Woman discusses a frustrating body ideal -- and it's pretty unattainable

Anna Iovine
Updated
Goodbye, Super Skinny: The New Impossible Body Type Has Arrived
Goodbye, Super Skinny: The New Impossible Body Type Has Arrived

Being model-thin has been a beauty ideal in the United States for the past few decades. Recently, however, a new look to aspire to has become more popular, and could potentially be more dangerous. This is according to one activist who is fighting to combat this stigma.

23-year-old Megan Crabbe is a body positive activist who recovered from anorexia and now runs her Instagram @bodyposipanda to spread her message for positive body image.

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On her Instagram she issued a warning about this new trend that young women are aspiring to, and why it's a problem:

Can we talk about butts for a minute? Butts are a big deal. Or rather, big butts are a big deal. The super-slim-all-over body ideal has been replaced with another that's even more impossible for most of us to achieve. The hourglass is more extreme than ever, and the super-slim ideal is still there, but only in the right places. I used to dream about having all the flesh from my stomach removed, being able to move and mould my fat into places that would make me more perfect. More desirable. More like the women being celebrated in rap songs and sexualised on TV. I still find myself curving my spine to better emulate that hourglass, despite my time being determined to stay in the middle. The reality is I'm just not made to be that bootylicious. My back nearly went into spasm just trying to take the first picture. I'm not supposed to have an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face. And I'm done torturing myself with crash diets and squat challenges to try and change that. You are allowed to accept the shape that you are, whether that's straight, curvy, rounded or flat. Big butts are gorgeous, but so are all the others! Let's celebrate ourselves as we are, let's embrace our bodies, and let's write rap songs about our damn selves. Ones that are a bit more respectful to women, preferably. 💁 💜💙💚🌈🌞

A photo posted by Megan Jayne Crabbe 🐼 (@bodyposipanda) on Jun 30, 2016 at 11:58am PDT

Crabb said, "The super-slim-all-over body ideal has been replaced with another that's even more impossible for most of us to achieve."

"The hourglass is more extreme than ever, and the super-slim ideal is still there, but only in the right places," she continued.

She told her over 250,000 followers that they do not need to reach this impossible figure: "You are allowed to accept the shape that you are, whether that's straight, curvy, rounded or flat."

WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT REAL BODIES LOOK LIKE ANYMORE. And no, not real as in 'REAL women have curves' (screw that body shaming bullshit, all women are real). Real as in RAW, unedited, unposed, unairbrushed, REAL. Bodies from all angles, not just the most 'flattering' ones. We see so many painstakingly posed professional model bodies that we start to see our own as flawed. Abnormal. Ugly. But there really is no wrong way to have a body, despite what we've all been taught. Whenever I post anything celebrating my belly rolls there's an army of body shamers ready to tell me that I'm hideous, unhealthy, unworthy. But guess what? MOST WOMEN HAVE BELLY ROLLS WHEN THEY SIT DOWN. As well as cellulite on their thighs, bags under their eyes, scars and blemishes and a million other 'imperfections' we've learned to see as problems. Our ideas about bodies are so warped that most people would praise the girl on the left and condemn the girl on the right, without realising that we're one and the same. Well, I've worked damn hard to love the body in both these pictures, and I won't let the world paint my unique features as flaws to be fixed. So this is my message to you - you are worthy of self love at any angle. You are beautiful posed or not. You deserve to embrace every part of yourself. And you are so much more than a body. 💜💙💚🌈🌞

A photo posted by Megan Jayne Crabbe 🐼 (@bodyposipanda) on May 18, 2016 at 12:27pm PDT

Her Instagram posts frequently touch upon this subject, and are endlessly encouraging to shed negative thoughts.

"Our ideas about bodies are so warped that most people would praise the girl on the left and condemn the girl on the right, without realising that we're one and the same," she said.

PHOTOS: See body positive activist Megan Crabbe

She called for others to love their bodies as she loves hers: "So this is my message to you -- you are worthy of self love at any angle. You are beautiful posed or not. You deserve to embrace every part of yourself. And you are so much more than a body."

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