https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk
I have been told many times in my life to go eat a cheeseburger or to be careful going outside because the wind might blow me away. Really?? Skinny-shaming is a form of bullying someone for their small figure and it is a problem in our society. Most of us have heard someone skinny-shame but people don't feel as bad telling someone they are skinny rather than fat. Why would it be okay to shame-skinny women and not larger women? I recently heard two songs that have become very popular in the music industry but insult so many thin women.
Nicki Minaj released a single last year called "Anaconda". In the music video, many thicker women are shown half naked twerking at the camera. The meaning behind the song is that men are not attracted to woman that lack a fat butt. One entire verse in the song says "F*** them skinny bitches in the club" over and over again. Her intentions of this song was to accept the larger body types, but in the process she degrades skinnier body types. Nicki Minaj could have promoted the larger body type without shaming smaller body types.
Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" repeatedly talks about how men only love woman of larger size and a bigger butt. She also has "skinny bitches" in a verse just like Nicki. Why does accepting a larger body type involve shaming another body type? If we were praising all body types then the playing field would be fair and women would feel more confident.
In the article "The Body Politic", Abra Fortune Chernik shares her experience with an eating disorder on a personal and political level. Chernik believes that women should accept and love their bodies because our bodies are our homes. There are infinite body types and sizes and we must care for and nourish them. Society, like these songs, are shaping the way women feel about their bodies. Chernik states, "For the first time in history, young women have the opportunity to recreate a world in our image. But many of us concentrate instead on recreating the shape of our thighs." Women can change the way we look at body types and accept every shape and size but we are too busy conforming to the norms. It is not okay to call a person fat. It is not okay to call a person skinny. If a woman can love her "curves" and feel beautiful then a woman can love her "bones" and feel beautiful as well.
I completely agree with this post. In high school, people would always tell me that I was too skinny and that I needed more meat on my bones. I have always thought that it was completely unfair for it to be such a terrible thing for pointing out someone for being overweight but it's completely fine for people to tell you that you are too skinny. Just like some people can't help being overweight, some people can't help being skinny either. Many songs today are always praising women for being "thick" and degrading women who don't have a figure. Like Sydney said above, in the songs "Anaconda" and "All About That Bass" the artists say hateful things towards skinny people. I can't help but think that if a song was produced that said, "Fuck them fat bitches in the club" that it would be completely inappropriate and that artist would probably lose a lot of respect from everyone.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with this post and the previous comment above. I love how Sydney ended her post with the curves and bones comment, I’ve never heard of that before and it fit in perfectly with the post! I have a couple of friends who are very skinny and just cannot help it and I will admit to be guilty of “skinny-shaming” them too. No matter how much they eat, they can just not gain a single pound! I am not even as skinny as them and I have even been told by other people, especially parents who have children a semi-bigger size than me, to eat more and to gain weight. I also have some friends who are bigger and cannot help it because no matter how much they diet and work out, they just cannot lose the weight. It is just how their body types are and they will always be like that. It’s all about acceptance. Negative comments about skinny-ness or fat-ness will add even more pressure and self-consciousness to a girl about her body image. To add to this pressure and self-consciousness is the media. These two videos previously mentioned are definitely perfect examples of girls seeing body images differently. I feel like whether a girl is skinny or is fat, they will always hear negative comments about their body. Everyone needs to be accepting and have confidence in their own skin.
ReplyDeleteI was just having this discussion with my friend the other day, we have very different body types in that she is incredibly skinny and I am not. She was telling me how when people comment on her Instagram photos things like "skinny mini" or "you look so skinny!" she isn't taking them as compliments but rather a dig on herself for not being able to gain weight. She is actually scared sometimes because she is underweight and when she gets sick she loses more weight. I never realized that calling someone skinny wouldn't have the positive affect that I intended. I think the body acceptance movement that is happening in society today does focus a majority on curvy women rather than all body types. I do think, however, that while the songs reflect a negative look on being skinny, magazines and Victoria's secret angels reflect negatively on bigger women. There are the exceptions which I am aware of but instead of being labeled beautiful or stunning like the rest " plus size" always seems to find its was in the caption as well. I agree with Megan in the comment above that everyone needs to accept their own bodies and stop being so judgmental and then society will become more positive, nothing is better than someone that is confident in their own skin and loves their body.
ReplyDeleteSydney,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with your post. I have had the same comments made to me growing up that have taken a toll on my personal life. My peers use to call me anorexic and that caused me to worry more about my body image more than I ever had to that point. Getting over personal body issues will always be hard but no one thinks that skinny women have to deal with body issues. No one has the same body style and shape and not everyone can control their body shape. Megan put it very nicely that some body types are hard to change even with hard work and that acceptance is key. Acceptance is one of the hardest parts to deal with because while you are trying to be happy with yourself others are doing nothing but shaming you. Media, like with everything, does not help body image for both skinny and thicker women. However, when someone does become accepting of their body, the confidence shown is an amazing transformation. For me, this was my goal of exuding confidence in how I felt. After several years, acceptance and confidence was possible for me to achieve. The effort put in is worth the outcome and all girls, no matter their size, should know that.