This is a topic that's been bothering me a lot lately and something I know
we all struggle with so I thought I'd do a blogpost on 'Body Shaming / Acceptance'.
You've probably seen, by now, the massive criticism over Cheryl Fernandez-Versini's weight in the media. The picture above was taken on the first day of The X Factor auditions in Manchester on the 8th of July. I saw her on this day and she was perfectly fine. She was a great judge, telling contestants if they were good or not. She was very happy, as you can see in the above pictures. Unfortunately, the day after this picture was taken, media went into a frenzy over her size. Everyone was saying that she's 'too skinny' and is a 'bag of bones'. Some people even had the nerve to call her 'anorexic'!
It's saddens me to think that, as a society, we are obsessed with weight. In magazines such as OK! and New!, journalists are constantly asking celebrities about their 'exercise' and 'diet' regime, which is none of their business. Why should celebrities be telling journalists what they eat and what exercise they do? It makes no sense to me. Most celebrities are like 'Oh I go to the gym every single day' and 'I only eat salads, I hate junk food'. Okay, well, good for you. As long as you are happy with your lifestyle, then keep doing what you're doing. If you're not happy and you're desperate to eat a piece of cake but can't because you've just told the media that you're on a diet and if you get caught eating anything unhealthy you'll be criticised, then, change that. Put a middle finger up to the diet and say 'Screw you! I want a piece of cake and I'm going to eat it!' We put too much pressure on ourselves and our bodies to look a certain way. We shouldn't be doing this to ourselves because we could end up being at risk of an eating disorder.
When I was between the ages of 12 and 14, I was very chubby. I didn't care though, I was happy and had great friends and, to me, that's all that mattered. I was never under any pressure to be skinny but, when I turned 14, my depression kicked in and I lost quite a bit of weight. Fortunately, I never had an eating disorder as I love my food too much but it still makes me sad when I think how my body will never fit into society's standards.Then again, I think, why should my body fit into society's standards? Who is to say whether I have a good body or not? Me and me alone. You don't like my body? Whatever. I couldn't care less as your opinion of me doesn't matter because you have no right to discuss another person's body.
I'm a feminist and I'm not afraid to say that I am. I will stand up for everyone and make sure that we all get equal rights. This is why it angers me when people say Cheryl is 'too skinny'. If you pick up a magazine, I guarantee you that most of the articles will be about a female's weight. I say a female because the majority of magazines I've read in the past couple of weeks have included articles about a woman's weight gain or loss.
And I'm not saying that men don't get pressurised to be a certain body shape. They do. I see a lot of articles saying how a man with muscles is 'attractive' and 'hot'. What about slimmer men or, in this case, men who are fat? Are they not attractive? Of course they are.
What I'm trying to say in this blogpost is that we are all beautiful. No matter our weight, our clothes size, our sexuality, our gender, our race or whatever.
I think the reason why there is so much criticism in the world is because we are so unhappy in our own skin. The only way we can get rid of this negativity is by being happy with ourselves first! I know it's hard but, deep down, you know you have a great body. Once we are positive within ourselves, we can spread that positivity by saying to another person 'Hey! You look beautiful today! That dress really suits you!' or 'Those jeans look great on you! Are they new?'. I think, once we start learning to accept ourselves, the world really can be a much more positive place.
I've also seen so many people, on Instagram for instance, struggle with an eating disorder. This is why we shouldn't be saying if someone is 'too thin' or 'too fat' because you never know who might hear it. Someone may be struggling and hearing that comment could put them off eating that apple they were going eat. If we used positive affirmations instead of negative comments, then you could be saving someone's life. Seriously. If someone, with an eating disorder, was to read something positive about a person's body image, they may feel good within themselves.
In conclusion, we should all stop body shaming and start body accepting. Next time you see someone, who you may think is on the skinny side, try thinking 'Hey! She looks really good today and so do I!' instead of bringing that person down. We are more than our weight and what size our bodies are. Who cares if you're a size 6 or 14? Not me, that's for sure.
Stop comparing your bodies to others. We are all different. We need to stop striving for the 'perfect' body and just accept that it doesn't exist and never will!
Sorry, this was more of a rant, I didn't mean for it to be!
Seriously, though, if you are struggling with body acceptance, then please
tell someone, your parents, friends, or your doctor.
Nobody deserves to feel like they're not worth society's standard of beauty.
We are all beautiful, including you and including me.
Thank you so much for reading my blog post, it means a lot.
❤
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