Fat Shaming Vs. Thin Privilege Vs. Slut Shaming

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“Real women have curves.” Well, sure they do. We harvest fetuses in our abdomens for nine months at a time; our bodies are flexible and adaptable and curvy for this reason only. Even the most stick-thin of women has a pair of hips that allow for a baby to narrowly pass through her birth canal. So yes, all women have curves.

The real problem with girls and poor body image isn’t just “society” and how it pressures us to be fat/thin/curvy/busty/tan/muscular. It’s that women, big or small, feel the need to strip down to their underwear to show that regardless of their concave stomach or cellulite or bony tailbone or voluptuous breasts or visible ribs, their bodies are worth something and that they are worth something. THIS IS THE ISSUE: We are focusing entirely too much on a woman’s body and her physique and her figure.

Women came forward screaming, saying that skinny women are “unreal” and that magazines should display REAL women. Beyonce is a role model for these “average, thicker women”. I’m sorry, she is gorgeous, but nothing about her is typical or average. Super thin women complain that they don’t have large breasts, and idolize Keira Knightly because she doesn’t either. Once again: gorgeous woman, NOT AVERAGE.

There is nothing wrong with being proud of your body. We should all be proud of our bodies. But women who so confidently strip down, declaring that her body is sexy is only devaluing herself. The issue isn’t that society and the media shoves the “ideal” women’s figure down our throats. Or maybe it is. But the issue that we have the power to change is that we idolize the female body to the point where women feel the need to show theirs off  to prove that a woman of any shape can be sexy – as long as she’s naked.

It’s become normal: bigger women exploiting their bodies is seen as admirable and commendable, but thin women doing it is whorish. If you’re exploiting your body sexually but think “it’s ok, because I’m not super thin” and think men/society will begin to respect women intellectually, you are wrong. In both circumstances, big or very small, you are allowing your human worth to be judged by your physical appearance. THAT IS THE PROBLEM.

And you know what? I’m all for nakedness. And consensual porn, and models. I understand that it’s a large industry, and I’m not trying to shut it down. But skinny women and big women and women with large breasts and women with no breasts and women with cellulite and women with perfect legs and women with club thumbs: STOP. Stop making your physical appearance the most important thing about you. Because it’s not. You have so much more to offer than your naked body.