Being Skinny In the 21st Century

Maybe I'm being histrionic and skinny isn't exactly the perfect description for my body type. Perhaps slim might be more apropos. Anyway, you know how we live in a world where to uplift a particular group of people, some people believe you have to put down others. For instance; to make dark people feel better about themselves, people utter statements like "Oh she's only yellow, she's not so pretty." or "Oh, she bleached" about lighter-skinned people; To make people with just a little education feel better, they say "You don't even need education anymore these days."; and so on and so forth. In this case, to make fat people feel better, skinny people have to take the punch. It's all good though, cos we are already used to it. Below are some of the sometimes extremely stupid, sometimes nice, and other times un-sensitive comments a twenty-first century skinny person would have heard at least once in their lifetime.

First, when people find out you exercise in some form, they look at you like you're insane. "You're sooooo skinny, what weight are you trying to lose again?" "Better don't disappear oh" Okay, cherie. Then when you say again that you really don't believe in hectic insane workout plans, these same people look at you like you're still mad. "Do you think skinny equals healthy. Better exercise to keep your heart healthy."

Then there are the really brutally honest ones who look at you in awe (or horror, depending on who they are) and ask "How on earth do you find your size? You're so skinny."

Let's not forget food. Let's assume you're out eating, and you mistakenly order a salad, or God bless you and you order a small portion, or you really want to HEAR it and you don't finish your meal. "HA! No wonder you are skinny. EAT UP. C'mon. EAT UP. I feel like throwing some burgers at you." I made a mistake of telling someone recently that I don't take soda. It was like the apocalypse: "WHY?! You need it. No wonder you are skinny and all bones."

There's the other side to this of course; if you're skinny and you eat junk food. That's a terrible combination. I feel like people really really despise this sort of people. "I feel sorry for you. You think cos you're thin, you can get away with eating nonsense." "Wait till you start having kids."

Then there are the guys. The guys. Ha.

"I like my women thick." Cherie, get yourself a thick woman then, just leave me out of it. Gracias.

There are also women like me, who have taken it upon themselves to remind us that, "Bones are for dogs. Real men like flesh on their women." "Skinny bitch."

Then there are friends and family who when they check in on you, exclaim: "Ah! you are still skinny."

In all fairness, it doesn't always hurt. Sometimes, you take it in good strides and move on. Other times, it's slightly irritating especially since you dare not call a fat person what they really are—fat, without it being called a body shaming. I just think the concept of "body shaming" should be all encompassing. It shouldn't hurt more because you weigh more, you know.

In all honesty though, the world we live in tends to be more forgiving nicer to thin people people than they are to fat people.

Ultimately however, the most important thing is that a person looks in the mirror and likes what he/she sees.