skinny girl, fat girl

Here at lip we write about the issues that are dear to us, as writers and as women in the modern world, and the acceptance of women in our natural forms and individual shapes are top of the list. We write about the challenges of women striving for the acknowledgment and celebration of full bodied, curvy women as a minority in the fields of media, fashion and generally, just the public eye. Now I can see your minds ticking, and no, I am not denying this at all. I think that one of the most beautiful sights in the world is a natural, happy, beautiful woman. But recently, my little sister has been expressing her anguish to me about not fitting in with the fashion that she likes and the overall stereotype about skinny girls.

She would be a size 6. She is short and has a tiny frame but is definitely healthy. She, and a few of my very good friends are just some of the people I know that have a teeny tiny frame that suits them just fine, but it’s not them that need convincing of their beauty and their femininity… it’s the rest of the world.

In an ironic twist it seems that some parts of society are moving from ultra-skinny-super-model-beauty to only fat women can be goddess-like. Apart from the incredibly crass celebrity magazines that focus on the clearly unbearable sight of celebrity cellulite, conversation of curvy women has been the talk of the town for a few years now. We see it on TV talk shows, magazines, newspapers, radios and even our social media. We see ‘plus size’ models beginning to dominate the camera and even online there are dozens and dozens of Facebook groups proudly displaying words of power such as ‘real women have curves and fuller bodies’.

…seriously? Only women with curves are real?

Disappointingly, our crusade for the acceptance of more voluptuous, curvy women has turned on us to the impression that skinny girls aren’t feminine; skinny girls aren’t real women. Along the way of this incredible journey, we seem to have lost track of women that are simply happy and healthy in their natural bodies being as beautiful as the next.

Now, I’m most certainly not as tiny as my sister or my other friends. I’m between a 10 and 12, sometimes if I’m lucky an 8.  But even I have been subject to ridicule for my size and the most popular of all demeaning names is, of course, skinny bitch. Even if accused through a lighthearted, social, joking kinda-way, I’d like to ask why is it okay to make fun of someone who is not the same as you, particularly someone who is smaller? If in conversation I happened to mention that I think you’re quite fat, would that be acceptable too?

I recall watching an episode of the ever-present Dr. Phil focused on body image where a larger lady called a smaller lady “skinny minnie”. When Dr. Phil asked why it was okay for her to do so, the audience applauded and the larger lady was speechless and I think there is a very true point to this. We crack down hard (or at least are trying) on people that make rude, unnecessary remarks about women who are larger being ‘fat’, ‘ugly’ and generally not accepted in society. However if you look close enough, it’s apparent that women of smaller stature face problems of a similar nature.

The mainstream ideal body image has been shifted from incredibly thin to overly curvy and yet no-one seems happy at all. There needs to be a time when we say enough is enough. You can’t be fat, you can’t be thin, how about we aim for healthy?

So here’s to a new theme; some real women are skinny, some real women are curvy. Real women are natural. Real  women are healthy. Real women support each other.

(Image Credit: 1.)