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Contact: Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor

Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

www.theotherpress.ca

 

That skinny bitch

» ‘Real women’ vs ‘All women’

Brittney MacDonald
H Life & Style Editor
Mlifeandstyle
@theotherpress.ca

 

Ri the Other Press’
ovely Editor-in-Chief
wrote a Lettitor discussing the
unrealistic beauty standards
of the fashion industry and
how plus-size models are
changing that. Though I agree
with the sentiment, I find
myself displeased by the lack of
discussion surrounding skinny-
shaming.

I will admit, I will probably
never understand the plight
of plus-sized women, and I in
no way want to detract from
the issue of fat-shaming. But
when movements such as “real
women,” which are promoted
by the same media responsible
for those unrealistic beauty
standards that have fed the
fashion industry for so long,
turn around and apply the
same logic to discrediting thin

: women, that’s when I have an

: issue.

: How this system works

: is very simple: by preying on

: the self-esteem of all women,

: and then turning them on

: one another, those in the

: industry ensure that they can

: sell something to all kinds of

: women. Plus-sized or slender,

: nobody is perfect, and the

: media is more than happy to

: prey on those insecurities.
What makes it even

worse is that this formula of

: marketing relies on women

: degrading each other. Larger

: women will vilify skinny

: women, and vice versa. Think

: you're innocent of this? Think

: back to the last time you

} saw a curvy woman in line

: at McDonald’s, and thought

: to yourself how she really

: shouldn’t be there; or when you

: last saw a skinny girl order a

: salad, thought “of course,” and

: rolled your eyes.

: The mentality I encounter

: most often is one I like to

: call the “Eat a sandwich”

: mentality. Somehow in the

: grand scheme of girl logic,

: we became socialized to

: believe that the greatest way

: of making ourselves feel better
: is to discredit other people,

: especially other women. After
: the “real women have curves”
: movement of the early 2000s,
: which was basically created

: in response to the “thin is in”
: craze of the ‘gos, I found that
: the number of women willing
: to tell me exactly what was

: wrong with me increased.

I became that skinny bitch,

: the one who other women

: pointed at and told to eata

: sandwich—saying that I was
: unhealthy.

When I was in high

: school I entered my school

: counsellor’s office to change

: my courses, and ended up

: with a man assuming I was

: there to get help with an

: eating disorder. After a one-

: hour lecture I left with several:
: pamphlets on how I was perfect :

: just the way I was and a deep
: sense of shame because I wasn’t :
: what society thought was right.

For years I have been told

Sound familiar? That’s

: because it’s the exact same tripe
: that has been used to fat-shame :
: women for years—it’s just been
: repurposed.

By creating movements

: that promote a positive body

: image by degrading others, you
: aren't really changing anything.
: And to be honest, though

: waif-thin, yet impossibly tall,

: models rule the runway, that

: doesn’t necessarily translate to

: consumer fashion. Consumer

: fashion is created for the

: “average” woman, one that |

: apparently don’t fit the mould

: of because I’m too tall, or not

: curvaceous enough. So what

: dol end up wearing? The same

oversized shirts that look like

Image from Thinkstock

: tents, and leggings, every day.

I’m not saying any of this

: to demand that we go back to
: : worshipping the sapling-like
: that I’m not right. That because :
: of my size I will never find a

: man, and that I have to change
: my diet to better fit what

: society views as “feminine.”

bodies of unhealthy, pre-

: pubescent girls, but rather

: to make people aware that it

: matters how you choose to

: accept yourself. If your doing

: so means that you reject any

: body image but your own, then

you might want to go back to

: the drawing board. Terms like

: “real” or “average” are relative,

: and the sooner you accept

: that, the better off you'll be.

: As long as you feel healthy and
: good about yourself, then who

: cares what anyone else’s beauty
: standard thinks of you.

I think as a society

: dominated by strong women,
: we should stop trying to base
: our acceptance of our bodies

: on how they compare to

: anyone else’s—and we should
: definitely stop openly and

: silently criticizing the women
: around us. Be for all women,

: rather than a select few.