The topic of my weight has always been a touchy area with me.  No, I really don’t want to talk about it, but at the same time, I do.  My body is something I’m proud of but still very self-conscious about.  But nowadays, no matter what you weigh or what shape your body is, it seems no one is safe from body shaming.  Attempting to shame someone because of their weight or what they look like is utterly disgusting.  I don’t care who you are, you have no right to tell someone they should be ashamed of their appearance just because of a number on a scale.  The phrases “normal body” and “real women” are carelessly thrown around, contributing to this awful movement.  There is no such thing as a “normal” body.  Every single person on this earth has a different body type.  Every. Single. Person.  It doesn’t matter how skinny or how large a woman is; she is still a REAL woman.

You could say this topic is a soap box for me. I have been body shamed, both online through my Twitter account and in person. Let me give you a run-down of my body:

• Height: 5’2
• Weight: Last I checked 98 lbs, but that’s after the holiday season. I usually weigh around 95/96 lbs.
• Chest: 32DD (thank you, amazing genetics)
• Measurements: 32-25-35
• Top size: XS/XXS (sometimes small, depending on how I want it to fit.)
• Pant size: 0/00 (depending on brand, and children’s sizes 10-14)

Yes, I am a skinny girl with big boobs and a thigh gap.

I wasn’t always this size.  When I graduated high school, I was a size 8.  I gradually worked my way down to where I am now, five years later, at a consistent 0.  Everyone is always asking me, “How did you do it??” and my honest answer is, “I don’t know.”  I didn’t work out all that much.  I didn’t go on a special diet.  And no, I’ve never had an eating disorder.  It just happened, and I have to say I’m glad it did.  Not because I hated the way my body looked back then (I honestly didn’t even notice my weight) but because I have so much more confidence in the way I look now.  That confidence has also come from learning how to dress for my body type, wearing modest makeup, and learning how to properly fix my hair in a way that’s flattering to the shape of my face.  However, just because I do wear a size 0 and have a thigh gap does not mean that I don’t have fat on my body.  I do.  Trust me, I do.  My butt resembles a droopy pancake, my thighs have cellulite, and my tummy still bloats quite frequently.  But I’m not ashamed of those features.  It comes with having a human body.  It’s natural.

I have been told, both online and in person that I am too skinny.  One woman I’ve known almost my whole life walked up to me at church and told me I needed to eat a cheeseburger.  Yes, you read that right.  At church.  My (now ex) best friend made a snarky comment in front of a group of friends about how I would rather starve myself than exercise with them.  My parents accused me of having an eating disorder and refused to listen to my pleas that I was healthy and didn’t starve myself or make myself throw up.  People have told me online that I’m so skinny it’s “gross” (and yes, my response to that particular comment was a little more than bitchy but at that point, I wasn’t going to let anyone try to bring me down…and I’m pretty sure it was a guy I had rejected only minutes before), and my (very immature) ex boyfriend even subtweeted about my weight right after we broke up, saying I needed to “go eat something.”

Now, there are a lot of women out there who still insist that body shaming only happens to larger women, yet they are the ones who are telling thinner women they are “too skinny,” “unhealthy,” or that they need to go “eat a cheeseburger.”  Here’s a big newsflash: skinny shaming is a real thing, too.  Have you heard the lyrics of Meghan Trainor’s awful song “All About That Bass” where she calls skinny girls “bitches”?  Have you read comments attached to images of thin women on Pinterest claiming that just because the girl has a thigh gap she is unhealthy and anorexic?  Did you see the tweets by clothing companies Aeropostale and Aerie on the night of the 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show that insinuated the VS models aren’t happy and aren’t “real women”?  Skinny shaming does exist.  Fat shaming does exist.  And you know what?  They’re both WRONG.  What most people fail to realize is body shaming =  bullying. Period.

How’s this for being a REAL woman: I believe every single woman in this world is beautiful, no matter what her weight.  REAL women don’t condemn others for being “too skinny” or “too fat”.  REAL women lift each other up.  REAL women end body shaming and bullying.  So, are YOU a real woman?

Update: If you STILL don’t believe skinny shaming doesn’t exist, read this article.  I either wanted to scream or slap the author, or both.