I stumbled across this on Pinterest the other day and it kind of irritated me. For one, it is inaccurate. Zero is most certainly a size; I know this because sometimes I wear it. I also sometimes wear a 00, or a 2, or a small, or a medium, or an 8 (in shoes), or a one-size-fits-all. I think that most women, both smaller and larger than I, can agree on one basic point here: size doesn’t define us. Whether my dress is a size 00 or a size 16, what matters is not the number, but the way I feel while wearing it. That being said, can we stop with the body-bashing already?! Making negative comments about thin women is just as wrong as hating on bigger women. If women with curves can be proud of their bodies, why can’t I be equally happy with mine? Sure, my size doesn’t define me, but I still don’t appreciate being told that my natural body type isn’t okay (on a t-shirt, no less!). We should be promoting satisfaction with our bodies, not hating thinner women for something they often can’t help. I have never heard anyone criticize Jennifer Lopez for her curves, yet most normal women couldn’t achieve such a body without the help of some major implants. So why do thin women, the “size zeroes” of the world, get so much flack for their bodies? One reason is, of course, the fashion industry’s depiction of the stick-thin model as having the ideal body type. But here’s the thing: designer sample sizes are small; it makes sense economically. Runway models are meant to showcase clothes, not to set the standard for the ideal body type. And while eating disorders do exist within the modeling world, many of these women are simply tall and thin naturally. I can certainly agree with the idea that the fashion industry should encourage healthy habits for models and represent a wider range of body types on the runway and in magazines. But that doesn’t mean that thin women deserve to be treated as if they are not beautiful. When you feel beautiful, you are beautiful. If you feel beautiful at a size 16, fantastic. If you feel beautiful at a size 2, equally fantastic. Let’s stop bashing thin girls and love ourselves and other women for who we are, not the number on our tags. So yes, zero is a size, sometimes I wear it, and I am beautiful.
