Do club photographers hate me because I am fat?

Let's get something clear right from the very start: fat is not an insult. Me calling myself fat is not me feeling sad or wanting you to feel sad for me, fat is a descriptor, an adjective, a bloody describing word. So if you came here to read a sob story, unfortunately I cannot provide.

What I can provide, however, is an insight into why I only have one photo of myself taken by a club photographer, over two and a half years. Is it because I am fat? Yes, I believe it is.

Since turning 18 and starting my new venture into the world that is going 'out out' and wondering whether we are wearing dresses and heels or just 'jeans and a nice top' – I have one photo, compared to my friends having no less than hundreds.

Me (in the red top) with my significantly skinnier friends back in 2016

I absolutely love a night out. From pres to the dirty pints to the food-induced coma in the taxi home, you can't really beat it. But sometimes I can't help but notice the unsubtle differences between different body types for a night out.

I recently ran a survey for students, asking a variety of questions all stemming around social media and the diet industry and how it makes us all feel about ourselves and our bodies. This survey ran across a range of the UK universities from Sheffield to Newcastle to Cardiff and more. If you want to take part yourself, click here.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't been living under a rock and I am well aware that social media isn't exactly always the confidence booster we are all after, but even with this knowledge, the results truly hurt me.

I don't think I could ever prepare myself for some of the heart-wrenching stuff I read from students just like me. One student from Sheffield told us that social media pressures them to wear the skimpiest outfits they possibly can, which they do not feel comfortable with.

This brave and open student is not alone. There were numerous responses just like this one, with some students admitting that social media has had the greatest impact on their mental health and disordered eating issues.

Every single question got mixed results, apart from one. When I asked whether, as students, we believe that clubs and night out promoters use a variety of body types in their promotion material – the answer was a unanimous no.

One student from Sheffield Hallam said: "I feel more pressure to look skinny etc and have the ‘ideal’ body type because you constantly see skinny people on social media."

With the average size of women in 2018 to be a 14/16 and the average size for a man to be a medium/large, it is absolutely disgusting that club photographers seem to steer clear of bigger people to try and adhere to the ridiculous ideals that are drummed into young people every single day.

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Using only 'social media perfect' people to promote events is really damaging to our mental health because we see those pictures and automatically go searching for something, anything, that can make us as similar to the people in the pictures as possible.

Sometimes this can have devastating consequences, with 58% of students admitting to wishing they could have plastic surgery to be more social media acceptable and with others saying that this issue 'pushed them to eat less' and how they have 'wasted time worrying about food and weight loss, when they could have been out with friends.'

Me (right) having a fab time with my wine.

So is all hope lost? No, of course not.

Have you ever actually stopped and wondered why you dislike the things you do about yourself? When you see people looking so 'perfect' on social media, why does that make you feel less of a person? Who told you that a fat stomach, cellulite, large pores, a big nose, saggy boobs, small boobs, chubby legs, flabby arms, no muscles, etc etc etc – WHO TOLD YOU any of that was wrong?! When actually it is a natural part of every single humans existence and it is one that should be celebrated so much more than it is right now.

With around two million students in the UK alone, imagine if we all just chose to love ourselves instead? We could take down multi-billion dollar companies, like social media and the diet industry just by making the conscious choice to accept ourselves. We can't forget our power.

So put away the appetite-suppressants, the muscle-enhancers and the suck-your-stomach-in underwear because we don't need it anymore. Imagine how much these promoters and the whole social media attitude in general, would have to change once they can no longer feed off our insecurities?

It's time to realise that the 'love yourself' movement isn't just for bigger people but it is for everyone because everyone has something they are insecure about but that can and will change.

So order that pizza or eat that cake, do whatever makes you genuinely happy, because we can change the world babes, one imperfect club photo at a time.

Pizza over perfect any day of the week!

@HanVictoriaaaa