Ache

This article caused an ache inside my middle-place, and inside my bones. To be a larger human being, with more fat on your body that society’s arbitrary “beauty standard,” not to mention the “medical standard,” is, must be, horrific.

It is something that has us shackled, all of us, to consumerism: look at the amount of money spent, each year, on “beauty” and the ideal body, the perfectly sculpted ____(fill in the blank of the physical “feature” of the decade.)

I don’t know you. I don’t care what you look like. You are the most perfect version of YOU there is. And you have not only the RIGHT, but you should also have the expectation that everyone, no matter if they are a stranger or friend, to be accepted, loved, and respected, as-is. Thank you for your article. Peace to you.

— J.A. Carter-Winward