It really seems that these days we are all about Meghan Trainor’s bass. If you’re walking on the street, you can hear it playing from cafes, cars, or anything with a stereo. So, yes, Meghan, I’m all about that bass too. But besides having a really good beat, this song seems to have a pretty good message, as Trainor deals with the issue of being “plus-size.”

So let’s talk about size!

If I’m being honest, it seems to me that in the Western world — and especially in America — “size” doesn’t appear to be such a big issue. For example, in America, it seems that there is a little more tolerance and less judgment for “plus-size” people. In Hungary/Ukraine, however, it is a different story. It’s not necessarily that we walk around going, “Gross, you’re so fat!” But, we are way more judgmental and intolerant of sizes that aren’t “small.” I feel that, in our society here in the Ukraine, to be large is to be in some kind of lower class. Like, if you are plus-size, then, sorry, but you’re not as good as a size one or two — which is so not right. Who is it that made the decision that they/we are different?

Maybe I’m overreacting, but I recently read a Hungarian article wherein the writers made some really good points. One of my favorite parts was that they were questioning why plus-size sections of shops even exist. I know that the idea is to make “plus-size” customers your customers, but this isn’t the problem. But the fact is that in a public space (like a shop) we separate “plus-size” and “normal-size” — that isn’t really normal, is it? Who is is that decided what “normal” is and what “normal” isn’t? When did larger sizes become segregated into “plus-size”?

Let’s take a minute to think about the statistics here. Only 25 % of clothing is “plus-size” while the overwhelming majority is “normal.” Why? Why can’t my size be equally represented? Why can’t I have that pretty dress in my size? Why is it that when I walk into a shop and ask, Do you have this dress in my size?, they give me a look and say, No, we don’t, sorry. We just have normal sizes. Am I overreacting to say that it’s totally inappropriate for companies to be able to tell me, “Sorry, you’re not normal.” “Sorry, you can’t fit into my narrow view of what ‘normal’ means.”

It’s absolutely unfair to judge somebody’s weight at first glance because, for one thing, you can never be sure why that person is overweight. They could have some disease, some hormone-problem, depression, or an endless list of other reasons. They could be perfectly healthy and active and just be larger-framed. Why are we judging when we don’t know the whole story?

In my opinion, we are all beautiful in all different ways. There should be no such thing as fat vs. skinny, and people shouldn’t be starving themselves via diets just because society dictates that it should be that way. We can change that. We can change our society because we are society. The only question left is: Are we willing to change?