Body positivity is finally booming, thanks in part to online communities of women (and men) who are starting to not only love their bodies, but feel confident about showing them off. But what about women with long legs? As the size acceptance movement grows, plus-size women with pot bellies and thick butts have been proudly taking selfies on social media. But for women like me who live with lipedema, there haven’t been many outlets for expression.
I have always had long legs. When I hit puberty, I noticed that my stems started to get unusually large. I don’t just mean thick thighs, but also thick calves and ankles. I have been around plus size women my entire life and I know my proportions are unusual. What's even weirder, though, is that no matter what I do, I can't change them.
In high school, I developed an eating disorder (which I later realized is not uncommon for most young fat girls because they are taught shame and hatred for their bodies). I would get up, skip breakfast, go to school, have a diet soda with a homemade low-fat muffin for lunch, walk home (which is a long way) and have a small dinner. I went from a size 20/22 to a size 14/16 in just a few months...but only on my belly, back, chest, and face. My leg size remains the same. After years of humiliating myself, I decided to simply accept that this is how I was created.
It was only recently that I discovered the real reason why my legs are unusually large: I have lipedema. Lipedema is a chronic condition that typically affects the extremities, causing the accumulation of different types of fatty tissue in the legs and sometimes arms.
Lipedema is a genetic disorder that primarily affects women and usually develops during puberty. Accumulated fat tissue won't go away with diet or exercise (although it can help with treatment for some people). So, if you have it, you're stuck with it (unless you have surgery, which only reduces the tissue, not completely removes it).
Look at my long teenage Jedi legs.
It seems common for plus-size women to have a larger belly or butt. Most plus-size women I know have one (or two) of these awesome features, but not everyone has big legs. Sure, the vast majority of us have thick thighs, but when it comes to really big calves and ankles (#cankle pride, baby!), there's even less visibility. Long legs are usually not shown and flaunted, but hidden beneath clothing or layers. With this in mind, I started a little experiment.
this experiment
I think it’s time for #biglegs to get some positive recognition. Curious how people would react to a photo of a plus-size woman showing off her thighs, I took to my trusty Instagram (and cross-posted to Tumblr and Facebook, of course) and posted a full-body photo of myself. Big, fat, hairy, thick legs on display. I also talk about lipedema and how the disease affects the anatomy of my legs (and arms!). This caused quite a stir. I received a variety of responses and I categorized them accordingly. Let's take a look at them, shall we?
common troll
Plus size people everywhere are going to get these guys. They usually post insults ("you're fat", "you're disgusting", "you're a whale", "disgusting", "laughing emoji", "ugh", etc.) with the goal of just being as mean and mean as possible dirty. There are definitely some comments like this on my photos, but they are easily overlooked.
Follow trolls
"Follow" trolls are even more common, and I have a lot of these peeps on my photos. They leave comments like, "You are beautiful, but you are so unhealthy, you should diet and exercise," or "I admire your confidence, but it is so unhealthy." Maybe they have "good intentions," but Ultimately, they use "concern" to cover up their judgment of obesity. Here you can see some (supportive!) people leaving comments in response to some concerned trolls that showed up on my photos.
Concerned trolls have yet to accept the idea that you can't tell a person's health by how well they are (not to mention that your health doesn't determine whether you will love your body and feel confident in it). However, I think there is hope for these people. One day they may still "get it."
Disgusting ignorant person
These guys just make me laugh. Several people have commented on my lipedema. You know, thinking they know more than the scientific and medical professionals. They say, "It affects your legs, but not the rest of you," (Thanks, Captain Obvious!) Some even have the audacity to say, "You can still lose weight in your legs," (as if they Knows my body better than I do). Yes, argue with science, my right hon. You sound very smart now.
plus size police
In fact, one of my fellow plus-size women commented that I "don't actually have the disease" and that I "made up a fat excuse to appease the haters." She went on to add that I was "hurting my body positivity movement" by "blaming my weight on illness." My purpose in posting the photo was to show off my big, natural legs and talk about a (very legal and real) condition. Everyone's weight is determined by a combination of genetics, diet, and lifestyle choices—including mine. I'm fat for many reasons (some of which are self-inflicted, including genuinely loving/being happy to be fat); not just because of my lipedema.
honorable supporter
Every rose has its thorn, and while my photos may have received some harsh comments, I also received hundreds of large, beautiful roses. So many people (of all genders and sizes) have left positive, wonderful, supportive comments on my photos. Some people tell me I'm beautiful the way I am, while others just want to give me some support for what I'm doing. Others are happy to share that they, too, suffer from lipedema (or think they may have lipedema) and are excited to connect with others who are going through the same thing.
in conclusion
After sitting down and having a glass of wine, I thought about it a bit and realized something. There will always be trolls and mean people on the internet. Fatphobia is still rampant in our society and people still use the whole “health issue” to shame us. Even though body positivity is arguably at an all-time high right now, there are still a lot of people who will try to bring you down when they feel threatened or unsafe.
The problem is these guys have a lot of catching up to do. They need a lot of education when it comes to the intersection of health and fitness. However, your health is your business, and no matter your fitness level, you have the right to love your body, feel beautiful, and freely express your confidence.
However, it doesn’t matter how many negative comments, looks, or chuckles you may receive. We always have more support, appreciation, love, understanding and empowerment there than there is hate. People care about you, people will support you on your body love journey. We all hold the torch high when it comes to body positivity; we just need to keep running and never stop . We will win this game eventually.
Image: Kourtney Minaj; Jiffy; Caris Del Rey/Instagram
