A TikTok that I saw the other day made me think about the difference between fat shaming and skinny shaming. In the TikTok, the girl was told by someone, “you’re so skinny!” Her response was, “you’re so fat!” Many people in the comments started to argue with her, saying that she was fatphobic. It was almost as if they were rebuking all types of body shaming except for when it came to skinny people.

This controversy made me think about my own insecurities and body experiences. I’ve been skinny my whole life, and I hate it. Nothing is worse than people constantly asking you if you eat, or telling you that you’re built like sticks. People would literally look me up and down and tell me I look anorexic. People don’t always realize that some people are just born in a certain way. I’ve spent money on protein shakes that don’t work or are to heavy for me to drink. I’ve forced myself to eat to the point where I felt like gagging or throwing up. My weight affects my life in numerous ways. Going out to eat with people, I feel forced to eat quickly and in large amounts, because almost every time I eat with people they tell me that I am skinny because I don’t eat enough.

Many people made the argument that being skinny is society’s expectation for women. And they’re right, to an extent. That isn’t the case at all anymore. i don’t know about the white community, but i know that in the black community the popular norm now is to have a big butt and thighs. If you have that, you automatically have a nice body. There’s nothing wrong with that either– I feel that with the fact that most black women naturally have a lot of junk in the trunk, it’s a good thing that society has grown to embrace these body types. But what about the black girls who don’t have it? There are times I don’t even where certain clothing because it will be too evident that I have no ass. Growing up and even still now, people have always teased me about having a small butt. But the point is not even to make people pity my skinniness. No one has a “perfect” body, and everyone’s body is different. No matter what you look like, body shaming is wrong. And I think that’s the part that people miss.

It is no secret that oppression of the obese is worse and will probably always be worse than making fun of skinny people. However , there shouldn’t be a battle of oppression. Everyone has feelings and no one should be shamed for things they can’t control even though, those things might seem glorious to another person. That’s why I agree with that girl that made the TikTok. We are all beautiful. It is never okay to make fun of anyone.