Body Shaming

It seems that for as long as there have been people, there has been body shaming. This is what it's called when people react publicly with negative comments about another person's appearance in relation to their weight.

There are many variations in the precise insults, but the majority are aimed at women. The traditional targets have usually been people who somebody has perceived as being too large. In the internet age it is all too easy to make such comments with anonymity and with lightning speed, and to a massive audience.

A bright spot has been a growing movement towards acceptance of being larger than some warped ideal, both by society and by the victims of such shaming.

I like the lyrics to the Meghan Trainor song that go;

     Because you know I'm all about that bass
     Bout that bass, no treble
     I'm all about that bass
     Bout that bass, no treble
     I'm all about that bass
     Bout that bass, no treble
     I'm all about that bass
     Bout that bass...bass...bass...bass

     Yeah, it's pretty clear, I ain't no size two
     But I can shake it, shake it, like I'm supposed to do
     Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase
     And all the right junk in all the right places

And so, people being people, there have recently been a growing number of attacks on public figures for being smaller than what many are starting to call, "real women." Let me give a few examples.

Recently, a young, female body builder posted a picture online of her washboard stomach. She must have worked very hard to create it, and must have been proud. She received back a great deal of hate for being some kind of monster; not a "real woman."

On a bigger stage, the woman who played the main character in the new Star Wars movie has come under attack. In that film, Daisy Ridley plays the part of Rey. She is supposed to be a young scavenger from a barren, desert world. As a result, she is physically wirey, and self-educated. The actress's body is very slender, but has the ability to perform the demanding physical tasks required by the part.

Ridley is 5'7" tall. How much to you think that she should weight to play an undernourished desert scavenger who can run like somebody in a marathon? She is 119 pounds. Slender? Yes, very, but that's who she's playing.

It seems that according to the new version of body-shaming, she isn't a "real woman."

Let's see. The rule of thumb calculation system on livestrong.org (I hate BMI stuff), says for ideal weight (best for longevity) for women is 100 pounds for their first 5 feet of height, and then 5 more pounds are added for every inch above that. With a larger frame (which Ridley doesn't have), ten percent gets added, or if muscular (not Daisy). With a slight frame, ten percent gets deducted (Daisy is very slight). That all says her best weight would be 121.5 pounds. OH MY GOD. She's 2.5 pounds less than her healthiest weight.

The biggest action-hero star since Hans Solo erupted onto the screen 39 years ago is a woman, and her detractors say she's not a "real woman."

Of course, this is not the average weight of an American woman. The CDC reports that the average American women above the age of 20 is 5' 3.8" tall, and weighs 166.2 pounds. The entire point of a Star Wars hero is that they are not average. They are archetypes. She is a scavenger waif, and shouldn't look like she just had a nice lunch.

The cool thing about both of these thin-shaming examples is that the "victims" refused to put up with it. They both blasted right back.

It is my own opinion that every woman out there is a "real woman." How could they not be? In just the same way, every man out there is also a "real man." If some guy flounces around flamboyantly, he's still a man. How about a tough guy like John Wayne? He did have a mincy walk, but he was also a man. A fat man is still a man. A thin man is still a man. How about a fat woman; she's real? What about a skinny woman; she's real?

So enough already.