As kids, Lauren was a size 0 and I hovered around a size 13. Though she didn’t know I was overweight until I told her (truly, she never noticed because she’s an angel-unicorn-mermaid and sees people as people, not a dress size), she’s watched me struggle with my relationship with body for 18 years. She reminded me I was worthy of love when I couldn’t love myself and has threatened to exact revenge on every shitty internet troll who has ever come for me.
But the truth is that Lauren, who is still a thin woman and who has never had an eating disorder, still struggles with her body and her place in body positivity. And she’s not alone.
It’s a tricky subject though. While thin women (especially thin, white women) do get to operate autonomously in this world, that doesn’t mean it’s OK to skinny shame or exclude thinner women from the conversation. Here are all the ways I, as a big woman, see smaller girls getting excluded.
Each time we share something like this, we subconsciously reinforce the media-driven archetype for femininity. Fuck. That.
But a woman doesn’t have to have actively lived through body dysmorphia or an eating disorder to gain respect or empathy. If they see differently shaped bodies in the media, even ones that are nothing like theirs and get something out of it, then more power to them.
You know who we should all hate together? The fat-phobic systems in place that favor thin people over fat ones.
But the language we use about thinner women in body positivity matters. We can’t expect them to be allies if we are making them feel ostracized.
Thin ladies, you keep doing you and loving yourself; just remember to include us too, and we’ll all get along just fine.
title: “4 Times As A Big Girl I Saw Skinny Girls Being Excluded” ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-24” author: “Sue Crutchfield”
As kids, Lauren was a size 0 and I hovered around a size 13. Though she didn’t know I was overweight until I told her (truly, she never noticed because she’s an angel-unicorn-mermaid and sees people as people, not a dress size), she’s watched me struggle with my relationship with body for 18 years. She reminded me I was worthy of love when I couldn’t love myself and has threatened to exact revenge on every shitty internet troll who has ever come for me.
But the truth is that Lauren, who is still a thin woman and who has never had an eating disorder, still struggles with her body and her place in body positivity. And she’s not alone.
It’s a tricky subject though. While thin women (especially thin, white women) do get to operate autonomously in this world, that doesn’t mean it’s OK to skinny shame or exclude thinner women from the conversation. Here are all the ways I, as a big woman, see smaller girls getting excluded.
Each time we share something like this, we subconsciously reinforce the media-driven archetype for femininity. Fuck. That.
But a woman doesn’t have to have actively lived through body dysmorphia or an eating disorder to gain respect or empathy. If they see differently shaped bodies in the media, even ones that are nothing like theirs and get something out of it, then more power to them.
You know who we should all hate together? The fat-phobic systems in place that favor thin people over fat ones.
But the language we use about thinner women in body positivity matters. We can’t expect them to be allies if we are making them feel ostracized.
Thin ladies, you keep doing you and loving yourself; just remember to include us too, and we’ll all get along just fine.
title: “4 Times As A Big Girl I Saw Skinny Girls Being Excluded” ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-11” author: “Erma Cutler”
As kids, Lauren was a size 0 and I hovered around a size 13. Though she didn’t know I was overweight until I told her (truly, she never noticed because she’s an angel-unicorn-mermaid and sees people as people, not a dress size), she’s watched me struggle with my relationship with body for 18 years. She reminded me I was worthy of love when I couldn’t love myself and has threatened to exact revenge on every shitty internet troll who has ever come for me.
But the truth is that Lauren, who is still a thin woman and who has never had an eating disorder, still struggles with her body and her place in body positivity. And she’s not alone.
It’s a tricky subject though. While thin women (especially thin, white women) do get to operate autonomously in this world, that doesn’t mean it’s OK to skinny shame or exclude thinner women from the conversation. Here are all the ways I, as a big woman, see smaller girls getting excluded.
Each time we share something like this, we subconsciously reinforce the media-driven archetype for femininity. Fuck. That.
But a woman doesn’t have to have actively lived through body dysmorphia or an eating disorder to gain respect or empathy. If they see differently shaped bodies in the media, even ones that are nothing like theirs and get something out of it, then more power to them.
You know who we should all hate together? The fat-phobic systems in place that favor thin people over fat ones.
But the language we use about thinner women in body positivity matters. We can’t expect them to be allies if we are making them feel ostracized.
Thin ladies, you keep doing you and loving yourself; just remember to include us too, and we’ll all get along just fine.
