Yah, I’ll have a decaf extra skinny mocha choca latte please.
My waist will be smaller to accentuate my double Ds!.

You see that’s the only part of me that’s allowed to be big.
Otherwise the press will have a field day and call me a pig.

They papped me on holiday, lying in the sun,
Then proclaimed to the world, ‘Ha, look at her bum!’

In a terrible state I rushed to the gym,
Pleading my trainer, ‘Please make me thin!’

The next two weeks I was worked to the bone,
My ass, thighs and abs ordered to tone.

My dairy became soya and steak became fish.
The pounds were dropping off, I was getting my wish!

I grabbed my trainer and said, ‘You’re my hero!
I’ve dropped 3 dress sizes, I’m now a size zero!’

On top of the world, I attended a première,
Expecting the press to say, ‘Wow, what a derrière!’

Instead, though, they didn’t, and this is what I read,
‘She looks like a rake and has a lollipop head.’

Shocked and confused, just what the hell do they want?!
I thought I’d be praised for looking skinny and gaunt.

What, I get slagged for being fat and for being thin?
Well, I give up, I don’t know how to win.

Now young girls are starving to look like me,
Viewing my airbrushed pictures, if only they could see

That I have blemishes, lumps and bumps just like them.
See, if they could see that, well, maybe then

Things could change and we’d be allowed to be free,
No dangerous diets and starving, but we could just be

Whatever size we naturally are
And we’ll be admired from close-up and afar.

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
We should believe this, instead of looking over our shoulder

At who is thinner, prettier and whose bones stick out most
It’s time to take a stand, I don’t wanna be a ghost!

When will we be happy with what we see in the mirror?
We are beautiful – let’s stop getting thinner and thinner!

You know what, forget what I ordered – for goodness’ sake
I’ll have a full-fat latte – and a carrot cake!

A healthy balanced diet with a few treats thrown in
That’s the way to go – that’s the way to win!

So what if I have a few dimples on my thighs,
It’s about time that magazines stopped telling lies.

I’m taking a stand and being happy, not just thin.
It’s time to be content with the skin that I’m in.

By Elizabeth Caproni

© 2022 crystalwind.ca. All rights reserved.