Confessions of a Skeleton: On why I'm going to continue buying Abercrombie & Fitch

Have you been living under a rock?  Have you been lucky enough not to have your Facebook feed covered in outraged comments about Mike Jeffries (CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch) and some of his recent statements?  If so you might need to do a bit of reading to understand this post.
Abercombie & Fitch CEO Explains why he hates fat chicks
Or
The 10 most ridiculous things Mike Jeffries CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch has said
If you've read these or similar articles continue on.

 Confession Time:

1. I am not just skinny.  I am underweight.
2. I am not on the weight to height ratio charts at doctors offices.
3. I spent my childhood being made fun of for being too skinny.
4. I've been told countless times throughout my life that because of my weight I am unattractive.
5. I've eaten a great deal of junk food in an effort to gain weight. (Horrible idea)
6. I lie on my drivers license and add 10lbs (half the time they laugh at me and make me use my actual weight)
    

I hate being skinny it makes life difficult.  I have been struggling with being underweight my entire life.  As a child I got called all sorts of names like 'the jolly green giant' or 'grand-daddy long leg' and playing hide and seek with me wasn't fair because I could 'turn sideways and disappear'.  I was always the skinniest and tallest of my age group and extremely shy.  I was not a "cool" kid. 

As a teen I was still never a "cool" kid.  The boys my age finally started to catch or pass me in height and the girls started developing curves.  I developed late, long after all my friends, and when I did I still looked more or less like a 'walking stick bug'.

I've battled/struggled with my weight and briefly during my teens while dealing with health problems I reached an embarrassing low.  It was also at this time I learned that I had Celiac disease and I'd have to eliminate wheat from my diet forever.  Removing wheat, and in some cases all starches, from your diet is a common way to lose weight and that made this diagnosis heartbreaking as a teen.  Even though my diet was restrictive I still ate more than the average person and often ate unhealthy things in an effort to gain weight.   Still, I remained incredibly thin.

I had high hopes that pregnancy would give me a few pounds and I'd be able to keep them afterwards.  It was not the case.  Try as I might to put on weight I only gained a total of 23lbs during my pregnancy before giving birth to a beautiful and healthy 8lb baby boy.  Though I enjoyed what little weight I did gain during my pregnancy it didn't last and within 2 weeks I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans and within a few months back to my previous weight.

One of the biggest challenges of being extremely thin is finding clothes that fit, jeans especially.   I'm 5'10 with super long legs.  Many times if I find jeans that stay up without a belt their legs are way too short.  Or if the legs are long enough the waist swallows me.  Recently I found that Abercombie & Fitch carries jeans that not only fit snugly around my hips, but are so long I can step on the hem.  I could write an entire post about how amazing and sexy these jeans make me feel, but I'll spare you.  My point is I found jeans that I love (as long as I don't think of the size).  Jeans that fit me perfectly and that I feel attractive and confident in.  I never bought Abercombie & Fitch as a teen.  Being "uncool" didn't stop me, but I had no desire to spend $20 for a thin and poorly made shirt that was basically like wearing a walking billboard.  I thought that if I was going to be a walking advertisement that they should be paying me.  I do now have a love of their jeans and will likely buy more in the future. 

Before you crucify me finish this post.

What Mike Jeffries said was insensitive to say the least and though stated harshly he was nothing but honest.  Honesty being a rare quality these days I have to applaud him on it.  There are many stores and brands that don't carry things that fit me.  I don't mock them, hate them, or go on rants about how offensive it is to me.  Abercrombie & Fitch isn't the only store or brand that only carries certain sizes, but they're the store being condemned because they are being honest about.  I'm not "cool".  I am most decidedly "uncool" and I'm okay with that.  I'm not in their target market, but they make a product that I like and I feel good wearing so yes I will continue buy from them.

I'm sure there are those that are offend at this point, but just scroll through these memes I've collected.  I see one of these or something along the same lines every day on my newsfeed and have never once posted a rude comment on any of them. 

I really hope you took time to look at each of them and thought of how a thin woman or girl might feel looking at these?  The last one is my least favorite.  It degrades not only thin woman and girls, but men who find them attractive.  I might not have "curves", but that doesn't stop me from being a woman just like having a few extra pounds doesn't prevent someone from be "cool"  If I were to comment that these were offensive I would be called insensitive and hateful, just like Mike Jeffries.  But let's get one thing crystal clear; he doesn't have the power to decide who is "cool" and who isn't or who is attractive and who isn't.  He is just a person.  His opinion shouldn't define you and if you are letting what he said offend you than you are letting it define you.  Regardless, if you want to get upset by what he said then by all means do so, but if you do don't post memes like this or anything of this nature.  If you do then you are no better than him.

In my perfect world scales don't exist and we don't consider one another too thin or too fat we consider each other people.  We understand and respect that people come in all shapes and sizes and that all these shapes and sizes should have somewhere to shop that carries clothes that fit them.  Or we could all be nudist your choice.

In closing let me tell you that I am for the first time in my life I'm starting to love my body.  I'm staying off the scales and concerning myself with eating healthy, being active, and feeling good about myself not what other people say.  What I see when I step on the scales is a number and I'm not a number.  I am an individual.   I don't have to weigh a certain amount or look a certain way.  I need to feel healthy and feel confident in myself because there is only one ME and I am someone special.