Skinny does not mean Beautiful!

"Thin is in, and fat is ugly." That is what some women believe to be true. Many of these women starve themselves, do countless hours of vigorous exercising, or even purge after excessive eating. Or if they believe themselves to be too "fat" they obsess about their imperfection. Society, today, is very hard on "non-skinny" people. I use the term "non-skinny" because I'm referring to overweight people as well as an average body size that is not skin and bones. The media portrays "non-skinny" people as ugly and unatractive. Unfortunately, women of today get caught in the middle of the health and exercise cycle, which may eventually lead to eating disorders, depression and low self esteem.

When a thin model walks down a runway, men usually do not think about what size clothes she wears, or how much she weighs. Their thought is, "Man, that girl is hot." Most women, however, would respond "Wow, I wish I could look like that." This may seem like a big difference between men and women's attitude of thin women, but in reality these two statements share similar ideas than an average person might assume. Both of these comments suggest that the model looks great. In the minds of both men and women, they associate the model with the words, "beauty" and "perfect." Is this what many think beauty really is? A five-foot ten, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, size zero? The world is full of different types of people with different ideas of beauty. Why do some people associate being skinny with being beautiful? Being a skinny person does not make them a more worthy or special individual. If a "beautiful" size ten were to walk down the runway with attractive features and attractive clothes, I believe that the men would comment that the model is "hot" and the women would comment that she is "fat". This is an interesting and sad look into the minds of women in our society.

In my opinion, "Skinny" does not always mean beautiful. Many people are obsessed with trying to be, what is considered by so many, the perfect size and weight. They want to be skinny. There is nothing wrong with being thin if a person exercises and eats healthy. Although, I think that most women's obsessive desire to be skinny, can lead them to compulsive disorders. Exercising and eating a healthy diet takes time, effort, and most of all dedication and I think that this should be a part of women's healthy lifestyle. But obsession with reaching the goal of "perfection" through weight loss is insane. By focusing our thoughts and behaviors, only on losing weight and being skinny, I believe that many women are missing out on true meaning in their life. I do not believe that God put us on earth to strive to be skinny or attractive. Although I think that keeping up with yourself and trying to look your best and being healthy is ONE important part of good self esteem. It is my hope that we are here for a bigger purpose.

By associating one's self worth with the idea of being skinny, we are creating a huge problem for all people in society. If God judged us by our ability to be skinny or attractive, I think that the world's focus would change to one of starvation, but this is not the case. I wish that women (especially of my generation) would look beyond the sterotypes of skinny means beauty and focus more on loving themselves and other people for what is truly beautiful about them. Look beyond your own idea's of skinny is beauty and beauty is happy. I challenge women to focus on bigger issues and not to be so consumed day to day with trying to be thin.