Small? Medium? Or Large?
No. This is not about what size french-fry you should order at McDonalds (because every girl enjoys a LARGE when it comes to something salty and fried!). This is about the size you search for on the clothing racks. But let’s dig a little deeper into what these size descriptions do to us on a psychological level. Over the last 4 months I have lost about 30 pounds and that makes me feel…okay. But the better part, the part that actually makes me feel like I have accomplished something is the recognition. When people exclaim, “Oh my goodness, you look great! What have you been doing?” that’s when I feel like I have made a difference, never mind that I am in better shape and health. My weight loss somehow becomes an issue that I feel requires validation from the masses.
I suppose that back in some ancient time we began to characterize ourselves based on size: small, medium, and large. But then some fabulous genius had to add the extras; so now we have extra small, extra large, oh and extra, extra large! Goodness, with labels like these how do we not break down whilst shopping. I have never been a fan of shopping, but wait before you judge me: I can explain. As a kid, I quickly grew out of the “cute” clothes and as a teenager, none of the popular clothing ever flattered me. So, I blamed my size. It’s not fun being a young teenager and shopping in the same section as your mother because clothing for your age group doesn’t fit you. I have never really been satisfied with the way I looked.
We grew up thinking that beauty was “in the eye of the beholder,” but somewhere along the stream of time, we relinquished the rights to our ideas of beauty to the people who make movies and print magazines. Yes! These women are stunningly beautiful, but how does that translate to the average woman not being beautiful? One of my favorite interactions on The Devil Wears Prada sums up this topic perfectly in my opinion:
Andy Sachs: So none of the girls here eat anything?
Nigel: Not since two became the new four and zero became the new two.
Andy Sachs: Well, I’m a six…
Nigel: Which is the new fourteen.
This conversation says a lot about how women think. It’s as though if my pants size isn’t a single digit I have less to be confident about (or more to be less confident about). Okay that was perhaps a bad joke. I digress, somehow “skinny” became a synonym for “happy,” “worry-free,” and “deserving.”
The standards that we assume are required to be called beautiful are not at all. As young women, we should celebrate the different colors, shapes, and forms we come in instead of trying to achieve the look of one type of woman. I challenge you to wake up every morning, look in the mirror and say “I am the definition of beautiful!” Wake up everyday and be happy with yourself. You have control of yourself and your thoughts… NOT ANYONE ELSE.