I know that there are many, many... many blogs out here surrounding this topic, but I would like to think that as a plus size woman, my opinion is a valid one.
Women everywhere are trying their hardest to love the body their spirit lives in, but it has begun a war on social media. This year, I have been a part of many social media sites. Most of the time, I have just been an observer; capturing imagery here and there of alternative ways one chooses to love one's self. However, there have been some where I have been smack dab in the centre of it all. One of the examples is through my Instagram page.
It seems as if everyone and their mother has an Instagram account. From celebrities to pre-teens, everyone is involved in taking "selfies" and posting them for the world to see. It's a fun way to express one's self; taking a picture, using filters and sharing the photos with the Instagram world through hashtags. Instagram has become so popular that there are even communities all over the site. Most of the communities are all about one's body image.
One community, actually it is the one that I am proud to say I am a member of, is called "Pizza Sisters 4 Lyfe." The community, connecting women and men through the hashtag "pizzasisters4lyfe," is a community that supports and promotes self love. Self love meaning loving the body you're in and the bodies of other people. No hate, no body shaming, no fat shaming, no skinny shaming, etc. Pizza Sisters 4 Lyfe is all about loving Everybody and Every Body.
While there are communities that promote self love and loving one's fellow wo/man, there are some that go around "trolling" the people who are trying to love themselves a little bit more each day. The fat shamers, the pro eating disorder pages who say that if one is fat, they can not be happy. Fat, overweight or obese people are simply not allowed to be happy. The pages who promote fat shaming and harass people who are doing nothing to harm anyone else. The feud seems to begin with them.
I have been the target of many a bully in my day. I'm in my late twenties and I have never been skinny. I was fat in kindergarten, I was fat in elementary school and I was fat in high school. Honey, I have grown a thick skin and people do not affect me with their words anymore. One person, however, got to me. She was in her teens and she had commented on a few of my photos calling me names such as "fat ass" and "cow," things I had heard before. I admit I was amused by this person who was getting her thrills by calling me names. So, I did what I always do and I viewed her page. Her Instagram page was filled with pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia photos. The saddest part about her page was the photos were of her. A bucket for vomiting up dinner, imagery of self-harm and calling herself fat when she barely had any meat on her. Needless to say, I went from being amused by her bullying of me to downright appalled and completely saddened for her.
After being called many names by many more teens, I noticed that most of them have this warped vision of what women are supposed to look like. Society had warped these girls' brains and had turned them into savage beasts, competing with one another for the perfection they see on tv, the internet and through magazines. The women in my life were all large and in charge when I was growing up, so being big never offended or made me think less of myself. It also never made me want to hate on other girls who were smaller or larger than myself. It makes me wonder what the new generation of women are being taught.
I stand firm in my belief that women and men all over the world are the way they are for a reason. Maybe they did it to themselves, maybe health reasons put them in the position they are in, or maybe, just maybe, they love themselves they way they are and don't need to change themselves to fit into society. I strongly believe that every human being on this Earth has the potential for greatness. Everyone has the ability to love themselves and their fellow human. Promoting self-love is not another way of promoting obesity or an unhealthy lifestyle. Self-love is just as simple as looking in the mirror, whether you're a size 0 or a size 30, and loving who you are.
Beauty is only skin deep, babes. If you're ugly on the inside, it doesn't matter how you look on the outside.
