It’s sad and hurtful that people use violence in their words, actions, thoughts to hurt other people. It’s an epidemic that needs to cease. I believe in the value of all bodies. It’s outrageous when people resort to something one is naturally to try and hurt them. I remember being called ‘black girl’ as a white kids way of insulting me as a teenager. I thought why are they trying to insult me with who I am, something that I had no control over. That’s when I stopped taking it personal and started fighting back with questions like is that the best you’ve got, is that all you can say? I realized that those folks who were not of color likely wanted to be just like the black that they were attempting to assault me with. That redefined my experience against racism. Body shaming is the same. And the despite that people can alter their bodies, some people will never look any different even if they tried. Shit! So why not embrace the love one is. All shapes, body types, abilities etc?

Stop it with the subliminal shaming, the “Don’t you think you should eat a little less?”, the “I think that shirt would flatter your fuller figure more”, the “Have you weighed yourself recently?”. And stop resorting to the cheapest, most shallow, and sadly overused comments in the book: “fat”, or “ugly”, to insult someone.

Kindly,
Gracie