Can Everyone Stop Being Jerks About Women’s Bodies Already?
Body-shaming is a nasty business
Every time my parents call me they ask me if I got fat.
No, I’m not kidding. Although I wish I was.
If you think women in Western countries have it bad when it comes to body standards, you should be glad you weren’t born in Eastern Europe. Because Slavic people take fat-shaming to another level. What are you even doing with your life if you aren’t as skinny as your mother or grandmother were during the Soviet times after giving birth to six kids?
No more potatoes and cabbage for you. You better starve yourself for the next year or so. Because being fat is even worse than being a commie, duh.
But the obsession with policing women’s bodies and skinniness isn’t exclusive to our culture. It exists practically everywhere in the world. And particularly on the Internet.
Ever since photoshopped to perfection bikini pictures became the norm in the jungle of social media, it’s easy to forget what we see isn’t necessarily real. And everyone is so used to seeing flawless pictures of conventionally attractive bodies that anything outside of that realm isn’t valued or worthy.
