Body Image and the Ongoing Fight with SOCIAL Media

Yesterday was National Love Your Body Day. Even though I'm a day late, this is a topic I have strong opinions about, so a day late it is.

I have never been a size two girl. It's physically impossible. I have hips, thighs, and a butt that prevent me from squeezing into those little jeans. And for many years in high school and early college, it bothered me that I felt so much "bigger" than some of my friends or some of the teeny girls I worked with. My weight fluctuated up really high, then down to a healthy weight, then up really high again once I started grad school. I had a million excuses as to why I had gained so much weight. Once I grew into my own and realized that

1. I needed to get over myself and

2. I love running

I started back up with what I've for years and learned to appreciate my non-perfect, curvy body.

The media makes me so ridiculously angry. And I'm not talking about TV and movies. I'm talking social media.

I saw this gem on Tumblr:

You gotta be f'n kidding me.

The picture below also came from Tumblr.

Wow.

Here's a social media image for ya:

Thankfully, some media has jumped off the bones are sexy wagon and jumped on this one:

Glamour magazine and Dove have both embraced the campaign for real beauty and select women with all different body types to represent their brands.

And Nike is my favorite, with ads like this:

I got some hips let me tell ya

And a butt

And some thighs

So girls:

PLEASE stop calling yourself FAT. Stop calling your classmates, sorority sisters, coworkers, friends, random people you see on campus FAT. Coming from a been there done that standpoint, girls who are not 95 pounds are NOT FAT. We all are built differently. I am 5'4", with a curvy body with a defined waist...the "hourglass" or "pear". My sister is 5'6", has small legs and a small butt, but carries any excess weight in her stomach. One of my old roommates was 5'8" and stick straight and teeny tiny. We all look different, but we are all beautiful. We are the teachers, engineers, doctors, moms, lawyers, accountants, etc. that are the ones who determine this generation's viewpoint on body image.

Don't ruin the opportunity.

And to the small girls who call themselves fat: Shut up. We both know you aren't fat. Stop fishing for compliments and trying to make your friends feel bad about themselves.

"To all you girls that think you're fat because your not a size 0, you're the beautiful one. It's society who's ugly." - Marilyn Monroe.