You
and I haven’t met, but if we are ever introduced one day, here are some
of the conclusions about me that you’ll jump to before our handshake
even ends:
I’m narcissistic.
I’m a control freak.
I hate myself.
I’m not very bright.
I suffer from an eating disorder.
Oh, and…you’d better ease up on the handshake, or you might break me!
You’ll
embrace one or more of these assumptions because the very first thing
you’ll notice about me—before my green eyes, my South African accent, my
smile, or my hopefully gracious greeting—is my body shape.
See, I’m skinny. Too skinny, apparently.
Before
you roll your eyes and tell me how lucky I am to have this “problem,”
heh-heh, hear me out: I’m one of an increasingly wide array of women who
are judged for being too lean — from Taylor Swift to Kendall Jenner, Angeina Jolie and Bethenny Frankel,
who recently made headlines for posting an Instagram of herself wearing
her 4 year old daughter’s PJs—she’s been fighting off accusations of
anorexia ever since. And earlier this year, Giuliana Rancic was
slim-shamed online for supposedly using a surrogate because she didn’t
want to gain pregnancy weight. The truth: She was grappling with breast
cancer and taking medication that prevented her from carrying a child.
