So sorry you’re sick, but wow you’re so skinny!
So sorry you’re sick, but wow you’re so skinny! article
My response:
Can we say sad, but very true? We live in a weight-obsessed country that even when you’re sick with a life-threatening disease, color-less, and vomiting, you look fabulous because you’ve dropped a couple pounds. What kind of message is this sending? That we must catch a deadly disease to finally gain the acceptance we long for? Our society is a huge advocate for individuality. Show your unique-ness! Be original! But look the same…
I can relate to this article on a personal level (as you will see to the photo on the right). A few years ago I loss a tremendous amount of weight and got so thin that my family thought I had caught a life-threatening disease. They were half right. I became obsessed with calorie counting
and fearful of gaining weight back. Most people I came in contact with gave me reactions like “Wow, Ashlyn, you were always beautiful, but now you should be a super model!” I would get hit on no less than eight times every time I would go out. Once my friends and I started keeping count. I was literally a walking skeleton, but for some reason, that was attractive. Now, I am giving a rough generalization, I know not every man or woman admires a thin girl; however, we do live in a thin mindset society. Regardless if it’s something we personally find attractive, we want it. I can’t remember the actual percentage in the statistic taken a few years back, but more young girls in high school would rather be hit by a bus than be “fat.” Um, HELLO, doesn’t that shout that something is wrong?!
Why are we so weight-obsessed? I think for a number of reasons. We have been brainwashed by the millions of ads we see every single day promoting a particular look, lifestyle, and “normality.” We want to be accepted and because of the brainwashing, we think thin leads to acceptance. We (heterosexual women) want men to find us desirable, so we strive for smallness. We know think men prefer small women to help them feel more masculine, bigger, stronger - the knight who will take care of the damsel in distress. If a man is with a larger women (height and/or weight), he may feel emasculated if he is not comfortable with himself. Being healthy these days is the new fad. The millions of diets and lifestyles thrown at us (juicing, veganism, vegetarianism, paleo, etc.) don’t necessarily promote health as much as weight-loss. One of the messages these diets send is thin=healthy. Now, again, I am not bashing lifestyle choices like veganism or vegetarianism. I love and respect that lifestyle! I have lived it! However, some take advantage of it and use it for the wrong reasons.
I could continue why our society is so weight-obsessed. But, instead of constantly complaining about it, what can we do? Well, we could start the life-long journey of self-discovery. I don’t think it’s enough to accept ourselves. I think we need to unconditionally love ourselves. God wouldn’t have made us all so different if He wanted us to be the same. We could also live a healthy lifestyle that is right for us - not what is right for everyone else. These “experts” are not experts on YOUR body. You are the only one who truly knows how it feels and what is best for it. Letting go of the thin mindset and not living under the obligation of constant dieting can be very scary. Some people don’t even know what it feels like to not be on a diet or about to start one. Personally, it’s taken me a very long time to get to where I am and I still struggle. But, it’s a learning process. We could start looking at food and exercise as a way of helping us live out our amazing experiences and impact others as we were meant to, and not looking at them with fear or punishment.
If you or someone you know is struggling with body-image, eating concerns, or just lacking self-love. Pleasecontact someone who could help!
I will tell you, the one thing that has helped me overcome all this crazy-ness is God. I’ve realized without Him I am nothing and that He has made each of us so special and so perfect for His ultimate plan. He knew us even before our parents were created. We were meant to be on this earth. He meticulously planned out every aspect of our beautiful bodies. Our bodies house our spirits. They are just instruments to get us through life - they don’t hold our worth. Our worth and confidences comes from our faith in Him. This is one of my favorite scriptures that promotes our bodies are exactly the way they are supposed to be and we are exactly where we are supposed to be right now. Life is a million learning experiences wrapped up into one!
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[a] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
PSALMS 139: 13-18
