Squeezed into a dressing room, my friend Caroline tossed out a simple question to Kelly and me.
Her eyes glued to the full-length mirror, checking out the pair of jeans from all different angles. Front, back, left side, ride side.
“Do these jeans make me look fat?
We quickly responded…
No, of course not!
They look great!!
Definitely buy them!!
Without realizing it, I was being schooled in the language of body shame. In the mall, with my high school friends.
I learned that I was supposed to be self-conscious about how my clothes fit me.
My thinner friends thought they looked fat. What did that say about my athletic body? I drew the conclusion I must have been really fat.
I learned to ask for other people’s opinions of how my clothes fit. More out of courtesy than necessity. Because it never mattered what they said.
I learned to never trust the words they shared. If they thought something looked good on me, they were just being nice. They wouldn’t tell me the truth.
No matter how our clothes fit, body shame, sadly, fits us like a glove. The conversations we have in our minds comparing and criticizing our bodies are just too comfortable and too frequent.
The schooling continued and body shame was something that just became the norm.
This is why I’m holding a very important vision.
I see a world where all women are loving their bodies. And not needing to only love a perfect version of their body.
They are loving their body just as it is- no matter their age, size, shape, ability, sexual orientation or preference. I see a world where all women love their here and now body.
We know our body is our best friend. We know our body is a source of wisdom and valuable information. We trust our body and we let it guide us.
In a world that tells us our body needs to be different, defying these messages takes a revolution. We need to see these messages for what they are; lies that hurt us.
We need to recognize how precious our bodies are, simply because they are here on this planet.
Loving your body is your birthright.
Can you see it for yourself?