Something has come to my attention and I feel like I need to let this out of me before I lose my nerve.
I am a plus sized woman. I'm 27 years old, wear a size 24 jean and I weigh more than 300lbs. Am I trying to lose weight? Yes. However, my reasoning is not what most would assume. I am not dieting, per say. I am making healthier choices when it comes to my meals, especially I am out with friends. All of this is just add on to my main point.
Not every woman is going to look like super models. Not every woman is going to strive to have a gap between their thighs or a flat tummy that they can flaunt on the beach. Is this wrong? No. Women in the media who are bigger than average size are looked at in one of two ways. The main way, in my viewing experience of the media, is plus size women are looked at like they are disgusting. Everyone has seen the tabloid headings. "xx has BLOWN UP!" or "xx having trouble losing that baby weight!" Is this the example that we want young girls to follow? The second way is they are looked at as comedic relief. I would like someone, anyone at all to name ONE movie (besides Hairspray) where a plus size woman was seen as the main character in a serious light. In every movie or TV show, the bigger the woman, the more jokes they tell.
Out of the limelight of Hollywood, plus size women are either the subject to ridicule, hatred and vile comments, or they are treated like a fetish instead of an actual woman. A story I can tell is one that has personally happened to me. I was walking to school. As I approached the building, there was a younger man, I would say he was a few years younger than myself, who was smoking a cigarette on the sidewalk. As I walked passed him, he stopped me and said "I have a quick question out of pure curiosity." I stood there and waited as he mulled around in his brain the perfect way of asking his question. After a moment, he looked me dead in the eye and asked, completely serious, "What is it like to fuck one of you?" Needless to say I was shocked, appalled and completely thrown by his question that I couldn't even come up with a response. I just shook my head, turned around and walked away.
I guess what I'm getting at is... Plus Size women are just that: Women. We wear bigger clothing, have a bit more to us than the average woman but in the end, we are made of flesh and blood. We have feelings, we have brains, we laugh and cry and we deserve to be treated like women; not fetishes, not comedic relief and not something below average.
Sorry for the rant. There was just a lot on my mind that has been floating around.
