Weight loss pills, crazy fad diets, and numerous weight loss programs are some of the many things that we see in most lifestyle magazines, online articles, and health-related publications in today’s time. If anything, these industries are literally minting money by telling plus-sized people that they have their body size ‘all wrong’ and that it is time to do something about it with the help of the ridiculous weight-loss products and methods that they are promoting!
It is not uncommon to see derogatory advertisements and articles aimed at people with bigger bodies. Often, these advertisements openly and publicly fat-shame larger-sized people.
People who are fat or have large-sized bodies are often subjected to extreme body-shaming, where they are not just shamed on their size, but the comments and remarks also target their appearance and look; so much so, that being over-size is often termed as being ugly.
There is a dire need to stop this kind of stigmatisation, and it is extremely important to promote acceptance in this society. People need to get on board with the idea of diverse bodies, and the bias most people have towards being fat and plus-sized needs to be done away with.
Love Your Body the Way It Is
People with big bodies often get unsolicited suggestions from others in which they are told to lose weight, start dieting, go to the gym, eat healthily, and watch what they eat, to name a few. The ‘others’ that I am talking about here don’t realise that their words and opinions serve no good purpose at all! All they do is promote a negative self and body image to the extent that the people they ‘advise’ start thinking that being fat is being a crime and that they should be punished for it.
What we should be doing instead is advocating the message of loving your body the way it is, and that ‘big is beautiful’. The latter part is for all those people who have an anti-fat bias deeply ingrained in their minds. This kind of partiality not only marginalises certain groups of people, especially women, but it also fosters the idea that fat-phobia is completely okay when it actually isn’t!
Size Doesn’t Matter
The need to endorse the fact that size doesn’t matter is greater now than it ever has been. In today’s ‘modern’ society, people are very hesitant to accept different body shapes and sizes.
Numerous advertisements and social campaigns focus on being ‘size-zero’, and so many clothing and cosmetic companies hire ‘skinny’ or ‘thin’ models to be the face of their brands. By doing this, they are simply reiterating the fact that in order to be beautiful, you must have a certain body size; anything above or below it simply does not make the cut.
However, on a brighter side, we have numerous celebrities coming to the front who are greatly propagating body-positivity. One of the most common and popular names that you must’ve heard with regards to body positivity is none other than Tess Holliday. She is an American model who created quite a wave on social media, especially on Instagram, when she posed nude as a way of promoting equality and respect for women. She uploaded a naked photo of herself in the bathtub with captions like, “This photo isn’t ‘flattering’, but I don’t care” and “I’m proud of my body & what it’s capable of...”
But she didn’t stop there; she went on to admit that body-shamers keep testing her mental health, followed by a very powerful statement, “but here I am, still standing, still grateful, still happy, still a fat cover girl...”
Another common name is Lizzo, an American singer who called out the massive double standards that are typically attached to the concept of body positivity. She called out all those people who call her brave for doing the same things that a thinner woman would do, except that the latter doesn’t get these labels.
Many celebrities followed suit, and while they did receive some kind of backlash from many people, we can say for sure that these inspiring people will greatly help create a world where no one gets fat-shamed, and there’s no discrimination based on body size!
On that note, all of us also need to love our bodies the way they are, and also understand that big or small, fat or thin – everyone is beautiful just the way they are!
Article image: Photo featuring plus-size models by Michael Poley of Poley Creative for AllGo, publisher of free stock photos featuring plus-size people.
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