Thursday 6 November 2014

Skinny Shaming



'Ewww, you're so fat. Perhaps try eating less, fatty.'
'Eugh, you're far too skinny. Do you even eat? Go and get a McDonalds.'

Woah, this is the 500th blog post I've published, and rather than doing a little round up post of my blogging experiences or a cake recipe, I thought I'd address something that's been on my mind recently. (Typical upbeat, chatty, posts will resume in the next couple of days - but for now I'd like to address something a little more serious.)

Skinny-shaming. Reverse body shaming. Anti-feminism. Call it what you want, but whatever it is seems to be becoming more and more apparent in today's society.

 If you're still unsure as to what I mean, I'm sure this will help you out; 'only real women have curves, nobody wants a bag of bones.' I thought we'd finally cracked this whole body image issue, and decided that accepting people (whatever their size) for who they are was the most important thing. Well clearly not. Turn on the radio and what are you bound to hear; Anaconda and 'that' Meghan Trainor song, which both feature the fabulous lyric; 'skinny bitches.'

What happened to 'everyone is beautiful.' It seems to be more like 'everyone is beautiful*' (*unless you're skinny, because then everyone will constantly mention it and hate you for it.)

Recently I've seen a lot of posts on Facebook comparing VS Angels to 'real women.' Firstly, are the former not 'real women'? I appreciate that society is trying to promote all body sizes as beautiful - but shaming slim people doesn't seem the best way to go about it?

Also, being skinny doesn't always correlate with fitness. I hate the stigma around skinny girls going to the gym. Why can't somebody thin, go and workout? Just because someone is skinny it doesn't mean that they can run cross country or swim 100 lengths of a pool. So why should it be so bad for somebody thin to want to improve their general fitness?

There's a very big difference between someone who is healthy and skinny, and somebody who is unhealthy and skinny, and I think more people need to think about this before they add their two cents.

Personally, I'm 5'8" and I eat like a horse. Yet, not a week goes by where somebody hasn't told me I'm too skinny and I need to eat more. Yes, I know I'm slim, I don't particularly like my body, but telling me to 'watch out, as my twig ankles might snap' isn't exactly empathetic is it? Yet, if it was aimed at somebody plus size, it would be considered absolutely outrageous...

This is the stigma we need to change.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this, what seems to be infinite, battle of body image.

21 comments :

  1. I hear ya girl. I'm totally with you and am so against body shaming etc. The recent 'all about that bass' is my latest grrr to body-shaming.

    Sophie x

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  2. This is one brilliant post!!! I think people automatically assume if your slim then you should be confident and completely happy with the way you look. I feel that society in a way has become anti-skinny, if your not curvy your simply not a woman and slim girls should in a way be ashamed of themselves for making curvy girls feel self-conscious, if that makes sense? Everyone is beautiful no matter what their size, curvy or slim. Curvy girls shouldn't feel self-conscious about showing of their curves the same way as slim girls shouldn't feel self conscience about showing of their slender builds. 'This is a stigma we need to change' I couldn’t agree with you more.
    xxx

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  3. I have a thing with the B-word (rhymes with itch) and I never knew why. A few months ago I realised it was because I have always been called "a skinny b****". "God you're such a skinny b****!" and it obviously bothered me that much that I can't even say think of someone as being that word let alone say it! I was always bullied for being thin and told that I looked anorexic but what people didn't realise was that I actually couldn't put on weight. I tried and I tried because I was too skinny but I just couldn't. Everyone always assumed that I was bragging and I was rubbing that fact in their face but when you're underweight and you look that thin it's awful to not be able to put on weight.

    Body shaming is a two way street and I was the same as you, I thought we'd finally got to a place where people weren't picked on for their weight. We seem to have gone in the opposite direction. We're loving ladies with curves (and why wouldn't we? They look damn good!) and hating on those "skinny" ones.

    Can I just say how much I hate the word skinny too? Why can't we say thin? Skinny aounds so awful.

    Leona xx

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, well you're a babe so screw them! What do they know?

      Delete
  4. Fantastic post, Becca! As you know, I am a chubby chubster but skinny shaming drives me MAD! Both of my best friends (as Leona confirms in her comment above) are slim girls and were asked if they were anorexic, told to eat more etc. It's not ok for anybody to feel judged for their size, whether big or small.

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  5. Great post! I completely agree with you and hate the way that "skinny shaming" is seen as acceptable because it is promoting curvier body shapes- it is definitely not the way to go about doing so! Well said! :)

    www.heavenlyclutter.blogspot.com
    xo

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  6. As someone who was called "bulimic" as a teenager (fast metabolism, gymnast), this is something that has always bugged me - why does society deem it offensive to call someone a "fat bitch", but not to call someone a "skinny" one? Great post x
    )

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  7. I COMPLETELY agree such a fab post, I don't understand why it's ok one way but not the other it seems completely ridiculous and unfair. I have had people refer to me to a doctor and allsorts before and it's kind of upsetting especially when people go on and on and on! xx

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  8. Yes!!! Amen to this sister. I personally hate the aforementioned song because it is basically saying that if you're 'skinny' then you're not beautiful - which is utter poop. This attitude is a result of pop culture and big butts being the desired thing for girls to have - whereas you look at music video's from the 00s and all the girls are tall and leggy with big boobs and not much butt at all. Bottom line (excuse the pun) is that we can't keep looking to pop culture to make us feel better about ourselves and tell us what is acceptable or not. Everyone deserves to feel beautiful, and everyone is.

    Cats In Crop Tops

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  9. I am so there with you honey! People have also tried to force feed me even though I eat as much pizza as the next girl! You're beautiful how you are! And that goes to ever girl. xx

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  10. UGH. Its either one way or the other isnt it? Any neither is right. Whether you atre born with hips and curves or slender and slight, its not OK to be anti either. How can we be a society that is anti eating disorders, yet still produce music like this and for it to be alright? Drives me mental. my 7 year old goddaughter told me she was on a diet last week. it makes me so mad that even at that age kids are succumbing to peer pressure!

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  11. I've been called skinny and I hate it. I hate the idea that because I have a boyish body shape (no hips, no boobs!), I'm not a 'real woman'. Yeah, I really hate this whole thing. Why can't people just accept that a body is a body - there is no right or wrong way for it to be!

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  12. This is an amazing post. Some people are just naturally skinny and telling them to 'go eat a McDonalds' isn't exactly going to help. When I first listened to Meghan Trainor's song I wanted to throw my radio out the window. Yes, it's trying to make bigger people happy with what they look like which I will happily support, but when you do that by telling people of the opposite physique that they're a 'skinny bitch', it just makes me so mad.

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  13. Glad to know I'm not the only one, who goes through this. I have had people ask me if I'm on drugs because I was "too" thin. I have had to get blood work done to prove to people that I'm healthy. I think there is nothing wrong with being any size as long as you're healthy.
    Great post, something that defiantly needs to be brought to attention in todays society.

    xo Franchesca | City Mermaid

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  14. I hate any kind of body shaming. I've always been small and skinny and I remember girls at school poking me in the stomach while getting changed for pe and pointing out my ribs. Was horrible! I personally hate the song All About That Bass because of the line "boys like a little more booty to hold at night" I think everyones got a bit het up on the skinny bitches part and are missing this even worse line! To me this line justifying feeling confident about your body with a boy's opinion is just plain WRONG! One more point while skinny shaming is also awful, you have to remember that society for a while has shown that skinny is better, photoshopping girls to look smaller, never bigger (except bigger boobs) so there is a thing that is skinny privilege, like male privilege or white privilege and we have to remember to check it. Yes, we may have had personal attacks on us which were not OK, but in society skinny is far more accepted than chubbiness.

    amber love

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