No matter how hard some of us try to change the conversation about women’s bodies, it seems there will always be those who are hellbent on injecting their opinions upon it in a negative way. The topic of a person’s physical appearance–particularly females, and particularly females who are in the public eye in some way–will always garner harsh reactions, sadly. And lately, that truth has hit home for certain women who are attempting to change the way they are viewed.
A blogger by the name of Gabbi Gregg recently posted a photo of herself clad in a darling black and white bikini, and much to her surprise, it has blown up on the web, sparking backlash about her size and whether or not she’s promoting a healthy body type. You see, Gabbi is what’s known as “plus size” (although in the real world, her size 18 figure is average).
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The 25-year old says she isn’t promoting anything but a positive image for other girls to see, no matter where they may be on the great difficult path of body acceptance.
“I’m all for health,” she said. “I think people should be really aware of what they’re putting in their bodies and try to get more active. The truth is, we have to live in our bodies and be happy with the bodies we have right now, regardless of where we are in our journey to health.”
Gregg says she loves her body and wants young women to reject the ideas imposed upon us by the fashion world and media about what is acceptable for certain body types.
Actress Ashley Judd recently fired back at the media for their harsh criticism about her appearance, which they dubbed as decidedly “puffy” after she showed up on a press tour on medication for a sinus infection.
“The insanity has to stop, because as focused on me as it appears to have been, it is about all girls and women,” she wrote. “In fact, it’s about boys and men, too, who are equally objectified and ridiculed, according to heteronormative definitions of masculinity that deny the full and dynamic range of their personhood. It affects each and every one of us, in multiple and nefarious ways: our self-image, how we show up in our relationships and at work, our sense of our worth, value, and potential as human beings.”
While it’s obviously true that obesity can have serious consequences on health, it seems sad that the conclusion so many people jump to when faced with a photo of a curvy woman in a bikini is not that she is beautiful, but that she is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. The same should be said about waif-thin models, yet the conversation about overly-thin women is very different.
Gregg insists that her health is not determined by her size, and that she just wanted to help others get over the fear of showing their bikini bodies.