One of my friends in Australia, whom I have managed to stay in contact with for over 16 years, called me out on my poor body image when I visited there last year. I had said a phrase that many of my female peers in America say; "I'm so fat!" This would be said casually while trying on clothes or while eating a handful of greasy fries. I didn't even realize the frequency of my usage of this phrase. It was just something I said, it didn't mean I thought I was fat, perhaps, subconsciously, I thought if I said it to myself, I wouldn't have to hear it from others. My friend told me that Australian magazines try to build back women's body image. They feature women of all shapes on their covers. Even my friend, who is a happily plump Australasian, was photographed in her undies in the pages of the Australian Cosmo. I'm proud that she's proud of the way she looks.
I really wanted to write about this issue, not just as an Asian woman, but as a woman in general. We are constantly bombarded with images that tell us that we need to look this way or that. We all buy into it. As a larger set Asian woman, I feel that other larger Asian women (meaning those that aren't a size negative 14) feel much more pressure to be thin than the average woman. Every race has its stereotypes. White men can't dance. White men can't jump. Black people are thugs. All black guys are basketball players. Asians can't drive. All Asians are skinny. Well I beg to differ and I'm sure many of you do, too. Justin Timberlake is a white man with extraordinary dance abilities. Larry Bird was a white man that could jump. Barack Obama ('08 US presidential hopeful) is a black man that is far from a thug. And I, Jackqueline Lou, am NOT a skinny Asia
