Skinny

     

        Everyday as I get ready to go to work I look in the mirror and remind myself I am beautiful. 9 years of swimming, 5 of which were at the college level, have allowed me to have a 5'5" 160 lb. frame and shoulders that make it possible for anyone to identify I spend a lot of time in the water and impossible to fit into any dress at forever 21. I cannot fit into a size 0. I probably will never fit into anything below a size 9. However, I look in the mirror everyday and remind myself I am beautiful. 

       Body image isn't something I've been entirely confident with. It's something I've struggled with from the first day I walked onto a pool deck as a kid through college. I can remember being in middle school and going through the awkward "chubby" stage and sucking in my stomach because I thought I would fit in more if I was skinnier. I remember comments made in high school about how weights and swimming combined affected my body shape. Even in college I've struggled trying to figure out how to balance body image, the typical swimmer appetite, and what the ideal weight was for me. 

       Just recently graduating from college, one would assume that the comments would stop. One would assume that, in the real world, people wouldn't associate body size or type with being pretty or beautiful. People would realize as long as you were healthy and happy with yourself, there was no need to lose weight or try to change something. In my first five days of being a college graduate I've already heard comments. One really stuck out to me.

  "You have to stay skinny so you can stay pretty." 

       What is skinny? Is skinny just the antonym for "fat"? Is skinny being the size of some models where you can practically count all their bones without an x-ray? Is skinny wearing a size 0? 

According to Webster's dictionary skinny is: (of a person or part of their body) very thin.

          Skinny is a very vague term. Models wearing a size 0 are considered skinny, so are models who grace covers of magazines, tabloids, and fashion shows. Women on red carpets wearing dresses that could possibly weigh more than themselves are considered skinny. Musicians and Actresses in videos where their bones could be counted by any audience without the use of an x-ray are considered skinny. Anyone not considered fat is considered skinny. This is dangerous. This is especially dangerous when using "skinny" to determine beauty.
           Beyonce Knowles's song and music video "Pretty Hurts" emphases just how dangerous the notion of associating "skinny" with "pretty" is. It leads to eating disorders, decreased levels of self-confidence, the inability to be satisfied with one-self, and never truly being happy with who you are. I think it's time more of us begin to realize it.

           Beauty does not come from weight, body type, or body image. Beauty comes from being healthy, active, confident, and proud of who you are. So next time someone makes a comment that you have to be skinny to be pretty, brush it off because you are already more beautiful than they will ever realize. Realize that as long as you are healthy, active, and confident about yourself there is no reason to change.