I normally try to avoid any newsstand that is abundant with women's weeklies, but recently I could not help myself from literally stopping in my tracks to read this feature title; "Wow! Celebs with REAL BODIES!"
Coming from a magazine who's content basically glorifies/scrutinises celebrity body image I thought this was stupid. What exactly did they mean by 'real'? Saddle bags and a muffin top? Bingo wings? A spare tyre? If the pictures were anything to go by, then I am assuming yes. And if that makes these women 'real', then I suppose that lacking any excess body fat does not make a 'real' woman at all.
Many people seem to assume that by being skinny, you either;
a. Have an eating disorder
b. Have it easy
I can safely say that, as someone who has spent what feels like the majority of their life at 5ft 8 and 8 stone, this is far from true.
I have literally heard every skinny jibe under the sun. I was in Topshop the other week and a member of staff overheard me talking about a top I tried on but didn't fit, and she told me to "eat more". In a lecture people openly commented on how some neo-classical painting featured women with 'real' and 'normal' bodies. Real? Normal? Making people feel bad for being thin is no different for making people feel bad for being fat. But using the term 'normal' insinuates that those who aren't flabby are automatically freaks of nature.
So get over it. Calling other girls fat doesn't make you any more skinny, and calling other girls skinny doesn't make you any less fat. If you can love your curves, I can love my bones. Stop defining
what makes women real or not, and leave my skinny feelings intact please. Your body is the only one you've got and ever going to have.
In the meantime, here is an amazing piece by writer Hanne Blank, who just sums up what I am trying to say a lot more graciously than me!
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