To Society
Hi, I'm skinny
I am five feet seven inches and weigh one hundred and five pounds
Yes, I have a flat stomach
Yes, You can see my collar bones
Yes, I have a thigh gap
And no, that does not make me beautiful
Hi, I'm skinny
And I have been taught to say thank you for the jokes and the insults hurled at me since I was ten
because everyone wants to be skinny, right?
"Do you ever eat?"
"I bet if you turned sideways you would disappear!"
"You must care way too much about your appearance."
"I hate that you're thinner than me."
"You look like a twig!"
"Someone get this girl a cheeseburger!"
"You're such a skinny bitch."
"Are you anorexic?"
Hi, I'm skinny
And there is so much more to me than my weight
I like to dance and read and cook and listen to music and paint
I have a voice that wants to be hear
But all you see are my collar bones
Hi, I'm skinny
And I have had a forty-year-old woman ask if I am anorexic and a twelve-year-old girl say she wants to look like me in the same day
And people wonder what is wrong with society
Skinny does not mean anorexic
Skinny does not mean vain
Skinny does not mean get this girl a cheeseburger
Skinny does not mean that you have the right to comment on the body of a twelve-year-old girl who you don't even know like she is a display at an art museum
Skinny does not mean beautiful
Hi, I'm skinny
But that doesn't mean I want to be