– Samata Shrestha
My skinny friend who binges on fries tells me that I should take a break.
“Did you try kale detox water?”
“Did you cut down to 573 calories?”
Throw out all that I have ate
The society tells me that I need a 36-24-26 figure body.
It’s not that I’ve a problem with being healthy, but the community makes me feel so filthy,
That I end up in this endless cycle of self-hatred that can sometimes be deadly.
“Aww, you’re so pretty!”
“Cute like a puppy”
The boys say.
I need to break free from the hierarchy that people have created.
No, fat does not mean ugly.
I don’t want to be skinny, I just want to be healthy.
I must think twice, no thrice, maybe four times
Before I can eat something tasty.
When I reach out for a single candy,
I end up eating a whole jar unhandy.
So many a time, people mistook me for being reluctant
Of starting a story, for not speaking enough, for being an introvert,
but when I speak in verses, people even label as a feminist
like it’s something bad to be.
Like a badass girl with some daddy issues.
Like excuse me, does this even relate to what I eat?
But let me make it easy for you,
Right here, right now!
My body does not define me.
And my gender shouldn’t bother you.
Because if you love me,
You would embrace my scars, my stretch marks,
“My everything” like you once told me.
Rarely has someone comforted me embracing the beauty
that comes in all shapes and sizes.
In different shades of color,
From all the nations,
How do we define beauty?
Is it something based on your weight?
Or height or
How big your hips are?
Beauty is a fairytale fabricated by the masters of heaven.
A heaven that does not exist.
Someone’s else beauty can never reduce yours.
Another beautiful flower does not mean that you become less beautiful.
We need to break free from what society teaches us to be,
The Instagram stories that feeds us jealousy.
You’re beautiful,
If beauty was a thing.
Samata Shrestha is currently studying International Relations at Jacobs University in Germany. She is passionate about bringing out the voice of minority groups and empowering young girls with her poetry.