A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"
The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:
"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness. They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.
Mermaids do not exist.
But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish? They would have no sex life and could not bear children. Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?
Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.
At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.
We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies. We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated. Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "
Note from the Author:
Last comment - I'm not putting down thin people, being a thin woman myself (BMI of 22 maybe?) just saying that being large doesn't equate to being unattractive.
Interesting thoughts! I'm averaged sized - not thing or fat, but through the years have vacillated between accepting my body and hating it. I've learned that our bodies are gifts and in whatever shape or form they are, they are to be loved, nurtured, and taken care of.
ReplyDeleteNow following :)
I think that the woman in the chair is not inherently unattractive but just that I have been conditioned to be almost shocked to see a body like that in print. I'm so used to skinny models that I almost do a double take. We do need more of "regular" sized women in print so that is seen as the norm.
ReplyDeletethere are a lot of people who fall in the "too thin" category but the same is true for the other....
ReplyDeleteTHATS AWESOME!! YOU ROCK LADY! I love the photo that is posted with this too, its so great to see women of all sizes as models and to be proud. Together as women we should walk away from the clothing lines that have too thin models, gyms that post advertisements like this and stand together no matter what size we are.
ReplyDeletePS sorry I have been MIA its been a little crazy here after getting back from my sisters wedding in NC! ...miss you!!
This was an interesting article and had some great points until you mentioned your BMI! You shouldn't have to justify your point:-) it was great!
ReplyDeleteReading this gave me chills..in a good way. What a great perspective. And you know..your right Mermaids do not exist. Loved this!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post! I loved this post! I myself an thin but I think this is a wonderful perspective because we women are always seeing ridiculously thin women in the media, on TV and in the news and there is so much pressure to look like this.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
xoxo
Petchie
http://itsallofthelittlethings.blogspot.com/
I LOVE this post! and HATE that people can be so superficial as to think that only because a person doesnt weight 100 pds means they are unattractive.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is beautiful no matter their weight!
Happy Thursday girlie <3
Simplycamylla.blogspot.com
this story is very well written and i couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteif it's true (that a gym really posted that sign) than shame on them- making someone feel bad about themselves by bullying them should never be mistaken for motivation.