“Sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me” … the fat girl credo.
Words are just words. But yes, they can hurt. Trust me, I can talk about this, because I was always “big-boned” as a kid. You know, I had a lot of “baby fat”. It seems I was always reminded of this particularly when it was time to try on dresses for my Armenian folk dance group. It didn’t matter if I was taller than all the kids (no, this was a good thing!) as soon as that dress wouldn’t fit my arms or zip up my back… I was labelled as a fat kid. And trust me, I could see the look of disappointment on the teachers’ faces, because I was a “good dancer”. At an early age, I learned the best way to deal with being made fun of, is to develop a witty sense of humour and attack yourself before anyone else has the chance. When others do the same, don’t think they have low self esteem… it’s a defense mechanism to actually make you feel good about yourself. I know this sounds backwards, but just trust me on this one. After the summer of grade 8, the good lord blessed me with more growth spurts and sporty skills which helped me shed some of that “baby fat” everyone hated about me. But still today, I struggle with weight.
But I digress. The real reason I am writing this post is to address some talk about labels. Words that are supposed to help women shop for clothing that fit them. The fashion industry has chosen to segregate “regular” people” from “larger” ones by stopping at size Large. That’s when the official “Plus-Size or 14+” market was born! It’s still however, a touchy subject. After having conversations with other women, some more “plus-size” than others (yes, there is a prejudice for people of my size that are not deemed fat enough to represent larger women) I realize that we cannot change the words. We must focus on behaviours.
I started this blog to help inspire women of any size to look good and feel good about their image. Maybe you hate your legs, maybe you want to show off your tiny waist, but at the end of the day, all women have their insecurities and assets. I want to help women get over their insecurities, by sharing what I do with mine, and teach them to flaunt what they love about themselves. When you are truly happy with your image, these words won’t mean much to you.
Even though I am not about the words, I was challenged to find a better word to replace “plus-size”, so my word is “Voluptuous”. Now it’s your turn! Share your word in the comments below.
