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Every Woman’s Body is “REAL” Curvy or Not

A thoughtful piece on why Every Woman’s Body is “REAL” Curvy or Not. A journey through why every woman’s body is beautiful.

 

Dove-Real-Beauty-Campaign

The Women Of The Dove Beauty Campaign

I was listening to a conversation with two women who were discussing a plus sized actress. They were so excited about the fact that this actress would be getting a role in a movie because there was finally a person that looked like them in the movies.

I was in total agreement until one of the ladies mentioned that she was so happy that they casted a “real” woman for the role. The way she used the word real rubbed me the wrong way but I didn’t really think about it any further.

I realized later on that the reason why her statement bothered me so much because the statement implied that a person thinner than her is somehow fake. Or even worse, unattractive.

Let’s just be clear here folks every single woman is real. We all have flesh, blood and reproductive organs. We all have to fight the good fight of doing a job twice as hard as a man and somehow yet receiving half as much credit. Calling someone who has more weight on their body real only serves as a divider. That is the last thing we need with the likes of Trump and other women bashers already doing a great job trying to divide us.

Let me be clear, we absolutely need diversity on the big and small screens when it comes to body image. We have little girls that need to see amazing role models and women that look like them doing incredible things. This is a fact. The best thing that we can do is accept everyone and not shun them or disparage them because they don’t look like you.

We need to change our language, once we change our language we change the language of the media. We begin to say no to the stereotypes. In the last 20 years we have made great strides in starting to see more diverse images in media. Barbie is now curvy with kinky hair. We have an African American director Barbie. This is HUGE and very much needed. I was never a Barbie girl but I guarantee you if I had these sort of choices available I’d be a complete fan.

new barbie body shape plus size
With all these revolutionary things happening it’s imperative that we become conscious of our language. We should be having supportive conversations that bring us closer and doesn’t isolate a group by their weight, color and especially their gender.

What are some more posts to check out before you go?

What are your thoughts on the issue? Is calling a woman real because she is curvy wrong or right?

ROSE HARRIS

Tuesday 26th of September 2017

It's Wrong to say that who is real who is not all us are a human being with different shape and color.

Nicole

Monday 22nd of February 2016

Agreed. Lets embrace diversity, all bodies are beautiful.

Domonique

Tuesday 9th of February 2016

Love this article! So true. We have become so comfortable in labeling everything and trying to define what is "in", "real" and "right". We need focus more on what matters, supporting each other regardless.

Tamara

Tuesday 9th of February 2016

I'm so with you. I've always been underweight and mocked for it as a kid. People were like, "Well.. maybe one day you'll get womanly curves." F that! We're all real. I weigh 115 pounds and if I could weigh more, I would. I love your sentiment, as always. It's not fun on either side of body shaming. There should be none.

Leslie

Thursday 4th of February 2016

Absolutely agree, Nellie! I have friends who are thin, but they are just as real and have real problems just like me and other 'curvy' girls out there. Not only that, but there's become an insinuation that curvy equals overweight. Let's be clear, girls with curves will be that way even when they are skinny. It will be interesting to see how girls react to the new Barbie line. I wasn't a huge Barbie girl either. Then again, I still don't see a Barbie with thin, stringy hair! :-P