I recently heard this song while shopping in Lane Bryant. (Yes, I’m a fellow Big Girl, at least by our society’s standards).

Here are the lyrics:
Big girl you are beautiful

Walks in to the room
Feels like a big balloon
I said, ‘Hey girls you are beautiful’
Diet coke and a pizza please
Diet coke I’m on my knees
Screaming ‘Big girl you are beautiful’

You take your skinny girls
Feel like I’m gonna die
Cos a real woman
Needs a real man is why

You take your girl
And multiply her by four
Now a whole lotta woman
Needs a whole lot more

Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on around
And they’ll be calling you baby

No need to fantasise
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places

Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful

I am not quite sure why, but this song both amused and offended me at the same time. Here’s why:

I was not always a “big girl.” I got this way suddenly when I was around 18 years old and found out I have PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome). I am a very healthy eater, try to be conscious of what I put into my body, and I exercise on a regular basis, but I cannot lose the weight….

This song stereo-types bigger girls as bad eaters. “Diet coke and a pizza, please”. That line always bothered me. I noticed that in several songs, as is the case with most discussing women, bigger girls are also stereotyped. It sends the message that we are all fat, lazy over-eaters who have no desire to lose weight and take pride in ourselves.

Lane Bryant is my store of choice because they make trendy clothes in my size as opposed to other stores where the only thing they have for a plus-sized girl is a mu-mu or a pair of jeans with an elastic waist! I was thinking about this the other day, and to make me feel better, my husband showed me the following video:

This video absolutely cracked me up and made me feel like SOMEONE understands where I’m coming from! It talks about being a size 14 or larger and unable to buy anything in most stores. It talks about how we shouldn’t be streotyped about our weight, but at the same time, we often stereotype ourselves. It just seemed extremely relevant to my recent Lane Bryant shopping experience.