Beauty and body weight are two different aspects of our personality. However, it is a common response when someone is taunted for being a plus size, to support them by calling them beautiful. As if, the assurance of being beautiful can somehow lessen the hurt. It is true that our definitions of ugly and beautiful are in fact extremely problematic and we as a society cannot stop equating thinness to being beautiful.
As a tweet recently pointed out when you are plus size, who said anything about being ugly?
When did plus size get christened ugly?
Being a plus size is synonymous with being ugly because our beauty standards aren’t limited to facial features. They extend to our physique. People have a very distinct idea of what body type is appealing and what is repulsive. The plus size falls in the latter category. So those who are lean are automatically beautiful. Somehow weight also decides whether people find you attractive or not.
SOME TAKEAWAYS
- A Twitter user recently pointed out how people’s standard come back to “I am plus size” was “but you are beautiful”.
- The opposite of fat was never ugly. But then why is beauty synonymous with being lean and thin?
- Plus size is deemed unattractive by people because physique and body weight also finds a place in our skin-deep definition of beauty.
Don’t assume that an overweight person feels ugly. By telling them that they are “still beautiful” all you are saying is their weight indeed hampers their appearance. Being fat means being ugly because to a large number of people it makes you unappealing and repulsive. It is not the body weight, however, but a shallow outlook which deems plus-size people to be unattractive. Much as we need to rid ourselves of these beauty standards, we need to remove the stigma around plus size. This stigma has unwittingly also become a part of the mindset of those who are against fat shaming and reflects in their choice of words.
Of course, a plus size person is beautiful. All of us are beautiful, no matter what our skin tone, age or body weight or facial features are.
The problem is that whether or not we are against fat-shaming, it is ingrained in our sub-conscious that only thin people are beautiful. Hence, we end up overcompensating for it in our empathy.
There are so many things you can tell a plus-size person. As diverse as we are, it is our uniqueness which makes us beautiful. A size is just a number we must know to buy a dress. Not something which should define us.
Picture Credit: Samuel Zeller, Unsplash
Also Read : Why skinny shaming is just as bad as fat shaming?
Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are the author’s own.
/shethepeople/media/agency_attachments/iUYfaBbcMozaYLoGnoov.png)
Follow Us/shethepeople/media/post_banners/0AN1CePa8yFRIahAOyDr.jpg)