In defense of skinny women

There's always been a lot of pressure on women to have the ideal body. Nowadays we all yearn to have that perfect hourglass figure: A skinny waist and soft curves in all the right places. 36, 24, 36, and all that jazz.

In recent years, there's been a lot of backlash against the so-called "ideal." With gorgeous ladies like Christina Hendricks leading the way, curvier women have come out to say "We love our bodies!" Big is beautiful. But with this new wave of feminism (which I am all for) comes a rather sad-- but expected-- side effect: a bit of lady-on-lady contempt for skinny gals.

There's always been a bit of a stigma when it comes to skinny women. I can never turn down food without giving my really-though-I'm-not-anorexic-I-eat-all-the-time speech. Oftentimes I feel obligated to eat more just to avoid the skeptical glances. The fact is, I can eat and eat and eat, but unless I try really hard to stuff myself all the time, I'll always be a size 4. (And really, ladies, it's not like I'm a double 0.)

And now that big is the new beautiful, the hate for skinny girls has gotten more prevalent. Exhibit A: 

Now, is that really necessary? Honestly, a lot of us can't help it. It's on our genes.

And here's the other thing: not all skinny girls fit into the "ideal" either. We don't all have hourglass figures, and a good number of us are quite insecure about it. We're built like teenage boys-- small chested, and hardly a nice ass in sight. You're curvy; we're shaped like a column. You're feminine, we're androgynous. Larger women might try their hand at exercise routines and diet pills, while we get implants and invent ridiculous things like padded underwear and push up bras.

My point is, if we're trying to make women feel more comfortable in their own bodies, it doesn't mean we should be making other women feel worse. As if we need more reason to fight amongst ourselves! As if we need more people telling us that we're not beautiful!

That's all for now. xo