It seems that in recent years, society has become obsessed with weight and appearances – but what’s the point…? These days, people often seem to want to label a person’s weight (haven’t a clue why, unless you’re in the medical world), and various labels seem to get thrown around: OBESE, FAT, THIN, ANNOREXIC, STICK-THIN, FRUMPY, NOT-QUITE-FAT-OR-THIN, ENORMOUS, CURVY, TOP-HEAVY, BOTTOM-HEAVY…I feel like I could go on for a lot longer, and I’m also fully aware that there are a lot more words out there that are probably rather offensive…but, seriously, WHY?! Why do people seem intent on labelling other’s weight? Have the “concerned” medical world forced these words down our throats, or is it more to do with size-0 (or rather, size-2 now…!) models that some women feel inclined to look like, or all these glossy women’s magazines that grace the shelves…? Why, oh why, is society obsessed with beauty, figures and how fat or thin women are? I know that men may often have a similar problem, as the men’s magazines are often full of men flexing their “toned muscles” (unless you’re in the minority of men who go out and buy all those “lad’s mags”…with women covering the pages)…and if men are classed as “obese”, then you may see where I’m coming from here. I just don’t understand how society seemed to have become so narrow-minded and so determined to comply with a universal form of “beauty”, a beauty that is often very difficult to achieve.
The other day, my sister and I were watching Sex And The City (the film), and there’s a part within the film when Samantha (if you’re not familiar with SATC, she’s one of the 4 friends) starts to put on weight, apparently without realising it…and turns up in New York to see her friends, and her weight becomes a talking point. However, whilst some people would either turn a blind eye, or cast one eye over her and turn their noses up, her friends were just surprised that this very sexual lady had failed to notice that (probably for the first time in her life) she had been piling on the pounds and earned herself quite a small bulging tummy. Instead of saying things like “Oh my god…” etc, one of them told her that it’s not that they’re shocked about her weight as such, because they think she would look incredible at any size, but it was just they didn’t understand how she had done it without noticing (the answer was that she’d been avoiding mirrors – going through a bad time of it…). It goes to show, that even in one of the blockbusters, in one of the films where fashion is a very large focal point throughout (Carrie’s love of fashion is probably the cause), SIZE IS NOT AN ISSUE. No, rather, it is much better to feel comfortable within your own skin. I really do love SATC, the series AND the film now. (And am eagerly awaiting the next film…hope it doesn’t turn into one of those crap “second” films though!)
The point I’m trying to make here is that whatever your size, don’t let ANYONE ever tell you that you’re not beautiful. In most cases, beauty comes from WITHIN, and is not ANYTHING to do with the EXTERIOR…I only wish that some people would realise that. What is on the exterior is mainly what your appearance is, but sometimes, the most beautiful of people, are in fact not very nice people. However, some beautiful people are incredibly nice people, it just depends on the person I suppose. I’ve been brought up to accept people and not to judge people too quickly – although I obviously realise that there are some times when you have a gut feeling about someone’s character the minute you meet them, normally it’s a warning that you’ll never get along with the said person…or perhaps it’s the opposite, a sign that you’ll get along like a house on fire – I’ve experienced both gut feelings!
Some people have heavy bones, I know I do, and my sister also, so when we weigh ourselves (if ever!), we need to take that into consideration, BUT isn’t it best to look at how you feel…? Whether you feel healthy or not, whether you’re comfortable with your size (and not whether anyone else likes your size, look deep within and actually let yourself answer this one), whether you’re happy with who you are – both inside and out…? Some people have health issues, such as PCO and PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovaries Syndrome) which makes losing weight a hell of a lot harder; it’s just that we shouldn’t really judge another person’s weight because there may be a whole host of reasons behind their weight, and at the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is whether the person is happy themselves, we have no right to tell others that they “should lose weight” or anything like that.
I’m waiting for the day when society accepts that size is not, and never has been, an issue. Beauty is not the be all, end all. All that matters is that you learn to love yourself and your body, whatever shape or size you are. Be happy.
