No Body Is Perfect | Teen Ink

No Body Is Perfect MAG

By Anonymous

I walked down the aisles looking for a pattern in my favorite clothing store. Just my luck, they had the cutest shorts – but only in sizes 0, 1, 3, 7, and 9. I wear a 13. Annoyed and devastated I walked out thinking, I’m just too fat.

The next week, at my grandmother’s house for the traditional spaghetti dinner, my cousin and his girlfriend, Ivy, joined us. We had a delicious dinner. Afterward, the women sat around talking about dieting and their weight and whatnot. My aunt complimented Ivy on how skinny she looked for weighing 120 pounds. My aunt said that she needed to go on a diet because she weighed almost 140 pounds. This comment kind of hurt me because I weigh almost 160 pounds. So I said, “I probably need to go on a diet too,” but I said this softly so, hopefully, they wouldn’t hear me.

Ivy, however, was sitting right next to me and heard what I said. She took me into the other room with her, and we sat on the bed. “When I was in my senior year of high school, I weighed 140 pounds,” she said. “I felt so insecure. I couldn’t imagine any guys would want to be with me because of how fat I was. I tried eating less, dieting, exercise, but nothing seemed to work. That was when I realized that no body is perfect. No anorexically skinny girl will ever be skinny enough for society to say that her body is ‘perfect,’ because then she would be considered ‘unhealthy.’”

I thought a lot about this for the next few days and realized that no one had ever called me fat, except when my mom was joking with me. So why was I so caught up with how much I weighed? Why was I so consumed by a number that does nothing but mock you? This number labels and classifies you and tells you “You can’t fit into those jeans because you’re 160 pounds. You can’t go out with him because you’re 160 pounds. No one will want to hang out with you because you’re 160 pounds” over and over.

I decided that I wasn’t going to let my weight rule my life. I wasn’t going to let it decide what I should and should not wear. At that point I realized that I, too, believe that no body is perfect, that no girl can be skinny enough, and that all those people who tell you the “anorexic look” is in are probably so uncomfortable with their own weight that they have to make other people self-conscious just to make themselves feel better.

So, anytime I start to feel self-conscious about my weight, I think to myself, Anorexia? I think not.



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This article has 118 comments.


on Mar. 26 2012 at 4:51 pm
kenziegirl9 BRONZE, Digby, Other
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
I agree. Anorexia is hell.

on Mar. 21 2012 at 7:06 pm
beautifulspirit PLATINUM, Alpharetta, Georgia
35 articles 0 photos 1398 comments

Favorite Quote:
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

Awesome article~ It really felt real and honest. I've had the same thoughts about my own weight---no body is perfect. That is a great title for this particular subject.

Jasmine M.=] said...
on Jan. 6 2012 at 5:01 am
Just so you know not all people are fat because they eat a lot there are other that are sick and that makes them gain weight. and even if they are fat because they eat a lot i bet they can do more things than you can.. just because someones fat doesnt mean theyre a looser, or just because someones skinny doesnt make them healthy or strong

on Jul. 23 2011 at 12:24 am
october34 SILVER, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
6 articles 2 photos 12 comments
Such a great story! I love it!

Bones96 BRONZE said...
on May. 31 2011 at 10:52 am
Bones96 BRONZE, Charlotte, North Carolina
2 articles 0 photos 108 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life isn't about finding yourself it's about creating yourself-

This is a great artical! Good job, it's very positve and uplifting :)

on May. 23 2011 at 2:26 pm
ohsopoisonous GOLD, Salisbury, North Carolina
11 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I don't care if it hurts, I want to have control. I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul. I want you to notice when I'm not around." -Radiohead.

I love how obvious it is that those bashers are the same person.

Dmcbrii BRONZE said...
on May. 9 2011 at 3:33 pm
Dmcbrii BRONZE, Zullinger, Maryland
3 articles 1 photo 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
It's better to be unfaithful than to be faithful without wanting to be.

Whoever that person is that thinks overweight people should be banned from society is a complete moron. Not EVERYONE who is over weight, over eats. It does not mean they're lazy either. 

As a recovering bulimic, my perspective has changed a lot on body image. However, no matter what, I have always look at every one else as beautiful. 

Whatever you weigh, be a good person. That is honestly ALL that matters.

The most narrow-minded people can be as skinny as they'd like, but they'll go literally nowhere in life.. not mentally anyway.

This was a really great article. (:


on Apr. 26 2011 at 11:16 am
seriously. you are sick. if you think that over weight/ big people should be band from socity then you your self need to be kicked out. you are close minded jerks that dont know what there talking about and need some serious help.

Eternal-flo said...
on Apr. 16 2011 at 1:38 am
As if you would know Blahblah135. Forever be crushed by the incompitence of your useless logic and learn to accept people as who they truly are. Learn to not use stereotypes and back off of this chick!!

on Apr. 16 2011 at 1:21 am
 I agree with nofattys. I do not accept them as people they are FAT BLOBS also known as aliens! I thought it was funny when her mom called her fat.

pen15 said...
on Apr. 15 2011 at 1:10 pm
you no what you are so right. you sound hot

on Apr. 15 2011 at 1:08 pm
i agree with nofattys

charvan said...
on Apr. 14 2011 at 2:12 am
Great article. That is great advise, never let others determine how much you should weigh. Your body is not their body and how boring if we all looked the same! Check out www.program-for-diet.net for even more information.

JoJo said...
on Apr. 7 2011 at 9:10 pm

I like this because you should not let anyone convince you that your fat and its right no matter how skinny you are your still not perfect.



Pickles-29 said...
on Apr. 4 2011 at 5:28 pm
Pickles-29, Boise, Idaho
0 articles 0 photos 24 comments
Wow this was great it really makes you feel better about your self and a lot more confident. It's really positive. Great Job.

on Apr. 4 2011 at 6:36 am
I love this so much because it really shows that teen girls don't have to stress so much about how they look and what their weight is. I really like this article and I think it's incredibly positive.

on Apr. 4 2011 at 6:34 am
you actually don't know her mom, so you can't say anything bad about her mom. She's okay with her mom teasing her, my mom teases me sometimes too about being anorexic (and I'm a size S), and I'm fine with it. I would tell my mom if she offended me, and I think the writer of this article would as well. Just saying...

Bka341997 GOLD said...
on Mar. 24 2011 at 10:34 am
Bka341997 GOLD, Bigfork, Montana
11 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take our breath away!

saying u dont like fat people is likes aying you dont like jews or blacks...get over youself. Most people dont want to be fat. its not a choice realy. you can fix it, but some people just are not capable of it physicaly. Grow up please. Everyone is PERFECT!

demonictacos said...
on Mar. 23 2011 at 4:00 pm
demonictacos, Hudson, Ohio
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
I was always made fun of for being "chubby" in elementary school.  I took it out on myself and became anorexic.  Looking back on myself, I should have not gotten to a dangerously low number; numbers and sizes don't matter, it's how you feel that does. I learned the hard way.  Your article is an inspiration :)

on Mar. 13 2011 at 1:50 pm
LiviHatcher BRONZE, Mexia, Texas
1 article 0 photos 6 comments
well u knoh dhats kindaa wronq, im sorry tu say but big people can do as much as skinny people. yoou know im not the skinnest and im not the biggest but guess what i love me, i do cheerleading play sports and everything so just kuz your not a size 0 doesnt meen anything