Operation Beautiful: Not Limited to One Size or Shape
By Megan, a reader of Operation Beautiful.
I absolutely love, love, love this idea of Operation Beautiful. I really love little inspiring quotes and music so much. With Operation Beautiful, I love how surprising it is to get a message like that and at the same time, it is so empowering to get something from from such a little note. The same note was in the bathroom in my dorm for weeks, but every time I saw that note, it made my day a little better. It was a green post it note that said "you are dazzling!"
I also read the part about stopping "Fat Talk" and I realize this is a HUGE problem with women today. However, it is not just being overweight that is viewed as a problem by our society. I am naturally thin, and I often have trouble with self esteem because everyone always tell me how skinny I am. I know I’m not unhealthy. I’m active and have a high metabolism, but it still affects me when people always tell me that I’m really skinny or that I have no boobs. Yes, people do say that to my face. They say they don’t want to break me in half because I’m so little or call me a toothpick and stupid things like that. Most of the time it is not meant to be mean, but it still affects me in a negative way. I worry a a lot about whether I am too skinny or if look like I’m twelve year old and haven’t grown boobs yet.
I realize most women worry about being too fat, but there is a problem with being too skinny as well. It’s not like the naturally thin people can help how they look any more than anyone else. One of my favorite television shows, One Tree Hill, had a sort of campaign in the show about how "Zero is Not a Size" with a woman who was a model, but she was a little bigger. This made me really upset because some girls are size zero. I’m not anymore, but I used to be a size zero. I realize those few episodes were supposed to be helping the people who thought they were too big, but while that may have been true, it made me feel inadequate because I am not curvy like that. There are girls that are anorexic and bulimic, and that is so sad. But some people are naturally a size zero and that’s just the way they are made – they can’t help it and there’s nothing wrong with it!
I believe everyone is beautiful if you get to know them. Everyone has something to contribute to this beautiful world. I think that the problem shouldn’t focus on whether girls are thinking they are too fat, dieting too much, or exercising too much but just being happy with who you are in general. In my mind, it should all just be about being healthy and happy.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you Megan! I’m not a size zero anymore either, but I am also pretty naturally thin. I am at a healthy BMI and body fat percentage. I’m very active and have a high metabolism (and so does the rest of my family). I’m very tired of having my eating habits scrutinized by coworkers, friends and family all the time. If I don’t eat a brownie, people ask me if I’m on a diet. If I train for a half marathon, people tell me I should stop trying to lose weight. If I wear a v-neck tshirt, people tell me that my collarbones are too prominent. I would never tell someone who is overweight that I don’t like to see their fat rolls, so why is it ok for people to tell me I have a bony chest?
You are so right! I am a long distance runner. I am muscular, but also very thin because of my metabolism and long runs. Some people have come up to me and told me I’m too thin. If I went up to someone and told them they were too fat, do you think they would take it well? It is rude to tell someone their body is ‘wrong’, whether they are chubby or a little thin. It works both ways. I am tired of people thinking it’s alright to tell someone they’re too skinny while telling someone they’re fat is much, much worse. Talk about double standards.
Love the idea of Operation Beautiful. I got most of the girls at my school to take a part in it. Some of my friends and I were fighting for a while the last few weeks (we are ok now) but they would say I have no breasts and they would call my other friend anorexic and bulimic. I am just so happy that there are other girls out there besides me who think this is such a great thing to take a part in.
Hun, thats because they are jealous
I’m a curvy girl and would love to be alot skinnier naturally, my metabolism sucks ;P Its definitely not a nice way to treat people NOR right! As long as you are a HEALTHY individual there is nothing wrong! If someone says are you on a diet or some bullshit like that, just smile and say no, but think how they are jealous of you. You are beautiful.
This is so true!! It is all about loving yourself just the way you are! I’m overweight and that has always been an issue for me, but my best friend is naturally small and although she is gorgeous, she has issues with her body just as much as I do mine. I get excited if I lose a pound and she gets excited if she gains one! Big or small…people are all naturally different, it’s just how we were made. So although I’m not skinny I know exactly what your talking about, because me and my friend have had many long talks about that exact same subject. We should all just love ourselves…we are all perfectly imperfect.
I totally agree! Love that Megan! I’ve been “Skinny Minnie” most of my life. I used to be a size zero, but now I’m a 3/4 or sometimes a 5/6 and people still think I’m skinny but I don’t think I’m a “toothpick” anymore. My mom says I’m in the skinny to medium range. I’m learning to accept my size and it’s ok to be a little bigger. That’s what puberty’s for! That’s why I started TBA.
Thank you so much for writing this! Self esteem is something I have also been struggling with (I’m naturally thin as well). I’ve never undertsood why people feel like they’re allowed to make comments about my weight or ask me how much I weigh. I’ve always felt very unsupported with my low self esteem becuase whenever any one makes a comment about my weight and I ask them not to, they act in a way that says, “You have no right to be upset about this. You’re skinny and therefore have a perfect life. You don’t understand what it means to be self concious.” As if we all don’t have these problems sometimes.
Campaigns for raising self esteem should not be limited to one body type, which many do seem to focus on.
Thank you. I’m glad there are people who feel the same. I always feel like I’m too bony or not curvy enough and I’ve tried gaining weight but it just doesn’t hold. People don’t even realize that when they say ‘omg you’re so tiny’ that I see it as a bad thing and it hurts to be called that. I hate the phrase ‘real women’ because that’s always associated with bigger, curvier girls. Its like they are trying to say that naturally thin girls aren’t real women.
Thank you for writing this article. I have always had issues with how skinny I am or my lack of curves. I’m completely naturally a UK size 6-8 (US size 2-4 I think). My legs are naturally very thin and my boobs are tiny (A cup). I feel so inadequate and unwomanly sometimes, especially when it comes to boys. I cannot even explain how depressed I used to get over my chest size. I used to desperately want a boob job and the thought of going through life with tiny boobs was just an impossibility for me. However, now I am 20 and I feel that I have become a lot more accepting of myself. The thought of getting implants is completely out of my head. I’ve come to realise that everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and that any guy worth being with will value you for who you are- the whole package. I’ve also come to accept that not every guy is going to feel attracted to me- guys who love ‘curvy’ girls perhaps won’t look at me twice and that’s just life but most guys are quite open-minded or even prefer smaller body types. I’ve been lucky in that all the guys I have been with have never been negative about my body. Being skinny isn’t as much of a curse as many girls in my position think. Think about the positives- many girls actually envy my body, yet sometimes I envy theirs! The grass is always greener.
However, although I am moving towards some kind of self-acceptance, it is difficullt when people make comments or I read an article in a magazine or something which is quite offensive. This is why I feel that all body types should be seen as beautiful in their natural state. Natural body type is completely genetically determined- I know girls who are even skinnier than me but with great boobs which is very annoying lol. The thing is, I am friends with this guy (who is gay) who constantly critical of my body calling me anorexic and stick-like and such names. I once got told by this guy that I have a nice bum but then my friend was basically like ‘what bum? you don’t even have a bum’. He doesn’t mean to be offensive, he just is and it is really annoying. He’s even said to me that I would be his type if he were straight if only I actually had some boobs! He is a lovely guy don’t get me wrong but sometimes I just want to slap him lol. It also doesn’t help that my best friend is an hourglass E cup! And she really does put her boobs on a pedestal. She was surprised when I said my boyfriend actually touches my boobs- she thought they were just a no-go zone!
It just seems that society doesn’t understand and girls like us are in such a minority our voice is never heard or taken seriously. Thanks again for this refreshing article
Thank you so much for posting this! Just yesterday i was shopping and I was getting frustrated because everything I was interested in buying was a size zero! All I could think about is how horrible it is that there are so many people buying stuff that small when they clothing could barely make it past my knees let alone all the way onto my body! I thought these girls where unhealthy because of their small size when I had never met them before! In my mind I’ve always tried to be less critical of people that are overweight because I aren’t exactly small either in a size 11/13 at the age of 12 but I’ve always thought wrongly of people super skinny. I have a friend that is a size zero and I’ve always told her off about it but the truth is she has a very fast metabolism and can’t help she is this way. This made me realize that I shouldn’t be critical of someone because they are not the “average” size. Thank you for helping me change my point of view on things!
Thanx for posting this!i am a size zero.its hard and fustrating trying to find that size.a zero is too big on me in some stores.plus,im short(4 ft 10inches).it bugs me when people say”wow your so skinny”,”you need to eat more”,”she doesnt even have any fat in her body”.they think i would take it as a compliment but it hurts.its the same as telling a overweight person that they’re fat.tv shows and magazines talk about how the media needs to show real women/girls.but wat about girls who are naturally thin?
Hey, i totally agree, but I’ve found that (in my area, at least) it’s the naturally skinny people scorning us normal/larger girls… I think also that BMI is complete poop, because everyone’s got a different build; you may have a smaller build, and I have a larger one. I think that media and whatnot should just show pics and stuff of people who are at their natural size, whether it be UK 14 or UK6!
i get what you mean! i’m always told that i have no boobs to my face. and i use to get told that im a toothpick and im bulimic. which i’m not. i always use to feel that i wasn’t curvy enough. and now i ive gained a lot of weight im now normal weight but im stuck with this horrible picture of myself as “fat” with no boobs. to me ALL of the models and every girl that they put in the media is A tall, B super thin, C magically has huge boobs. that right there is extremely unrealistic of what women NATURALLY look like. we have set IMPOSSIBLE standards for women and its sick. if we don’t fix this problem soon the next generation will be more messed up than we are. and will literally die trying to be thin….
which is why i LOVE operation beautiful. i’m hoping that one day women will learn to love their bodies.
i am overweight and my family is too but they keep saying your soo lazy and fat you need to loose the fat. well i have a slow metabolism and i exercise and diet. i had really bad self esteam just a few years a go and i thought i was so fat that i stoped eating or when i did i forced my self to through it up. i still think im fat because im a sie 18 while all the other girls at my school are sizes 13- 0 and i want to be that small or skinny but i have always been over wieght and i want to know how to loose it and become skinny and i HATE BEING FAT but the article is not true because fat girls like me are alwayscritized for the way they look and eat.. like saw i eat a cookie, some people will say to me wow you need to lay off those they are making you even fatter.. it hurts so its hard not to run to the bathroom and trow it up… what should i dooo.. HELP ME PLEASE!!!
I am sorry you are struggling with your weight and emotions! Is there a counselor at school that you can talk to about developing healthier habits? The key is eating a balanced diet with natural, whole foods and moving a little bit every day! Try going for a long walk when you get home from school and maybe throw in a little jogging.
I’m a 15 year old girl of 5’4 and around 150 pounds, with a size 14-15 jeans. I’ve grown up next to my old sister, popular, skinny, clear face. Truth is she’s not a good person, but everyone looks past that and loves her more. It’s hard but I’m getting past it, and Operation Beautiful as well as the personal help of my friends has been getting me past my insecurities. I recently moved to a new school this year, and I’m going to try and start putting up Operation Beautiful signs in bathrooms and other places. It’s worth taking that chance to make a difference in someone else’s life.
This is really hard to read b/c im really tall , but not skinny it’s hard being a size 7 or 5/6 and 123lbs, and 5’4 @ thirteen. i want to be able to remodel myself sometimes and just be the sterio-type size 0, 95 lbs, 5’1, but no! i feel like i should eat less but i cant and i eat a perffectly healthy amt. sometimes i will lay in bed late at night and cry b/c of this…… HELP !
You are perfect, just the way you are! Read the stories and comments on this site. Don’t buy in the beauty myth that you have to look a certain way!
I feel that the point of this article has been missed. Rather than affirming a number on a dress or a pair of pants we need to be affirming health. There has always been individuals who are naturally petite in their build and those who are naturally curvy or more solidly built. I am of the later, having been at a height of 5’6″ and 135lbs at my smallest i looked emancipated although this is considered to be a healthy weight for myself, at 194 that i am now i am overweight in an unhealthy manner, something that i am trying to change through various lifestyle choices, diet, exercise and a healthy love of who i am at now. However because of my build, I have broad sholders and broad hips, so much so that i have never even at my smallest fit into anything smaller than a size 10 dress size. My best friend however is my direct opposite, and at 5’8″ has a much more willowy build and has to fight to put on every pound and fight even harder to keep it on, something she does only to maintain her health. And that is what should be important is health it is better to be overweight or thin and live a healthy active lifestyle than any number on a pair of pants, shirt or dress. Perhaps the key to living that healthy lifestyle is a huge dose of Self Respect, and Love.
Thank you for posting this. I am 21 and naturally thin. Growing up was hard for me. I weighed 80lbs and 5’2 in high school. I had teachers always coming up to me asking if I was eating right. If I needed help it was there. I had students pick on me and tell me it’s like I’m not even there. During lunch was the worst. Telling me fruit is not the answer, a burger is. The truth is, with always hearing that i wasn’t the right size and how i wasn’t healthy. I began to believe it. I believed that there was something wrong with me, and hated myself everyday. For years i have tried to gain weight and failed. Thinking how much of a disappointment i was. Than I began to judge every part of me. Focusing on my flaws alone, telling myself how ugly I was. As I left high school I could not let go of my feelings and began to judge myself even more. My friends and family wouldn’t ever compliment me because i would always have something negative to say. As time went on I had different people ask me why I don’t see what they see, why i am so hard on myself. Why is it that i can make other people feel good about themselves, but i wont allow myself to feel good. I tell myself one day Ill be happy. One day Ill be the right size. One day ill like other women. Last week i walked into a bathroom and came across a note telling that i was beautiful. I began to think that is not was just another lie, and wondered why it is i think that way. I decided to look up this website. I came across this post and come to find out that I am not the only one. I decided that, that one day could be everyday. My size maybe just be the right size for me. That the only thing wrong with me if that I chose to believe in others. I should be believing myself. I am beautiful not because of your outside appearance not the mind I own. Simply because a life is a beautiful thing.
I found this website inspirational ! I’m naturally skinny aswell and all my friends moan at me for being the waaaay i am and tell me to put on weight ! I think that all women are beautiful and should embrace the way they look ! x