The "Real Women Have Curves" Argument

We have heard this a million times...real women have curves...its the name of a movie starring Ugly Betty's America Ferrara, its the name of a blog http://www.realwomenhavecurvesblog.com/ and its the title of countless articles. But is this mantra really helpful? Sure it can be empowering, but by saying that real women have curves we are implying that thin women are in fact, "not real"...essentially we are attempting to invalidate the attractiveness of thin women. Isn't that what overly thin models and weight loss commercials are doing to curvaceous women? Invalidating the attractiveness of non-thin women? Its a classic mistake. Using the argument I am trying to dispell to make my own case. My prerogative for this blog is not to imply that curvy women are in any way superior to other women. Attractiveness is subjective and it is ridiculous to imply that one body type is more attractive than another (in the real world of course...in the media there is clearly some disparity). Lets be accepting of ourselves and of our friends. Instead of pitting different shapes or sizes against one another we should be affirming of one another.

Now, this brings up a very controversial caveat. Sometimes "real women have curves" is used as justification for unhealthy body sizes. Yes, there is such a thing as thyroid problems, being big boned and just naturally large body sizes...but there is also such a thing as overwhelming obesity rates in America which are due specifically to lack of exercise and unhealthy diets.  It's a thin line..being affirming of the wide range of body sizes but still encouraging folks to be healthy. I don't really have an answer for it, and I am sure I have already been offensive. You're might be saying "oh, so you're saying we should be affirming of all body sizes..just not THOSE sizes" and all I can say is no..I just want people to be healthy. And healthy comes in a lot of different sizes. Large and small alike.