Izzy: You don't have to be All About that Bass

Lately in media there has been an influx of songs, ad campaigns and articles discussing body confidence and the variety of body types.

Two such songs are All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor and Anaconda by Nicki Minaj, which, if you haven't heard yet I have to ask, which rock are you living under? A lot of the comments on the songs are that it is great that bigger body types are being promoted and that it is great that people are starting to recognise different forms of beauty.

The unfortunate truth is that these songs do not contribute to body confidence and here's why.

Firstly, "boys they like a little more booty to hold at night" seems harmless enough, but it essentially says that to be considered attractive, men have to find you attractive. approach is "My Anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun", saying that men will only find you attractive if you look a certain way and if you don't, you are, for want of a better word, ugly. I'm not saying it's bad for you to want men to find you attractive, but their opinion (or lack thereof) does not invalidate your attractiveness. You are beautiful no matter what anyone thinks.
Secondly, you cannot promote one body type by shaming another. Lines like "I'm bringing booty back, go ahead and tell them skinny b******" or "You know I won't be no stick-figure" shame women who can't help being skinny or want to be thinner by inherently saying that their body type is wrong. Again, more blatantly, the entire last paragraph of Anaconda is dedicated to shaming skinny girls and about how men don't want what they have. It's okay if you are or want to be curvy, skinny, muscular, anything, but as soon as you shame someone for how they are or want to be, that is not okay.

Lastly, you are a unique and beautiful human being. You do not have to look a certain way for that to be true, all you have to do is think that you're beautiful. Not every person is going to find you attractive because every person is wired differently but that does not, in any way, invalidate how you look and who you are. Humans are incredible things and if you limit their importance to looks then you need to catch a wake up.

And now, actual body confidence posts.