So I was just in Mcdonald’s and I saw this girl. I was filling up my diet coke at the machine and standing next to me was this girl who either worked at mcdonalds or was wearing of black uniform for some other reason. I watch her on my right at the other coke dispenser machine and give her the full elevator eyes: she’s about a foot shorter than me; she’s got straight, medium length hair that’s cut at about the lower part of her earlobe, straightened, and shiny dark brown; her black plastic glasses had polka dots on them. I study her body. Her frame was not fat, but short and curvy. She fills up her soda and I notice she’s also drinking Diet Coke. My very first thought, which made me rather curious, is that I wondered if she also hated her body. Did she also think about her weight ? Did she also stare in the mirror every morning and wonder why she was cursed to live in this body? Did she also struggle with binge eating, or starving, or throwing up?
She looked almost sad, melancholy if you will. She had this not dark but sort of just not as happy as I would have expected from someone who looked like her. I begin to wonder why she would ever hate her body. She looked beautiful. She looked adorable, and cute, and very cuddly. The word “cuddly” kept popping into my brain. It reminded me of what M-Bear said about my body. Whenever I said I felt fat he never necessarily disagreed with me. It always bothered me. But he kept saying that I was cuddly. He said that I looked plump. But I know he meant it in a good way, sort of how I use the word “adorable” or “soft” (when using it literally, not figuratively); someone who is overweight but not necessarily obese. And the weight doesn’t necessarily look bad on them. They look healthy and vibrant. And especially when you see someone like this who is genuinely happy and shows pride over herself, it’s really a beautiful sight. It makes them look so freaking attractive. I think I finally get why confidence is so attractive.
Back to the girl. After the initial notice and study, I thought about myself. I thought about my own thoughts and imagined them in her head, as I often try to do to get an outside perspective. An outside perspective can provide more unbiased view of the situation. My thoughts are so often irrational and yet I never seem to be able to notice this unless I take this outside perspective. I looked at her and imagined my thoughts in her head. Thoughts of hate and sadness. Thoughts of cutting her skin open. Thoughts of starving until she passes out just so she can try and achieve the “perfect weight”. She looked like she could be someone who did (wow, stereotypical much?) and I couldn’t figure out why. I imagined that soft body in my arms. Holding her, kissing her, making love to her. All so beautiful in my eyes. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could think this girl is “fat”. (Also, what does that even mean? So subjective. Bullshit.) I tried to imagine doing the same holding, kissing, and loving with a thin or petite girl. It was hard. Hip bones stabbing stomachs and bruised legs; like holding a possibly visually beautiful flower, but so delicate that it may shatter at any moment. And I’m not just talking “anorexic skinny”. I just mean the societal view of “skinny”.
Maybe that’s why M-Bear kept telling me that most guys don’t like thin women. They tend to be more attracted to girls with some meat. I don’t know. Why can I think that men are more attracted to curvier women, yet find myself so repulsive and desperate to be that thin? That maybe then I’ll feel beautiful. I’ll feel… enough.
Here’s to you, dollface. The beauty in the Mcdonald’s. ❤ -PB