I am usually not the type to get provoked by comments here on the blog. I love that so many people follow my updates and visit my page but it’s important to remember that even though I share bits and pieces about myself with you, you remain strangers to me. This is why I don’t let myself get upset over negative comments even though those are extremely rare.

I am not bringing this subject up because of negative comments (because I love when you comment and I see t more as a discussion than anything else) but I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to share my way of thinking when it comes to weight and body image.

It all started when I posted this post about my style inspiration Anine Bing. Some of you got upset over her weight and even said that one can’t be as skinny as her if on a balanced and healthy diet. I think it’s a brave and quite stupid thing to say, because that clearly isn’t true.

Some people are skinny some are fat. Having a few extra kilos won’t nesceserely make a person unhealthy and neither will a few kilos less. We are all different and many things have an impact on weight, form and shape. Metabolism, genes, habits, diet and lifestyle all play a role in our weight and bodies.

I am not going to start a discussion about how wrong I think it is to bully thin people when it nowadays  against all rules to even use the word fat. Overweight is a huge problem and a health issue that is the reason to so many diseases and health issues that actually kill people. Why is it good to promote overweight but shameful to be the same amount underweight? Because admiring extremely underweight people might lead to eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia and orthorexia. Binge eating and over eating are also eating disorders just to make things clear, and I don’t think that anyone with an eating disorder is happy they suffer from it. Of course I agree that it is very alarming, unhealthy and scary that we still see so many extremely thin models, actresses, celebrities and other public figures around us, but we are all guilty for that and it’s a different discussion.

I am just so sick of staring at peoples weight and making assumptions and judging them based on how they look. A person with an eating disorder is  sick. Is that person then not allowed to be anything else than the disorder he/she suffer from? Would you say that a person who has cancer is a bad role model for their children and other people around them by having a blog about fashion? Seriously, isn’t it time to start treating physical illness and mental illness equal, and stop making assumptions about people based on absolutely nothing?

I am not saying that this particular blogger suffer from an eating disorder because that is impossible and completely irrelevant to tell from looking at her pictures. To me she seems like a healthy, happy, beautiful woman who follow her dreams and is a great mother to her children. I concentrate on the fact that she inspires me by the way she dresses and with her designs, not on her weight or if she suffers from any kind of illness. We all decide what we want to share in social media and we are free to choose the bits and pieces we want to give and what we want to keep for ourselves. I prefer to focus on the black on white instead of reading between the lines and making assumptions.

 

Picture by Vilma Peltonen