Let's talk about the modeling industry and why people need to stop saying I should be a model as a compliment. I, a thin person who is 5'7, am both too short and too large of a size to be a traditional model. This is what I look like for reference in the rest of the thread.

Obvious content warning for weight, eating disorders, society sucking, etc...

Plus size models start at a size 6 and I'm a 6/8 in most brands. Many brands have absurd sizing so I'm even bigger than that because there's no uniformity in women's sizing. I am objectively thin, the average US woman is a 16/18, 5 sizes bigger than I am.

Notice how you can see my hip bones poking out of my skin, that's how thin I am. I could only be a plus size model despite being quite thin. Think about what that would look like to young girls comparing themselves to me?

Most models are also 5'9 or taller. I am 3 inches taller than the average US woman and still too short for most modeling jobs. The winner of the "petite" season of America's Next Top Model was 5'7, my height. Plus size models can be a little shorter, but generally above 5'6.

This is exactly why so many people in our society have eating disorders. I had an eating disorder as a teenager into my 20s & was substantially thinner than that picture. I'm currently the heaviest I've ever been & I am clearly pretty thin, imagine how sick I looked 30lbs lighter

Fat is not a bad thing or an insult, it's just a type of body that exists. Pushing for extreme thinness as our only standard of beauty directly contributes to mental illness. Fat people are people and deserve to see themselves represented, not thin people being "plus size" models

People of all genders are constantly telling me I should be a model an basically what that means to me is that I should relapse in my ED and make myself so sick I can barely function. Their intent is to call me pretty, so just call me pretty.

There is absolutely no reason to encourage people you find attractive to go into an immensely toxic industry full of eating disorders and substance abuse simply because you couldn't say "you're pretty" and have that be the end of it.

Stop telling people they should be models as a compliment. It reinforces the idea that our beauty is our value and it doesn't actually have anything to do with us as people. Words have meaning and impact people's perceptions of themselves.

Compliment my style, my mind, anything that I actually work on and isn't a genetic accident. Focus on things people have control over in your compliments and stop using the toxic af modeling industry as your method of calling someone attractive. It's gross and harmful.

Anyway that's my soapbox, stop using weight as a compliment and ask yourself why you think that's a compliment to begin with. Introspect on what biases you have and how they play out in your words, even if your intent is good. Impact > intent, always.

Also my amazing friend @fierce_invalids made this zine everyone should check out: