Real Women Have Curves... Real Women Don't Have Curves...

Over the past few years I've noticed a disturbing trend. Heavier women are putting down "skinny" women. Skinny women are putting down athletic women. Athletic women are putting down "fat" women. Etcetera. They say real women have curves. So what does that make women who aren't curvy or voluptuous? Phony? Are women who are morbidly obese "the realest?" Are women with an atheletic build "butch?" Seriously. This debate needs to end. It never should have started.

All the comments about how men like women with curves, and "only a dog wants a bone" are ridiculous. So, if a man is attracted to a smaller girl, suddenly he's a "dog?" Does a smaller woman not deserve love too? Maybe that's just what he likes. Sure some men like thicker women, but not all do.

Look, I'm in no way trying to insinuate that one body type is better than any other. Thing is, no one else should try to determine that either. Can't we accept that there is no "right" or "wrong" body type? I used to be REALLY REALLY skinny. REALLY skinny. I wasn't that size on purpose. It was partially genetic and partially the workout regimen I had to follow in the army. I ate plenty and I ate often. I just worked it off as fast as I ate. Not a day went by that I didn't hear snide remarks, usually from females who were significantly larger than me. I can tell you one thing though: I had no problem attracting men. Some were, in fact dogs, but I'm certain it's not because I was bony. I'm positive it was 100% THEIR issue.

One so called "noncommissioned officer" even called me "Sergeant Bulimia" when I was in the Primary Leadership Development Course. Surprisiningly, it was a male instructor. I expect that behavior from females, but that was a shocker. I have a very thick skin, so the comments didn't really get to me, but I can't help but wonder why it's more socially acceptable to make remarks to a "skinny" girl's face? I'm sorry, but that's a mystery to me. As a child, I distinctly remember being scolded for making fat remarks about my uncle's now wife. She was 500 pounds, BTW, but when comments were made about how skinny I was, it was just fine. I personally don't think it should be socially acceptable to make nasty remarks about ANY woman's size.

I also can't help but wonder who makes the rules about how we are "supposed" to look. I know. I know. Society. Once upon a time though, society worshipped voluptuous women, but then society moved toward the more Twiggy-esque build. In all honesty, I don't think society as a whole can change an individual man's preference. During the Renaissance Era, I'm sure there were men who loved curvy women, and men who loved slender women. The curvy women may have been more celebrated in the arts, but that doesn't mean that the less curvaceous women died alone. When being "skinny" became popular I'm sure women with more junk in the trunk didn't suffer from loneliness.

So let's put a stop to this. The best body type is a healthy body type. Healthy isn't an ideal perpetuated by society. Healthy is a series of factors, based in science that can determine your risk for cancer and  other ailments. Healthy is something that a doctor can sign off on. Healthy is what we should strive for, and whatever body type we end up with when we reach our optimum health is the body we should embrace, society be damned.