This post isn't mean to offend anyone or make anyone feel upset, I'm just going to be talking about something that has really been getting on my nerves recently. I've been seeing so many posts on social media fat shaming 'plus size' by one way or another. There was a meme someone shared on Facebook a few days ago that basically said you'd need a forklift to pick up a larger woman. I see adverts with 'plus size' women and people say "She's not big enough to be plus sized" or "If she's plus sized, what the hell am I?". I just got to say something about this whole plus sized thing.
I hate the term plus size.
Phew, now, before people get angry at me and start calling me a fat shamer or whatever let me explain the reason behind it. I am a size 12/10 woman, my jeans are always a 12 and the top size that I wear ranges from a 10-12. Yes, my thighs rub together if I walk, I don't have super thin legs, I do have fat rolls on my stomach, I have reasonably big boobs, but I would never ever say I'm plus sized. I'm also super short so that doesn't help with my body proportions at all.
I feel like if I said to anyone that I was 'plus sized' I would get the phrases: "you're not big enough to be plus sized, you're only a size 12, plus sized is 16+" etc etc. But then again... I'm not small enough to be considered a 'normal size'. I'm at that annoying stage in the middle where I'm neither 'plus size' nor 'skinny'. Clothing specifically designed for plus size starts in the UK usually starts from a size 14, 16 or 18. So where the hell do I lie in terms of sizing?
For me, this whole label of plus size is so dangerous. The models that are used on the runways that are 'plus size' are skinny shamed for being too thin to be plus size but then the 'normal' sized models are also skinny shamed for being too thin and anorexic looking. There are exceptions to this, of course there are, but as a general rule this is the case. There doesn't seem to be a whole acceptance that everyone's bodies are different and that means that we can't really label them.
I know I'm going to probably get a lot of hate for this post because people will get angry that I can't talk about being plus sized when I never have been that size. Let me just say to you, that under the actual definition of plus size, I have been there. I lost three stone over the last year and am still trying to lose weight because I felt like my body was unhealthy and it wasn't in the place that I think is best for my body type.
I think we should be teaching our teenagers to be accepting of their body and not label it as 'plus sized' or 'normal' or whatever the label may be. We need to teach how to be happy and healthy, it's not about being stick thin or being overweight, it's about caring for your body to ensure you get the best out of life. I don't think people should be ashamed of being a size 20 versus a size 8, or a size 8 shouldn't feel bad for being too thin.
As women and as a society we need to band together and tell our children that as long as they're happy and healthy that's all that matters. These labels are what ruins people. I know that some people identify with them, and that's fine too, but there will also be a lot of girls out there looking at their body and feeling worthless because they don't fit into a certain category. I know when I was about 15, I felt like I didn't really fit in anywhere. I had zero self confidence, and it wasn't until I got to about 18 that I started to not care about the labels and where I fitted into them. I am my own unique size and there's probably no one else with the exact same body as me. That goes for every woman, we're not all the same, we're different and we should celebrate those differences.
In the photo above of my and my friend, Cheyenne, I can point out so many things about my body. My legs are too big, you can see some of my back fat, my boobs look saggy, my arms look fat and my stomach isn't flat, but guess what? I don't really care about all of those things. I am currently very happy with my size and bar losing a few more pounds so I feel healthy again, there is nothing wrong with my body at all. Yes, I don't fit into the only two categories that seem to be available for women's body types, but I don't care. I don't need a label to define me, I am myself and I am loving and accepting of my body, as well as the bodies of other women AND men.
We should teach self love and acceptance to our kids so they don't feel the awful pressure to fit in like I'm sure many of us did as kids. Every one is beautiful in their own way, we need to eliminate skinny and fat shaming and just be accepting of each other. And as women, we need to quit being bitchy and bringing confident women down because we don't feel good about ourselves. Everyone should be comfortable in their skin and not have to worry about the labels that society will try to place on them.
Stay awesome.
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