Even though summer is quickly winding down, the thermostat still thinks it’s July, and this enduring heat is extending shorts and crop top season for everyone. While these staples of warm weather attire are fit for everybody and every body type, the stigma of being jiggly keeps many people from embracing these styles.
Due to the glut of narratives that perpetuate the idea that your thin self is your most successful, likable, popular, and palatable self, there is such a push within us to cut, melt, and mold our bodies to fit what we think will make us better rather than pushing ourselves to find out what we love about our bodies and what they can do.
There is nothing wrong with thinking about health and what you can do to keep your body healthy, but health and thinness are not synonymous. Big bodies are not inherently more unhealthy than small ones.
Weight loss continues to be a tantalizing topic worldwide due to the proliferation of the idea of the western ideal in all forms of media. While the body types that we keep seeing are subject to some minor changes, the idea of the “perfect” model body seems to be stuck in the post-Twiggy waif aesthetic. Although there are public figures pushing back against this industry standard, it doesn’t change the fact that for a lot of people the image of ideal remains to be stick thin.
Being thin is not going to fix anything for the vast majority of people, and in many cases can make them more sick if it is not managed in a proper way. Thinness is not an indication of heightened value or intrinsic worth.
Your body will only ever be yours, don’t let someone dictate how you are allowed to live in it and what you dress it in.
photo credit to Engin_Akyurt