Keep your opinions off my body

My body is not up for discussion. My body is not up for public consumption. A woman’s body is not on display for people to pick apart or compliment. It just is.

This is something I believe in vehemently. This is something most people I know believe in vehemently. But some people don’t.

I don’t want to give the column more website hits by linking to it. It’s one that has been around for a long time, on the Sydney Morning Herald. The column in question is an older one, that a feminist friend linked to. The columnist in question was discussing his (of course) preference for smaller bottoms on women. Hey, that’s cool. Everyone has a preference in who they’re attracted to, and you can’t help what you like – body preference included.

However – in discussing your attraction to a certain body type, there is no need to disparage other body types.

Which is what this columnist did.

I don’t believe in putting down people in order to build myself up. It’s something I used to engage in, and a practice I look back on in shame. It didn’t make me feel superior, it made me feel like crap. I didn’t love myself or my body and it showed in how horrible I was about other people’s bodies.

He may have couched it in a “Oh, it’s just what people do” rhetoric, and that may even be true, but it doesn’t make it right. He may even be “mansplaining” his position, but really, it comes across as “oh, those silly females are so influenced by the fashion industry, and tv commercials, haha. P.S., no fat chicks.”

Look, I know, when I go out the door, that someone, somewhere is going to be thinking or saying something about my appearance – it may be being paranoid, or it may be true. I certainly don’t think every person is looking at me and judging me, but some people might be. I accept that.

What I don’t accept is commentary on my body. On other women’s bodies. On ANY body. Especially disguised as helpful, “tell it like it is” advice.

Image Credit : 1.