Society Says Thick is in. (There's a chart that fits to your height, what happened to that & when does thick become too heavy or obese) Written by: Nakia Brown

                      Fashion will always change but the style one possesses will always remain the same. All types of technology in the world will continue to evolve beyond what we ever are able to imagine. As the world will live in continue to vastly change, the media has subconsciously embedded into our brains that everything new is good. 

           As much as we move forward into a more health conscious way of life, the media constantly contradicts the stigma of what "healthy" really is. When did thick become the new in thing for today's woman? I say "thick" because that is what it's being called but in all actuality it's overweight. I appreciate all forms of a woman's body. Every detail of every curve is a beautiful form of imperfection because there is no such thing as perfect. Imperfections are what make a woman stunning. "Love yourself for who you are", "Embrace your body and own it" is what I keep hearing. I understand the fact being the majority of women in America are overweight and now the media wants us all the feel good about ourselves because of teens going to extreme measures to emulate what they see in magazines. A teen that is sadly suffering from and eating disorder goes way deeper than what she sees in a magazine. Compare the about of obese teens in America to the number of anorexic teens and that will answer many questions in itself.

          There has to be a limit. I'm sorry if this offends anyone but if a woman is 5'4 and 180lbs she is not thick. Yes she's excited to finally be able to proclaim herself as thick and sexy, happily having meat on her bones and comfortably fitting into a size 8, which would have been a size 14 a few years ago. Is that the price to pay for high blood pressure, diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels, gallstones, kidney disease, stroke, and osteoarthritis are just to name a few problems that come with "embracing thickness".  The self-gratification along with the health benefits of staying active and adding some healthy eating habits will make the same woman who was so happy to be thick feel better than she has ever felt in her life. I challenge some women to try and see for themselves.

         Another problem with "thick being the new sexy in thing" is I personally know women who are naturally slim forcing themselves to eat more donuts and drink extra-large cookies & cream shakes. Why? I believe by many women that I speak with it is because they want to fit in and they don't want to be called skinny. "Embracing who you are" is not for the healthy woman. It's for the unhealthy woman to feel good about herself. Yes she'll have many new medications but on the market daily to assist in controlling her ailments caused by being overweight.  But all that can simply be prevented with replacing a burger and fries with a salad and squeezing in any form of exercise your lifestyle allows.                                      Caring about your health and improving your psychological well-being is the real way to love yourself.

                                                                                Nakia Brown