Former Hills star and Pinterest queen Lauren Conrad isn't one to court controversy. But in her letter introducing her blog's theme for June, "Shape Up," Conrad says she's banning "skinny." And "thin," and "slim." Will her skinny readers be offended?
What if you're one of those women who tries so hard to gain weight but can't? What if you're so sick of everyone telling you you're so thin? What if it's embarrassing to always be the skinniest one?
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What if this actually isn't a real problem? I mean, come on. Our culture still applauds extreme slimness and confuses that with "fitness." Women who conform to our ridiculous standards of beauty will be okay if Lauren Conrad refuses to use the words "skinny," "slim" and "thin" on the blog.
For Conrad, this is nothing against being slim -- othewise she'd be slamming herself because look at her. She's got quite the willowy figure. No, it's about the words we use to talk about our health and fitness goals. And it's about body shaming. Here's what she says.
When we’ve talked about getting in shape in the past, words like 'skinny,' 'slim,' and 'thin' have often come up. Starting this month, we’ll be banning any body shaming terms from the site, and replacing them with words like 'fit' 'toned,' and 'healthy.'
Well that makes sense. I don't think she's trying to make skinny girls feel badly about their bodies. It's just that Conrad, like many other women lately, has gotten hip to how toxic and counter-productive it is to focus on getting thinner.
Obsessing over thinness leads to frustration, and deprivation (for many of us), and self-loathing. And we all need to work together to pull ourselves out of that mindset. We're learning now that just because you're thin doesn't necessarily mean you're healthy, and that if you're healthy, you may not necessarily be thin.
This is the revolutionary, liberating idea that's sweeping the fitness world: We need to stop linking skinny with health.
So good for Conrad. I'm glad she's with the program. There will be plenty of women who start eating better and working out and end up losing weight. And that's super. We'll be polite and not mention that Conrad herself is quite slim because that is so not the point. I think she would agree that it's so much more important to be strong, in your heart, in your muscles, and in your mind. That's a much more worthy goal than skinny.
What do you think about banning words like "skinny"?
Image via Lauren Conrad/Instagram