Bodies are pretty neat. They get you from A to B (walking or wheelchair or however you conduct your business (or even cradle to grave if you’re feeling dark)), they do the things that keep you alive and rolling. You know, like, heartbeat. And breathing. And the central nervous system. Metabolising food into energy so you don’t, you know, pass out. Those things. They taste food, which is pretty great. And you can do fun things like watch Netflix. But yet, somehow, society’s decided that bodies must be shamed!!! Shame on you for having a body and for having that body do the things. And – god forbid – you have the indecency of being born a woman. How dare you have the audacity of being a female that doesn’t look like… who’s hot now? Are we still on Gigi Hadid? Let’s go with Gigi Hadid. Or is it Bella now? Look, I’m in my mid-twenties, I don’t know what the kids are doing these days. Whoever the hot one is now. Her. How dare you exist and not look like her (if you do, congrats – your life as a woman is marginally easier). Here are 10 types of body shaming you probably never thought about until now.
Look – some people just are skinny. They may have fast metabolisms, or are super athletic, or they may have eating disorders. You don’t know. It’s literally none of your business.
Although not necessarily about bodies, there is a certain stigma that exists around women and food – that to indulge is shameful, and should be done in secret, or with guilt or justifications. Because indulgence = weight gain, and weight gain=not being beautiful. Just eat. Fuck the patriarchy. Have your cake and eat it too.
You’re hot for a tall girl. Asian girl. Black girl. A ginger. A fat girl. We’re taught that beauty and hotness is white, 5’5”-5’8”, and a UK 6-10, so anything that isn’t that is met with surprise.
Wearing makeup means you’re shallow, vain, and probably not very intelligent. Because we’ve feminised makeup, and ergo it’s probably quite silly. Guys get shamed for wearing makeup, girls gets shamed for wearing too much. It’s makeup. It’s fun. Give it a rest. I’ve lost count of how many times guys around me have scoffed at girls for ‘wearing too much makeup’ and then looked at me for approval. Like, what exactly are you after? A medal? Do you want us to congratulate you for proving you’re not vain and like ‘natural girls’? Even though you’ve just judged a complete stranger? Well done.
This brings us around to point B: not wearing makeup and the myth of the ‘natural girl’, i.e. a subsection of the elusive cool girl: she cba with makeup because she’s too cool for that, but still manages to look effortlessly beautiful (NB: that look takes about 30min to achieve). A guy once told a friend of mine that he liked how she didn’t feel the need to wear makeup. She had three different eyeshadows, brows, bronzer, foundation, and mascara on. When we actually get seen ‘natural’, we’re asked if we’re ill. What’s more, there are studies that show that women who don’t wear makeup aren’t seen as neat or clean as their makeup-wearing counterparts – not wearing makeup in a professional environment is, then, a big no. I’ve even come across articles of therapists saying that female patients are showing signs of improvement when they start wearing makeup.
Again: vain, vapid, shallow. What if I like clothes – who’s that harming? I mean yes, the environment and sweatshops are a thing but that is an article for another day.
Listen: if you have a body, do whatever the fuck you want to it.
No, no they don’t. A real woman is someone who identifies as a woman. And even then it doesn’t have to be all the time. Gender is a social construct and social constructs don’t have physical forms, ipso facto they cannot have curves.
It took me a while to get started on this piece. What an innocent, blissful time it was. I didn’t think I’d have much to talk about. Little did I know that I would get to a point where I’m mentally screaming ‘just let us be for the love of God’. It’s almost like the patriarchy doesn’t… want us… to be treated as human beings? So – body hair. It’s hair. You’ll live. Just let us be. For the love of God, let us be. While we’re on this, what’s with razor companies always showing the woman shaving an already hairless leg, but a man gets to shave an actual beard off? I mean, I’m not a business person, but… surely… that’s not actually, like, you know. Showing how good your product is?
Yes, yes. I know I made some comments about the Hadids. Listen, I’m not perfect. And sure, pretty shaming probably isn’t the most pressing issue, but oh dear lord am I sick and tired of people being surprised when pretty women are smart. Or when people don’t actually listen to what you’re saying because they’re distracted by your looks. Or when other women shame other people for being attractive. It’s a body. Move on.
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