A round of applause goes to Plus Size Model magazine for their recent “Love Your Body” issue. In an effort to put a stop to body shaming (i.e. celebrities being criticized for being too fat, too thin, too this & too that), the magazine is featuring plus size models showing off their curves wearing only their birthday suits, heels and some jewelry. The message is love yourself for who you are, “curves” and all.
Body shaming, which is done to drive sales of magazines and get more website hits, has got to stop. We the public must stop giving our money to publications which LIE and say bring underweight is good and normal and anything else that doesn’t look like a Barbie doll or Brad Pitt is abnormal, weird, odd or plus-size. Everyone is unique. Let’s accept that and accept one another AS IS.
TV and film are just as bad. Filmmakers like to pretend they are liberal-minded and accept people no matter their orientation, but not many shows feature, for example, heavier women as the heroines and love interests, even though I can think of two shows which did this and they were hit shows. I know studios use test audiences to gauge a character’s likeability, but aren’t we shooting ourselves in the face when we choose good-looking people over people who can act really well? If we want to be accepted for who we are and not what we look like, when does integrity step in to push prejudice out?
When I think of my wide range of friends and acquaintances, I can’t compare one as better or prettier or more talented than another. Why? Because we’re different. Genetics, the way we were raised, preferences for clothing and hairstyles, satisfaction with size, finances, jobs, hobbies: these are the things which make us different. I can have a conversation or share a joke with one friend which will make no sense to another. That doesn’t mean the one who doesn’t get it is strange; it simply means her sense of humor inclines in another direction. And that isn’t bad! And you know what? I’m a better person for knowing them all. Not one is a be-all, end-all friend, but taken together they enrich my life in a way no one “perfect” person could because there is no one perfect person.
So here’s a message for the media: stop body shaming. No one is perfect. And if she/he was you’d find something to criticize anyway. Stop trying to tell us normal is abnormal. You can’t live up to your own standards, so don’t expect us to.
Here’s a message to the public: stop body shaming ourselves and others. There’s no such thing as one perfect size/look. My perception of perfect for me isn’t necessarily what my body can healthily maintain. It’s not the same as your perception (of me and you), either.
Let’s love our bodies, curves and all, as is.