I was searching for a good read when I stumble on Stella Boonshot’s entry on sizeism. Stella originally posted a "controversial" photo on her Tumblr account, The Body Love Blog, before it was picked up by photographer Brandon Stanton and published on his photography site Humans of New York. 

Curious to see what was the picture? Click here.

Stella is a NYU student, very pretty in my opinion, who spotted Brandon on the street in Manhattan and asked if she could take a picture of him. She was expecting that Brandon would be posting a fully-clothed photo of her but instead chose to post the one in her bikini.

Much debate has been said after posting such photo. In fact, Stella’s reaction was to burst into tears when people scrutinized her photo and received good and not-so-good comments from people. However, instead of removing the picture, she went on with it as her way of saying we must all deal with body acceptance no matter what size you’re in.

Brandon gave her this advice when she second doubted herself whether the picture must be replaced or not:

“This is exactly the exposure you wanted to spread the message of size acceptance. This is the perfect venue for you to share your story, and you should be honored."

The issue on sizeism is very close to my heart. I myself is a full-figured girl in size 12 or 14. I would often say that I got breasts, waist and hips in the right places. I was never thin nor overly huge while growing up. I wasn’t the skinny type of girl you see in magazines. But above all these, there are still people who would compliment me that though I am not too thin, I still have the curves that other full figured girls would envy, lol.

Just last week, I was chatting with a friend who also happens to be a full figured girl like me and we were talking about someone “bullying” her for her size and being fat. She spoke about how hurt and sensitive she can be and how some people can throw away comments without thinking responsibly, Not only that, the “bullying” continued from Facebook to sending unwelcome messages in her mobile.

I know she didn’t ask for my advice directly but being in the same situation how people try to dictate how I should look at my whole persona, I gave her my two cents. My advice was simple: DON’T LISTEN. 

And of course, ditch this friend!

You see, though only speaking for myself, I only listen to people who matter to me. Those who bully, those who utter hurtful words without the audacity to look at themselves before picking on others are nothing but ignorant and unclassy. Inside them, they are the ones who suffer from low self esteem and their reactions and the way they treat other people reflect this by pulling others down so they can be on top.

As Stella puts it in her blog:

WARNING: Picture might be considered obscene because subject is not thin. And we all know that only skinny people can show their stomachs and celebrate themselves. Well I’m not going to stand for that. This is my body. Not yours. MINE. Meaning the choices I make about it, are none of your f****** business. Meaning my size, IS NONE OF YOUR F****** BUSINESS.

So yeah, you heard it right you self centered, insecure, unclassy bully: My body is NONE of your business.

Just as your little skeletons in your closet don’t matter to me.

Now, hats off to you Stella girl. You are simply stellar! 

Love,

Miss J