Size Zero: Fad or Obsession?
Samm Sack
Staff Writer
I just recently discovered someone very close to me had an eating disorder; and although I didn’t mean to pass judgment, I did so harshly.
Not on her, but on society.
Society, as a whole, had no problem judging her, so I was only repaying the favor.
In reality, it didn’t disgust me that she mutilated her body by starving herself or purging. It nauseated me that she, along with 24 million other girls, felt she had to; she assumed that pretty was only found on a scale reading 115 pounds or in a reflection mirroring a flat stomach.
I am by no means perfect; I see in myself the exact same repulsive things every girl sees in herself. To me, the mirror only displays the lack of a thigh-gap, a chip in my tooth from when I was seven years old and a less than impressive skin tone.
I watch what I eat, I regularly workout, I whiten my teeth, I spend summer days on my trampoline to tan...
But to be completely honest, I don’t think fixating my schedule to those habits changes the image that is thrown back at me. If I started out hating my appearance, there is no way altering my body will change my mindset; both society and I will always discover something to tear apart, regardless of the size of jeans I fit into.
Thus, the miles I run are not a miserable two-mile dash motivated solely by a size 2 dress. My mentality is that if I didn’t run I would be miserable, not because I was overweight but because I would be missing out on something that I love.
The difference between me and who is reflected in the mirror is what really matters; not the extra pounds, the chipped tooth or the white skin.
It’s the curve on my body that is upturned because I am happy with my lifestyle, my choices, my friends.
A smile, they always say, is the most beautiful thing on a girl. Sometimes society is only happy when a girls mouth is turned into a frown, and that is truly a devastating fact.
