We hear it from girls and guys alike: "Real girls have curves." "I would rather date someone with some meat than a twig." "Oh, she looks anorexic. It is better to be overweight than look starved like her." These comments are usually meant to ameliorate the effects of fat-shaming, to make larger women feel better about themselves, to prove that being a bigger size does not mean someone is any less of a woman. But why must we put down one group of people to make another feel better? Why strip away the title of "real woman" from someone who is skinny to reaffirm that title for someone larger? Fat-shaming is indeed unacceptable and should be stopped, but trying to shame any other body type is not the way to go about this.
Campaigns such as Say No to Size Zero, started by English model Katie Green to ban models under a certain body mass index, are spreading the idea that there is inherently something wrong with being skinny, that it is unnatural or necessarily unhealthy. Earlier this year, Israel banned thin models from appearing on catwalks or in advertisements throughout the entire country. Such efforts typically use phrases such as the "average" or "normal" woman, hinting that being under a certain weight is not normal. It is also not unusual to see claims that thinner women must be doing something wrong or detrimental to their health to maintain a small size, with suggestions of eating disorders or over-exercise. Even here on campus, I hear people express the belief that certain girls must purposely be eating little so that they can stay skinny.
I understand that people often justify body-shaming skinnier people because they are trying to improve the self-image of curvier girls. Magazines and advertisements depict skinnier females as having ideal bodies, leaving other girls to feel that they are undesirable. This is at the heart of attempts by people to brand skinniness as unfavorable. But what many do not see is that when they are making fun of thin girls to empower those who are not as thin, they are affecting the self-esteem of those skinnier girls. Many thin women are genetically predisposed to having such a body type. To suggest that there is something wrong with being skinny makes it seem like their bodies and their genes are not good enough, that they need to do something to improve themselves. Why do we not make an effort to respect and appreciate that women come in all shapes and sizes, rather than insisting that a particular size or shape is unhealthy or ugly? The myth of there being some type of normal, ideal woman disregards the beauty in the many variations of womanhood and femininity that exist.
Some women are naturally smaller, just as some women are naturally larger, or naturally muscular, or naturally whatever, really. Some women are curvy on top and smaller on the bottom. Some women are petite. Some women are taller than most men. Some women cut their hair short or choose to dress in more masculine clothing. Does this make any of them less of a female? No, it does not, just like being a size 2 or 22 does not determine if someone is a "real" woman.
The most important factor is merely that a woman should be healthy. And that can be possible at many different sizes. Even if for some reason, a girl is not making healthy choices, making her feel ashamed about it is the wrong approach. Unfortunately, eating disorders exist on both sides of the spectrum, even as there is an actual problem among people who exercise to an unhealthy degree to reach a certain weight. But instead of trying to place a stigma on these problems and the people who face them, we should try to support and encourage women to be their healthiest selves, no matter what size or shape that may be. Rather than limiting the concept of a real woman to a narrow definition, we need to celebrate and appreciate the fact that there are all types of healthy women who can be seen as attractive and desirable.
