Beauty comes in all sizes. Security should too.

I can’t count the amount of times I’ve had to listen to people comment on how skinny I am, always with some little twist of negativity. Either it’s, “I wish I was as skinny as you!” or “Girl you need to put some meat on those bones!” And heaven forbid I should make a complaint about my body of any sort in front of anyone with more inches than myself. Then I get, “What are you complaining about?! You’re perfect.”

Let’s just clarify a few things. Firstly, there is no such thing as perfect. Secondly, those folks telling me to eat have clearly never had a meal with me, because anyone who has knows I have the appetite of a man. Thirdly, and the whole point of my rambling thus far, it’s not always easy being skinny and every time someone of larger proportions has the audacity to tell me otherwise, my blood boils.

I understand that it’s hard being overweight, or even just “big.” But I’ve never been anywhere close to overweight, so I can’t really say I sympathize; a lot the larger girls who are bashing me and my slender counterparts, can’t sympathize with us either because they’ve never been called “twiggy.”

I’ve been skinny all my life, and as I’ve grown taller (just barely) but never any wider, I’ve discovered all the problems that come with being petite. These little issues may be hard to understand if you’ve never had to deal with them but they are real, and truly annoying.

For example, I measure 32-25-34 and I’m 5’2. I’m pretty damn tiny. But as much as I’m skinny, I’m not a stick figure. I’m a little thicker in the lower end. Try putting a fitted dress on a torso that measures small and a bottom half that fits into a medium. You see the dilemma? Despite popular belief, I can’t wear anything I want to. Some things look better on the curves I don’t have.

And while, for the most part, I can eat nearly anything I want to, that presents a problem in itself. How do I keep up with a bottomless stomach? Sure mom is feeding me now, but what happens when I have to fill this endless belly on my own budget? With a metabolism like mine, food is expensive as hell. It’s costly to be skinny.

But at the end of the day, so long as it’s fed and dressed, I’m not complaining about this skinny body. I love my little curves, and all the other things that make me myself. And I don’t need to bash voluptuous figures to do that. I think at the end of the day, that’s the root of my issue. If you’re a size 16 there’s no need to hate on girls who are size 6 and vice versa. Love yourself: every inch, every pound, every day.