Something I've been thinking about recently, and decided to try and put into words
TW: abusive language, fatphobia, harmful thoughts, etc
“Fat bitch.” mutters the girl that pushes past me on the train
Bite your tongue.
“You should kill yourself. lol” says the anonymous message in my inbox
Delete. Move on.
“You’d look so good in that if you lost a few pounds!” says the “supportive” friend
Nod your head and smile.
These things. All of these things. They’re not inherently part of us when we’re born.
No. This is taught. Taught to us through the media…through our doctors…
Through our parents.
“But you can just lose the weight, it’s no big deal.”
Yes, because it’s just that easy.
It is this thinking that cause people to get hurt.
This thinking causes young girls to call each other names before they can spell their own.
It causes young men to think it’s okay to throw things at people in the street.
It’s what caused my mother to make me stop wearing bathing suits at eight and stay covered up when we went out together.
It’s what makes girls want to cry at night
want to hurt themselves
want to hide themselves away
want to end it altogether.
But I’ve come to not only reject this way of thinking, but to turn it on its head and say Fuck You.
Because to me they’re called love handles for a reason.
I have so much love for myself that it can’t fit in just my heart.
I hold all that extra love in my arms, my hips, my thighs, my waist.
All the places that society tells me to hate, I will hold extra love for.
Because being fat doesn’t keep me from being a good person.
It doesn’t keep me from being a good friend or daughter.
It doesn’t keep me from being smart and ambitious.
It doesn’t keep me from doing my job.
They’re called love handles for a reason.
