I am all about loving every kind of body type believe me, but personally I've had really bad experiences with fat shaming. There are probably people out there who do feel skinny shamed, and perhaps you should make something for them, but in a world where being skinny is the ideal, talk about skinny shaming tastes a bit sour to me. Keep up the great work I can't wait to see what you do next :)
Up til recently I have agreed with your sentiment, and tried to focus on the girls who are not represented in mainstream media. But I think itās time to diversify a bit more. Cosmic Cuties is about all girls, and one girlās struggle with self esteem should not be considered unequal to anotherās just because she is skinny. I feel like since I recently made a zine about fatphobia, itās time to address the other side of the spectrum. I think the biggest issue in skinny shaming is not about women being thin, but about women lacking the āfeminineā curves that society demands. What do you all think about this? Thanks so much for your input!! šand thank you for your support š
As much as I struggle with the idea of thin or non curvy girls having body image issues having been overweight most of my life, I am of the belief that itās wrong to compare problems, because what people feel is totally subjective. So if there are women who struggle with how they feel about their body, itās not up to me to decide whether their feelings are valid or not. Every person should be able to feel comfortable in their own skin, so I think itās a good idea to send that message to both end of the spectrum. š After thinking about it a bit I hope you make the zine and I hope it reaches the people who need it because everyone should feel beautiful. Especially since my own struggles with body image issues have been addressed. š
Thank you for trying to understand! I get that itās really hard to understand someone elseās problems with self esteem, especially if they conflict with or are opposite yours. I myself have had difficulty understanding peopleās insecurities with large breasts, having had small ones my whole life. But itās really important to try to see the other side. You are so amazing for trying to accept that and not discounting othersā insecurities š
I agree with whatās been said so far, but I think things like representation also have to be taken into account. While itās true that nobody should be shamed for their body and insecurities are all valid, skinny/thin people (women) are overwhelming represented in media as the norm. Fat women are so rarely anything other than comic relief (and often even not then) whereas thinner women get to play a much greater range of roles and get to be seen as desirable and interesting way more of the time. So while a skinny/thin person is absolutely entitled to insecurity, it should also be recognized that they have the privilege of representation.
Definitely! I 100% agree with that and that is something that needs to change. It's ridiculous how society is riddled with thin-normativity as well as countless other expectations (heteronormativity, cisnormativity, etc.), and I think that we all have to be more conscious about that. Everyone is conditioned by society to think a certain way, and no one is immune, but it's our job to realize that we think that way and try to make a conscious effort to change it. The lack of representation for fat women in mainstream media is a really big problem, and I think that the first thing we can do to fix it is try to change the way we think and educate others about fatphobia (and sexism, microaggressions, racism, transphobia, biphobia, etc.)