They flashed this picture of her as a child and like me, she was a "fat kid". The host, Tracee Ellis Ross, mentioned how we did not have our culture or variety of hair textures mirrored back to us at a certain time and that made me think about chubby kids.
The same way we needed to identify with positive images regarding the variety of hair textures we have, there is also skin tones, successful black men in women in a variety of career fields, etc. This made me think, "whatever happened to different body types?" Specifically, the overweight body of a child?
When does empowerment turn into empathy followed by encouragement simply because you don't want to have sad children running around? When do children age out of being nurtured to being told that they are just too big to be?
To be loved.
To be excepted.
To be encouraged.
To just be.
When does society just decides you are just too big and taking up too much space to be acceptable?
Too big to run, because your shorts will ride up and your knees rub together.
Too big to jump, because when you land you jiggle.
Too big to talk too loudly, because the last thing you want to do is bring attention to yourself and how big you are.
Too big to just be.
Who mirrors back to the overweight kid that even if you want to change, you should still love yourself through the experience of change?
This level of empathy should be gifted to anyone, no matter what is right or what we deem wrong with them. The safest place to be should be in the company of another human being. Even if you aspire to be something else, that is a journey, and everyone should feel grateful to be who they are in the moment even if they are pursuing to change.
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