Demonising Thin Women

I'm sick and tired of seeing skinny women/heroines being demonised. If I hear one more "curvy women are REAL women" and "skinny women are not real women", I'll go apemonkey. FACT: ALL women of ALL sizes are REAL women, thank you very much. I rarely admit in public that I used to be on an ongoing diet to put on more weight. It was not fun, it was not easy and it constantly pissed me off. It took me years to get to this ideal weight; what I perceived is ideal, anyway. I shouldn't talk about this in public, actually, because it oft got me into trouble, which is really frustrating. Honestly, there is no freedom in airing my concerns about being underweight. I once complained that I was fed up with being thin, and a woman at work turned round and said, "Shut up. You don't know what it's like to have a weight problem, so shut up and leave real problems to us fat ladies". Why is it all right for women to discuss their desire to lose weight but women aren't allowed to discuss their desire to put on weight? Did anyone really think that I liked my body like that? It was - and still is - a constant battle to keep my weight normal, and I get smacked in the head for trying to "brag" about it. What the ... ? I used to believe that if I managed to get it up to 10 st 14lb - fuck me, I'd die of happiness. When I finally realised that I did meet my ideal weight, I didn't die of happiness, but I didn't get a sense of satisfaction because all I felt was exhaustion. Because I fought hard to get to that point and along the way, I received a lot of crap from quite a few people, especially strangers in the street. For the record: I was not anorexic, I didn't have an eating disorder, I do like to eat, and being thin was no fun. Trust me on this. When I was in my mid-twenties I felt I was too thin [I'm 5' 8 1/2"], and so did the others who had a lot of assumptions, ranging from "She's anorexic" to "She's a bitch who lives on nothing but a lettuce leaf". It was enough to make me paranoid, in spite of my family's assurances that I was healthy. It also seems to give people - strangers, even - the right to comment on my body, ranging from "You're sick. Get help." to "You thin people are disgusting". Oh, and my favourite, "You're a bad example to children." That cut deep. Once when Will and I were out walking in a town centre, one woman turned to Will and asked him whatever he saw in a bag of bones like me? I was embarrassed, mostly because at the time, Will and I started seeing each other. Will didn't say a word to the woman. Instead, he stalked off, yanking me closely behind. When we got in the car, I was deeply mortified, feeling extremely ugly, and Will ranted about people's rudeness while trying to comfort me. It's quite surprising how common it is for people, especially women, to associate thin women with bitchness. And anorexia nervosa. When I denied this charge I was always told that I was in denial and that I needed help. They completely ignore the fact that the rest of my family are also thin. My nieces are skinny little things. I have heard that they also get harassed over their weight, which is rather upsetting. It drives me nuts that there are people who assume that there's something wrong with some of us. Hello, meet our family genes. Many in my family have long accepted that they are naturally thin, but I was not happy with mine. I wanted to have some curves, hence my determination to follow my diet to put on some weight. I won my personal battle, but I haven't forgotten those days of being seen as a "skinny bitch". It's not commonly known that gaining weight is a lot harder than losing it, yet I get a lot of crap for it. I didn't get many sympathies, but, believe me, while I have learned not to expect any, other thin women do get mine. Please please stop demonising thin women. If she's a bitch, demonise her for that. Hell, feel free to bitch-slap her if she was obnoxiously rude. If she's thin, don't use it to justify your need to call her a bitch. Be good, be bad & be safe.