All bodies are good bodies.
The DownEast sale on the Taggart Student Center patio was the first time in a long time that I’ve tried on clothes and didn’t loathe how I looked.
I finally gave myself permission to like my body, even if there is more of it than there was a few years ago.
Being the overachiever I am, I took the infamous “Freshman Fifteen” and doubled it. Considering how bad I felt, you would think I would have stopped at nothing until my weight was back under control.
This was not the case. The more I tried to whip myself into better shape by shaming myself for gaining weight, the worse I felt and the more weight I gained.
In case you haven’t heard of Nicole Arbor, let me fill you in. Arbor is a YouTube comedian who recently posted a controversial video titled “Dear Fat People.”
Her video suggests that fat shaming is something that fat people made up, all fat people are slowly killing themselves with their lifestyles and incessant bullying will eventually make them feel bad enough to change their lives.
“If we offend you so much that you lose weight, I’m okay with that,” Arbor said.
However, studies suggest that fat shaming does the opposite. One particular study in 2014 from University College London compares the weight trends of those who have reported ridicule for their weight and those who have not. It showed that recipients of fat shame tend not to lose weight. In fact, they gain more.
Many people who bully and tease someone based on their weight claim they ultimately come from a place of concern for another’s health.
The truth is that overall body health is complicated. A fat person is not necessarily unhealthy in the same way that a skinny person is not necessarily healthy. You can’t know someone’s lifestyle just by looking at them.
With all that aside, a person’s size does not determine how much kindness and respect they deserve.
A person’s daily lifestyle may not be ideal. Unless you’re Chris Traeger from Parks and Recreation, this can be said for most of us. However, the size of one’s body never justifies impertinence and cruelty toward them.
Society’s standards of attractiveness, for men and women, are hard enough on us. We’re hard enough on ourselves. There’s no need to add fuel to the fire.
As counterintuitive as this sounds, considering most of us spend the bulk of our lives critiquing our bodies, the best way to want to take care of your body is to love it. Love it no matter what size it is.
Body positivity is not about celebrating or excusing poor habits. It’s about giving yourself permission to love yourself.
Don’t make changes because the world around you is telling you that you have to be skinny to be happy, or get respect and love from others. Do it because you love your body and want to do good for it.
It’s a long journey. It’s a hard journey. But I’m there with you.
— Whitney Howard is an English major who has a lot of feelings. Send more Mean Girls references to whitney.howard@aggiemail.usu.edu or on Twitter @omgwhitshutup.