A Few Choice Words for Body Shamers
My body was made beautiful by the combination of my genes
Not by how good they make my butt look
And if they give me a muffin top, it’s probably because I thought
It would be okay to indulge and
Instead of worrying so much about what others wanted in me
I could worry about what I wanted in me which
At the time
Happened to be a muffin
On a scale of 1 to happy I was relatively content
On a scale of 1 to 10 I was one hundred and thirty two
On a scale of 1 to crappy what you did was
Pretty goddamn shitty
You turned my thoughts away from
Inner beauty and body positive and instead,
Led a little girl from her toys to a mirror and
Compared her to a whale
You led a little girl away from her home to the tree and
Handed her a noose
The ropes intertwined with words of motivation
“Sore today, strong tomorrow”
“Sweat is just your fat crying”
“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”
“Skip dinner wake up thinner”
She wanted to be a chef, or a baker but now
She can’t even look at anything that resembled something edible
Without wanting to die
Because she doesn’t deserve to feel good about herself
She didn’t deserve to consume even
A sliver of joy
She didn’t deserve it at all
I didn’t deserve it at all
My worth is not measured by the inches around my waist
It does not expand with the gap between my thighs
My worth was not defined by my own definition of beauty
Because you decided I was looking in the wrong dictionary
You didn’t like me when I was happy
So you made it your personal business
To weigh me down and soon enough
I needed someone to keep me anchored so I didn’t just float away
So I stayed
So I stayed and
It was the worst decision I could have made because
From there it only got worse
And worse and worse
Until even the weight of the world on my shoulders was’t
Enough to keep me grounded
I lost my footing and slipped and everything came tumbling down
And only added to the number on the scale
So I pushed harder and harder and harder
Until even you couldn’t recognize me
The one who started it all
So please
The next time you think it would be a good idea to state your
“Opinion”
Even if it’s a joke
Even if she
Knows that you are only teasing
Even if you didn’t think she would never take it that far
Take a moment
And keep that opinion deep in your throat before she shoves her fingers down her own because
Once you plant the seed it will only keep growing
And no matter how many times you pluck it from the ground
The roots will remain and blossom into a brand new tree with
The noose already slung across a branch.