'm not gonna continue the negative language about my body, in fact, about anyone's body. Everyone deserves to be happy who they are.
I see two ways we can make this right: one, we can stop making our own body image negative and two, we can stop with the constant belief that we need to look 'good' for whatever reason.
And that is harder than it looks.
No comments:
Post a Comment