Save the Girls

Of all the countries in the world, America is the worst when it comes to (wait for it…) boobs. We set double standards when it comes to the girls. Yes, they want you to “Save the Ta-Tas,” but make sure while you are saving them that you also keep them hidden, especially if you are on the heavy side. I am not condoning indecent exposure; however, when a woman cannot feed her child without getting dirty looks, that is wrong. Society also has a habitual tendency to let some things slide while condemning others for far less, for instance, the Playtex commercial versus a Victoria Secret’s commercial (which I will elaborate on later). We are teaching our young women that if you are skinny, flaunt it. If you are considered plus size, do everyone a favor and cover up. And we wonder why our teenagers and young adults have body image issues.
Recently, there was a lot of controversy over a Playtex commercial. It was the one with plus size girls in their bras. It was a perfectly harmless commercial; to be honest, it was refreshing to see plus size women so happy to be in their own skin. People were offended by this! They claimed they showed too much skin. I have seen more skin on Dancing with the Stars then in this commercial. What people really meant to say is that they did not think it was appropriate because of these women’s weights. How vain have we become? We are perfectly fine to watch Victoria Secret’s commercials all day. Is it because those models are more of what society says we should look like? They wear far less clothes then our friends at Playtex, but society overlooks that.
With all the controversy, what are we telling our young girls? “You are heavy so cover up.” Or, “You are skinny so let’s see what you got.” This is wrong. We are all equal, and we have to learn to stop judging people based on appearance or weight. A woman should be able feed her child anywhere without feeling self-conscious of her body, not to mention a lot of people staring as if they have never seen the phenomenon of motherhood. With the rise of anorexia, bulimia, and other self-destructive behaviors, isolating the plus size girls can be devastating for other girls that look up to them. Sixty percent of adults are overweight in America. You would think the Playtex girls would have been embraced. I am not saying obese people are better or skinny people are better. What I am getting at is that we are all different shapes and sizes, and we should respect that. Simple words or actions could be what could bring these girls over the edge to self-destruction of their bodies and their souls.
Somewhere over the past twenty years, America has decided that curvy is fat. Look back at the iconic Bettie Page. She was curvy and beautiful. Or Marilyn Monroe, size 12. The Playtex girls are also curvy and beautiful. Beauty is more than what is on the outside (cliché I know). A flower is beautiful, but an old oak tree is just as beautiful. That being said, even a beautiful girl can be ugly by what’s inside. Society labels and pegs people into different categories, and after they are labeled it is a pretty rough road to lose that label. We are “training” our future to act in the same manner. Our goal should be to get away from that line of thinking and to start loving people because they are people and not what kind of people we might think they look like. I know the thought of everyone loving everyone is a bit idealistic. We have got stop being hypercritical and learn to love it all. Love the “ta-tas.” Love the curves. Love the plus size and the skinny size – and love ourselves.