Photo:Suptanet.com

Skinny.

Did that word catch your attention?Why?

I’ve noticed lately that posts referencing terms generally associated with weight loss or body shape and size generally get more hits. What makes this topic so intriguing?

Our societies preoccupation with food and weigh loss or gain is evident if you look at any magazine cover, watch TV and movies or participate in a conversation with a group of people. Dieting and working out is bound to come up at some point, always putting us into a state of waiting for the perfect body, never satisfied with the now. What would happen if we were satisfied with how we were in the present? Would it make us any less of a person?

Skinny.

What does this word evoke in you?  I wrote an article last week regarding the movements to replace skinny and its connotations. I however ask this, what is wrong with skinny? Why is it a negative word? Why is it a positive word? It is after all, just a word.

Lets check out the actual definition of skinny. It appears there are a few definitions to ponder:

1 :resembling skin: (Hmmm…not what we want)

2 a: lacking sufficent flesh: very thin:

b: lacking usual or desirable bulk, qualities, quantities, or significance

Off the bat it appears that skinny has a somewhat negative quality, however I’m not so sure of this. Skinny is used in comparison to usual  and desirable but why are these terms the standard by which we are measured? Why do we have to be described on a linear continuum of adjectives.

Semantics and wordplay aside I don’t view skinny  as a negative description. Some people, animals, objects, etc are in fact, just skinny. I do however view the attempted attainment of skinny as a negative.This is where an unhealthy mindset kicks in, one that is is fueled by the media and is heavily linked to the commercial success of many industries. Instead of falling into their traps we need to consciously make the choice to honor ourselves and our bodies and find the path that is unique for us as individuals, realizing that continued attempts to be something we aren’t be it skinny or otherwise only take us further from our own truth.

Skinny.

What is your take?