‘Fat’ is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her.
I mean, is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I’m not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain…
I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn’t seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? ‘You’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!’
‘Well,’ I said, slightly nonplussed, ‘the last time you saw me I’d just had a baby.’
What I felt like saying was, ‘I’ve produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren’t either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?’ But no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!
I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons.
JK Rowling (via ratbrat)
Don’t particularly care for the way JK Rowling characterises some of the ladies in her series but hey, I’m not the one who made a bajillion dollars just writing. I never really understood why my own family - aunts, uncles etc. - would walk up to me and say dumb stuff like “you’ve gotten fat since the last time I saw you”, but now I don’t feel bad when it happens. Yes I have really let myself go, but I like myself! It helps to chalk it all up to an older generation’s misguided notions on beauty and confidence. Everyone just needs to play nice and love each other, no matter what size knickers you wear.
(via ohmygah)
THIS is what i needed today. perfect.
(Source: beauty-in-the-breakd0wn)
