YOU'RE SO SKINNY

Body shaming is something that has been around for God knows how long and we all know that it won’t be going away anytime soon, unfortunately. I’m pretty sure most of you reading this right now have experienced or are experiencing some sort of body shaming, or even passed on comments about somebody else’s weight yourself.

I’ve always been a skinny girl. I have a small frame and no matter how much I eat, I just can’t put on weight. It’s something that I have struggled with since a very young age. Back when I was in primary school I went through a lot of shit regarding my weight. Everybody, well, mainly boys, would comment on how skinny my legs were. ‘Get some meat on your legs’, ‘have a biscuit, you need it’, ‘eww your collarbone looks disgusting' were just some of the distasteful things I would have to put up with. I don’t think people realise just how hurtful words can be, especially at such a young age. I feel like those words have always stuck with me.

The unnecessary comments continued in secondary school, although I must admit that they weren’t as regular, but of course, a douche would always find a way to bring up my weight just to get a few giggles from fellow classmates. Up until recently I struggled with body confidence. Most of my friends would call me silly and say that I’m ‘so lucky’ to be able to eat what I like, but I just saw myself as someone who was too scared to wear a skirt, someone who couldn’t eat a salad with fear of being judged, someone who always felt the need to hide behind jeans or trousers.

I can’t tell you how many times I had gotten ready for a night out, put on a skirt or a dress, and then changed into jeans right before leaving the house with fear of getting body shamed. Back in 2013 I started to workout quite regularly and managed to put on 5kg. That was the most I have ever weighed in my life! Personally I don’t think I am extremely skinny, in fact my body mass index says I am just the right weight for my height, but my point is that bullying is something that stays with someone. Those words seem to get drilled into our heads and even though we grow up and become adults, that insecurity seems to always be at the back of our minds.

The thing that annoys me the most is that people seem to brush skinny shaming under the carpet. People don’t see it as such a big issue compared to fat shaming, but personally I think it’s a lot worse!! It’s worse because people don’t think that skinny shaming is offensive. People think that skinny people are skinny just because they want to be. That’s fucking bullshit! And the thing people don’t realise is that everybody fat shames behind someones back, but nobody has an issue pointing out how little a skinny person eats, or how ‘disgusting' they look to their face. But you would never hear someone telling a bigger person to their face ‘you’re so fat, eat a salad instead’. None are right! There shouldn’t be bashing of any weight, at all!! The best way for a bigger person and a skinny person to feel good about themselves, is if we stop judging and start complimenting instead.

If you’re overweight but want to enjoy a burger, have the damn burger! If you’re underweight but fancy having a salad, then by all means, have the salad. It’s hard to get over hurtful words, they always seem to find a way to creep into our heads and play on our insecurities, but the only way you’re going to get rid of them is by facing what you’re scared of. It’s by wearing that skirt you’re so intimidated by, it’s by putting on those leggings you think your bum looks huge in, it’s by stepping out of your comfort zone. If you read my Beat the Bullies post, you will know that I am no longer embarrassed of my legs. In fact, I actually really like them!! And I only discovered this because I stepped outside my comfort zone and wore a skirt and fell in love with how my body looked. 

Other peoples perception of you, isn’t your reality. Wear what you want to wear, eat what you wanna eat and f*ck other peoples opinions. Like the saying goes ‘opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one and most of them stink’. So yeah, sorry about this babble of a post, it’s just something I felt strongly about for so long, and now it feels like it doesn’t even matter because I no longer care about other peoples opinions of me, and I want you not to care either. 

Have a fab week :)

Lots of love, SFS.