Skinny is the new fat

Urban Outfitters makes some pretty fashionable, if not hipster-esque, clothing. They also get themselves in trouble fairly often for their ideas of “fashion.” In 2010, they came out with a shirt that simply said “Eat Less.” The company came under fire and removed the shirt from its online stores in June. Actress Sophia Bush publicly reprimanded the company for its lack of decorum and poor decision-making.

Bush stars in the television show “One Tree Hill.” In the show she started a campaign called “0 is Not a Size” to raise awareness about body issues. For years, Bush and others have made it their mission to address body issues and promote healthy living and eating. Countless movies, documentaries, books, magazine articles and commercials have taken on this subject and I think society is finally understanding what they are trying to say. Being a size 6 or a size 16 should not make a difference on how you are treated or how you feel about yourself.

While I applaud Bush for her message and society for realizing when a change needs to be made, I think they have done a complete 180. Wasn’t the whole point to make people feel good about their body? Wasn’t the result supposed to be a society that judges no one on his or her size or what he or she look like? With a slogan like “0 is Not a Size” aren’t you now singling out a group of people? It’s a different group than before, but it’s still a group of people.

It used to be the “cool and fashionable” thing to be stick-thin like a runway model. That is what brought about the need for a body revolution in the media and in our culture. But now we are saying it isn’t even OK to be thin. We took an idea, that you don’t have to change your body to love your body, and warped it to mean that you can’t be thin to love your body. I am a proud size 0. I had the hardest time finding stores that sold a size 00 when I was younger, because that was all that fit me. Now I am to believe that I don’t count because I wear a size 0, a “fake” size according to Bush.

I am happy in my skin. I try to eat healthy and know I need to start exercising more to stay fit but I am happy in my size 0 jeans. “Eat a hamburger” is the phrase I hear most often concerning my body. Oh, I eat hamburgers. I can put away more than most people would think.

What we really need to do is stop putting any kind of label on the issue. “Skinny” people don’t need to feel bad because they weigh less than someone else. “Fat” people don’t need to feel bad because they weigh more than someone else. There is a point when a campaign goes too far and this is it. Every person on earth has the right to feel like they are beautiful no matter their size, color, background, etc.

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