Why are you so skinny??

Hiya little Chums and Chummettes,
I am going to go on a little rant about something that people have been asking me recently on the lead-up to Christmas which is making me very un-festive. I don't think people realise that asking the question 'Why are you so skinny?' Or 'You are so thin!' is very offensive. It puts people in a situation where they think that they feel like they are prominently skinny. Skinny and thin are not compliments. However you may say them. Slim and slender are more appropriate and are fine for complimenting. For example, if someone said,  "Why are you so thin?" I would be offended and self-conscious for an amount of time. If someone said 'Oh you look lovely and slender' or 'you look perfectly slim tonight', I would be satisfied. As another example, a few days ago on a train, a friend said to me, as a compliment, 'Wow you look so skinny!'. I immediately shook my head and, seeing I was offended she said, "Well you look thin.' I corrected her by saying, "Don't tell people like that, saying 'You look nice in that outfit" or "You look great tonight" is perfectly fine, don't pick out things like thin or skinny." You wouldn't point out someones curves in that way unless you are complimenting them and if they are a close friend and you really have worried about them then maybe you could ask in a comforting way about their skinny body. But skinny doesn't mean slim. It means:

1. Very thin.

2. Of, relating to, or resembling skin.

Just skin and bones. People used to point out my bones as being prominent, I used to have pointy allows and knees and things like that and one thing people used to say was 'you should be in a museum because you are just so bony, like a fossil!' This plummeted my confidence levels and they were just joking. And another thing, they might have an eating disorder, body problems, self-conscious, diet issues, weight issues etc. Its not going to make anything better by telling them they look skinny. If anything it will make it worse. Promise.

Let's replace the word 'skinny' with fat. The words skinny and thin are the same in opposite form to fat and obese. You wouldn't ask 'Why are you so fat?' or 'You look obese today.' If anything, make sure its a complement before saying anything. 'Wow, you look lovely and slim tonight!' Is something that will make people feel good about themselves as will 'Wow you look lovely and curvy tonight!'. So thats my rant over, just please remember that it IS offensive and impolite.

Jessbug xxx