Thin Doesn’t Win!

As a university student I see many anorexic girls walking about the precinct and it really does devastate me.

I really feel for these young girls suffering such a severe mental and physical illness over something as simple as being called a lard-arse at school. I am not saying all eating disorders are due to bullying, but it is true for the majority.

Personally, as a fluctuating size 12, I was never seen as ‘skinny’ in the eyes of English schoolboys. Instead, I was taunted.

SI Model Kate Upton has received criticism for being ‘fat’
Picture: discutivo (Flickr)

I can still hear the fat taunts now and even my own brother said I had more rolls than Asda’s bakery. I must admit I had stuck my fingers down my throat a few times but I am now fortunate that I did not have the willpower to commit to such a damaging ‘diet’.

The pressure to be thin is unnecessary as it’s not true that all men like ultra-skinny women. I am a size 12/14 now and I have had my fair share of casual flings and boyfriends.

Being called fat is so damaging I don’t think anyone really understands it unless they have been through it themselves. Magazines frequently only use size 8 models and then airbrush any ‘flaws’ which, to me, represent individuality.

Christina Hendricks: a perfectly curvy figure
Photo: Lifrita Lifi

The pressure is so great that in my teenage years I considered scoffing tapeworm eggs which are available online to help me lose weight quickly without changing my diet. To my dismay, my university flatmate has admitted she once considered this too.

I was astonished when browsing an online clothes retailer recently and found an item that was marked UK10 LARGE, a size description which is basically insulting over half of the British population.

I have always thought of a size 8/10 as a small, 12 a medium and maybe 14-16 as a large. Whilst interpretations may vary slightly, I doubt many people think of a 10 as a large.

I have cut size 16 labels out of H&M blazers and various dresses before now because I was embarrassed that was the smallest size that would fit.

Stores really need to make their sizing consistent or girls will think they are large/overweight when they’re not. They will think this despite harbouring a perfect hourglass size 12 figure.

Nigella: An ideal role model?
Photo: www.nigella.com

I know I’m not perfect. I could tone up and lose a few more pounds, but I am happy and enjoy my food. My cholesterol is perfect as are my other obesity-related stats, so I am not doing any harm if I occasionally eat a whole packet of chocolate hobnobs.

Sizing needs to be universal before a badly cut batch of patterns leads the next generation into skeletal fashion.

I am already fed up of seeing bones in Vogue magazine and Topshop adverts. I study health and this is definitely a dangerous image to encourage girls to follow.

We need role models like Nigella Lawson, not the size zero ones we see on the runway, because I would definitely rather have chocolate between my two fingers than my uvula.