Dear Skinny Babe,
Yes, you deserve to also be called a babe. Because, why not?
I totally get you. I mean, I’ve always been kind of the same. I’ve been skinny my whole life, just like you. I never seem to be able to put on weight like the others, just like you. And I totally get how you feel cold seemingly all the time. And if you have a high metabolic rate, I also get how you feel hot and bothered all the time – like how you need to take that scarf off even though it’s minus 20 degrees outside.
I know how horrible it is for you, when others talk about having gained that extra pound – and how they should go about losing it – while you sit there and try to be inconspicuous. I know how annoying it is deep down for you, that you have to try and be sensitive when the topic about physical appearance comes up, but yet others don’t seem to think about how you’d feel when they comment on how skinny you are.
I know how you hurt when people make skinny jokes about you. As if fat jokes were funny too. I know that you feel victimised when you’re called names like Bamboo or Skeleton, or when you’re being told to eat more, as if you don’t already eat. Guess what, your eating pattern and diet are no business of others, so just take their words with a pinch of salt. What do they know?
I know the secrets you hold, for I hold them too. I know that your bra size doesn’t change much from high school to university. I know your tummy “deflates” after a trip to the loo and I know you actually do feel emptier after it. I know how having skinny legs makes your feet look long and big. I know you can’t donate blood because you’re too light. I know your tailbone hurts after you’ve sat down for too long on a hard stool. I know you’ve at least thought about trying out protein shakes to bulk up, so that you can be “normal sized.” I know you get cravings, just like everybody else, and you also secretly love it that you can satisfy those cravings whenever you want to. I know you don’t really weigh yourself every other night because either there wouldn’t be much of a change, or it doesn’t really matter to you if there were. And if you are the type that gets hungry every 3 hours, I know how frustrating it is to see all your money fly away on food.
I know how silenced you feel. I know that even though you aren’t cover page-perfect, you are confident about the way you look. I know you like sports and exercise but find it hard to talk about it, because people don’t seem to want to hear form you. And I know how bad it is you wish the world knew that you were just being confident about yourself and not showing off to tell others they should look the way you do, nor indirectly telling them that you look better than them. Because for some weird reason, everyone seems to think that way about you.
And I know that right now, more than ever, you feel all of those things above.
So this letter is written to you, for you. To let you know that the life-loving, free-spirited you are not alone. To let you know that there is at least one person out there who understands you. To let you know that while you gorge on your potato salad, there is at least another skinny babe somewhere out there also chowing down on hers. To let you know that it is perfectly all right for skinny babes to inherently love salads. To let you know that it isn’t you who needs to change, but that people just need to feel more secure of themselves with you around.
You are gorgeous the way you are. Now stay true to yourself – your confident, passionate self.
Love,
Roxanne
Image credit: Pull and Bear