Don't be Such a Thinnophobe
Thinnophobia:
1. n. A range of negative attitudes and feelings towards thin people and people who are identified as or perceived as being too thin.
Thinnophobe:
1. n. One with an irrational fear of thin people. For the most part, these people seem to have little actual experience with being thin.
We fear what we do not understand.
- My Definitions
I have had enough! For most of my life, people have been nagging me about being too thin. Furthermore, most of the people who have done so were overweight. That just adds insult to injury. In effect, they’re telling me, “Not only are you too thin, you should be like me: wide as the all-outdoors.” They have thinnaphobia! Maybe it is because they don’t understand what it means to live life as a thin person.
God Made Me this Way
I can’t help that I am thin; I was born this way; and I want to stay this way. It is a lifestyle choice. You may not understand it, but don’t be a thinnophobe about it! So what if I’m 5”8’ and 140 lbs. (fully clothed, after a big meal, with a jacket and boots on). What you do you care?
There is such a double standard in society when it comes to criticizing thin and fat people. It is not polite to criticize fat people; but it is open season on thin people, all of the time; and fat people take the utmost advantage of that. I know, because I have been on the receiving end of that double standard all too many times. But how can you respond to a thinnaphobe? Can you say, “At least I can fit into an airplane seat!”? Or, At last I don't have to roll out of bead!"? That may be a little too insensitive. But you can say, “Don’t be such a thinnaphobe!”
Thinness - The Road to Happiness
My thinness suits me. I could walk up a stairwell without having to stop every floor and cling onto the rail to catch my breath and regain my strength. I could run … more than three steps. My knee and ankle joints aren’t begging for help, at risk of buckling under pressure any moment. I can do 25 push-ups and 10 pull-ups. I'm proud of being thin! And you should be proud of your thin brothers and sisters. Don’t be such a thinnophobe!
Thinnaphobia has intensified during the 20th century with overweight people and obesity becoming the norm. Americans live in a society where "more Americans are becoming overweight or obese, exercising less, and eating unhealthy foods. That’s the finding of the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which shows that 63.1% of adults in the U.S. were either overweight or obese in 2009."1
In a society where obesity is the norm, being thin is looked at as disgusting. However, I think there is more to it than that. I think there are some underlying psychological issues involved. I think overweight thinnophobes are projecting their dissatisfaction of their own bodies onto thin people. They think they can get away with this because most of society is like them. However, don’t hate me ‘cause you ain’t me, okay? And the majority is not always right!
Let Me Tell You Something
I’m here to raise a voice for the thin minority across the board, and to put a stop to this thin-bashing that society has been turning a blind eye to. Since the obese majority is so quick to tell us (the thin minority) what we need to do: “You're skin and bones! You need to eat more! You need to gain some weight! You need to blah, blah, blah!” I’m here to tell them a few things that I think they need to do, because they got it twisted:
- You need to eat less!
- Hamburgers and French fries are not your friends!
- Going on a diet consists of more than replacing all of your fluid intake with Diet Coke!
- Vegetables and fruits are in isle two!
- Being 5’6” and weighing 250 lbs. is not cool!
- Look at you, you’re one-and-a-half of me! You don’t see anything wrong with this picture?
- Snickers is not a breakfast food!
- Remote control button-pushing is not considered an exercise!
- Whole grains—yes!
There, I’ve said my piece. Thin people circulate this around the globe!
Have you ever been thin-bashed?
Thinnaphobia has gotten out of control. This is because too many people are just straight-up fat … they’re fat; and they think they could take it out on skinny people. We need to put a stop to this backwards nonsense. The next time someone criticizes you for being too thin, tell them, “Don't be such a thinnophobe!”
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Sources
1. Hendrick, Bill. "Percentage of Overweight, Obese Americans Swells." WebMD - Better Information. Better Health. WebMD Health News, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. <http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20100210/percentage-of-overweight-obese-americans-swells>.
