bodied •
If you’re skinny, you need to know your place in the body positive movement
Don’t get it twisted, it’s not about you

by Ari Bines
Sorry, but I think we've come to a point where it's time to identify what body positivity actually is, and quit playing the skinny shaming card when all us fat girls are trying to do is uplift the thickums.
Anytime straight-size people play the victim for having the privilege of dominating pop culture, I get a bit irritated. Skinny shaming is absolutely a real thing, but in no way does it oppress you like fat shaming does.
Skinny shaming is worse than fat shaming because unlike fat people — who just need to stop eating and hit the gym — it’s nearly impossible for us skinny legends to gain wait, no matter how much we eat.
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@mileysbae) April 29, 2018
11. unpopular opinion: Skinny shaming is real and can be just as damaging as fat shaming. You can’t change my mind so stfu pic.twitter.com/dQl9Z354ix
— ★𝖘𝖚𝖓𝖓𝖞★ (@SCORPIOGALORE) April 28, 2018
skinny shaming is real af. people really be saying the meanest shit. my uncle told me I’m dry af cause I got no meat. shit was unnecessary. It’s so damn hard to gain weight. smh
— ky (@kyana11c) April 29, 2018
The thing that skinny people constantly forget is that within the body positive movement, there is space for every body, straight-size, in between or plus size, but there is a lot of confusion as to why it started in the first place. I'll tell you this much, though, it wasn't initially started nor intended for the already mainstream straight sized people of the world.
So let's break it down as to what body positivity is, why it matters so damn much and why fat phobic people are so offended with our presence.
my body positivity is always fluctuating, good days and bad days regardless of what I’m told by others or what I see in the media I don’t know if it’s a product of what I’ve grown up seeing in the media or delusion thing but I feel like it takes a lot for me to like what I see.
— SALEM (@salemmitchell) May 1, 2018
First of all body positivity isn't the same as body confidence
The purpose of the body positive movement is to celebrate marginalized bodies. Essentially, those who live on the heavier side are very rarely represented in media in the same way that straight size people are. Being a bigger girl means constantly carrying the pressure of having to change because it's the only option we're given if we want to both figuratively and literally "fit in".
BEING BODY POSITIVE DOES NOT MEAN BEING POSITIVE ABOUT YOUR BODY.
That is body confidence.
Body positivity is about uplifting marginalised bodies and breaking down the oppression those people face in those bodies.— Michelle Elman (@ScarredNtScared) April 30, 2018
Of course being positive about your body is great, but it's a lot harder for thick babes to accept their own because skinny people have already planted their seed in society, making it present that their bodies are washhh poppin.
Fat shamers are really just weak-minded individuals
How does my size and existence affect your life? If you don't want to look at these thighs and muffin top, you're in luck. The door is right there. But what you're not gonna do is hate on somebody for being who they are.
When you really think about it, racism, sexism and sizism are the pettiest ideals society has developed for itself. "I don't like you because you're this size." That makes about as much sense as Kanye saying slavery was a choice (because my ancestors tooootally wanted to be shackled up, raped and beaten for fun, right? Mkay).
I’m all for being body positive. But there is such a thing as too big, you can’t keep calling yourself thick when you surpassed thick 60 lbs ago.
— Kristen Marie (@itssyagirllllll) May 2, 2018
We have way bigger issues than how much space my ass takes up, but altogether, we've been conditioned to think in this one size fits all mindset and it needs to stop now.
As for the people who cry skinny shaming, well…
The essence of body positivity is quite similarly the sizism equivalent to racism and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. So in the same way that Black people are struggling with living their lives in their melanin skin without getting shot down like animals is how fat people are trying to munch freely on salad without receiving dirty looks.
Straight size people who say bod pos activists are tearing them down are #AllLivesMatter-ing those marginalized bodies. You get me? They're trying to shut us up and reinstate the idea that Gigi Hadid's bod is more valuable that Rebel Wilson's and that just ain't it, boo.
I'm not endorsing poor eating, unhealthy lifestyles nor saying that people shouldn't exercise. I'm saying that you shouldn't be worried about other people's bodies if it's not yours. Like…can they live? Whatever your body type is, it's your responsibility to make sure it's happy because it's the only one you got.
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