Why is skinny-shaming OK, if fat-shaming is not

I'm 5 foot 8 and I weigh 45 kilograms.

I'm really skinny. I don't have any fat on

me at all. Look at my arm. It's just bone

and skin and veins.

I know I'm skinny. I don't need to be told

that I'm skinny or that I need to eat

more. The most irritating thing I find is

when people say things like You're really

skinny. As if I don't know that. As if I

need someone to tell me that I'm skinny

and that I need to eat more. I eat a lot.

I eat enough. I eat enough food so that

I'm not hungry. If I'm not hungry, then it

means I'm eating enough. If I eat when I'm

not hungry, then it's just a waste of

food. You wouldn't say to a fat person or

an overweight person, hey, you're really

fat. You need to eat less. You need to go

for a jog, because it would be rude. But

for some reason, it's perfectly okay for

people to say to skinny people the exact

same things, like, you're skinny, you need

to eat more. It really doesn't make sense

to me. The reason why I'm making this

video is because last night at work, my

coworker brought up the topic again, like

the 4th time. He just suddenly said,

Daniel, you're really skinny. Maybe you

should go see your doctor. That's the

second— that's— no, that's the most

irritating thing to be told. You need to

go to the doctor because you're skinny.

What's the doctor gonna do? He's not gonna

give you some magic pill that's gonna make

you gain fat. He's gonna do nothing. He

might just say, oh, maybe you should do

some exercise and eat more. What else can

you tell a skinny person to do to try and

gain weight? Exercise and eat more. And

then the next thing my coworker said is,

Um, maybe you have some kind of disease,

like being skinny is a disease. It's not a

disease, it's genetics. Some people are

skinny, some people are fat, some people

are in between. Everyone's different. I

don't understand why he thinks that being—

it's not just him, I feel like a lot of

people think that being skinny or

underweight is unhealthy and It's like

some kind of disease. There's nothing

wrong with me. I'm not in pain. My body

functions just like everyone else. It's a

perfectly well-functioning body that does

what anyone, any normal person can do.

Okay, so if I took off my clothes, maybe

my body isn't aesthetically pleasing or

physically attractive, but there's nothing

wrong with my body. I'm not in pain. I'm—

I have a fully functioning body. It's just

that it's skinny. Some people, they know

nothing about how the body works. They

just assume that if I eat more, I will get

fat. It doesn't work like that. I eat a

lot. I eat everything. There's no

kind of food that I don't eat. I eat junk

food, I eat vegetables, I eat meat, fish,

cheese, dairy. I'm like a garbage bin. I

do not put on fat. It doesn't matter how

much I eat, it doesn't matter what I eat,

I do not put on any fat. It's just my

body, it's the makeup of my body, it's my

genetics, it's how I look. There's nothing

wrong with it, it's not a disease. Going

to the doctor won't solve anything.

There's nothing a doctor can do. I know my

coworker wasn't trying to hurt my feelings

on purpose. He was probably just joking

around, or maybe he was even kind of

concerned about me because I look so

underweight, but it hurts my feelings

because it makes me feel like I'm not

normal. It makes me feel like there's

something wrong with me. It makes me feel

like I'm weird. What do I want?

I just wish people would accept me for

who I am and not keep telling me that I

need to do this and I need to do that so

that my body matches what the idea of an

ideal body looks like. You wouldn't tell a

fat person or an overweight person, you

need to eat less, why don't you go to the

doctor, you're so fat, why don't you go

exercise? It would just be so unbelievably

rude. The problem is being overweight

is considered as normal now. There are so

many people who are overweight. I'm pretty

sure the majority of the customers that

come into my shop are overweight. Normal

body weight people are normal, and

overweight people are normal. But skinny

people, they're weird. They're freaks of

nature. They have a disease. There's

something wrong with them. Go to the

doctor. What the hell would the doctor do?

Can you imagine it if I phoned up the

doctor? Hello, I need to book an

appointment. And then she goes, the

receptionist goes, okay, what's wrong with

you? Um, I'm too skinny. I'm not sure what

to do. Can you book me an appointment with

the doctor? It's the most stupidest thing

I've ever heard. And my coworker has said

this to me maybe 3 times now. Why is it

acceptable to point out to a skinny person

that he or she is skinny? Do you think

that they need to know that? Do you think

that they don't already know? That they're

skinny. You don't need to tell them things

like, I think you have a disease, I think

you need to go see a doctor. It's so rude

and insulting. I don't feel like

there's such a thing as normal, a normal

body weight. Everyone's different. Some

people are naturally skinny, some people,

they put on weight really easily, and some

people are in between. It's just that It's

like media and TV and social media is

pushing this image of what should be an

ideal body onto us. So when we see

something that doesn't match what that

ideal image of a body is, like a skinny

person, then they start to think, hey,

that isn't normal. But there's no such

thing as normal. There was a time when I

was very self-conscious about my

skinniness. I tried various things. I

tried exercising. I tried lifting weights.

I tried jogging, I tried forcing myself

to eat more, but I didn't gain any weight,

I didn't gain any muscle. My body stayed

pretty much exactly the same as it is now,

so I just kind of gave up and I accepted

the fact that I'm skinny. I don't really

mind it, I don't really feel repulsed by

my own body. I just feel repulsed by

people who make inconsiderate,

insulting comments like my coworker does.

As if he's got the perfect body. His torso

looks like it's too long, and his legs

look like they're disproportionately short

to his whole body. It looks kind of

strange, and he's telling me that my body

looks strange? Huh. Haha. Haha.

But I don't say to him, hey, your legs

look kind of short compared to your torso.

Maybe you should go get your legs

stretched out. No, I wouldn't say that to

him because it would be rude and I

wouldn't want to hurt his feelings because

I'm such a considerate person like that.

I'm joking. Buying clothes has always been

a problem for me, especially trousers. My

waist is extremely small. I need 27-inch

size waist or 28. Even 28 feels

kind of loose, but when you go to a

clothing store, a clothing shop, the, the

smallest they'll have usually is 30. I

need trousers that are long but at the

same time have a small waist. It is so

difficult to find trousers like that.

Also, I hate summer and hot weather

because it means I can't wear a lot of

clothes and hide my skinniness. I look

skinny when I've got— even when I've got

so many layers. Look, I'm wearing How many

shirts? I'm wearing 4 t-shirts right now.

1, 2, 3,

4, 5 layers, and I still look skinny.

In summer, I look even skinnier because I

can't wear all these layers because it's

boiling hot. I can only wear a shirt, and

a lot of people, when they see me in the

summer after seeing me in the winter,

they'll say something like, you've lost

weight. Or you look even more skinny now.

It's just because I've had to take off

layers. I haven't lost any weight. I

didn't have any weight to begin with.

Also, I never go swimming. There's no way

I'd walk around in public with my whole

body exposed. That would just be so

embarrassing, and I would not feel

comfortable with that. The last time I

went swimming was actually in South Korea

a few years ago. I decided to give it a

try just to see what it's like, and I

hated every second of it. Also,

the water was freezing cold in the

swimming pool. I was just shivering there

in the water the whole time. I tried to

swim, but I didn't enjoy it. The water

kept going up my nose and in my ears and

in my eyes. I just— I do not like

swimming, and I'd never wear shorts. No

way. My legs just look so thin. Thin,

it's embarrassing to wear shorts. I

actually wore shorts in Japan last year

because it was so hot. I had to wear

shorts. I just couldn't stand the heat.

When it gets that hot, you kind of stop

caring about what you look like just

because you want to stay cool as much as

possible. And then sometimes people like

to suggest foods that I should be eating

to gain weight. They say, You should be

eating stuff like McDonald's every day.

You should eat a whole stick of butter.

You should eat lots of fried chicken. No

thanks, I'd rather not have a heart

attack. Just because I look skinny on the

outside doesn't mean I can't be fat on the

inside. If I ate all those fatty foods,

it would clog up my arteries. It would put

my heart at risk. And just because I look

skinny doesn't mean I can eat all the junk

food I want and not suffer the

consequences of having bad diet. I try

really hard not to eat too much junk food.

I try really hard to eat lots of

vegetables and fruits because I know how

dangerous an unhealthy diet can be. It can

lead to all kinds of diseases and cancer.

It's just kind of sad when people think

it's better to eat a stick of butter and

McDonald's every day and clog up your

arteries and damage your body on the

inside just so you don't look skinny.

It's like looking skinny is worse than

putting yourself at risk of having a heart

attack. And people are idiots. They're

idiots. This is why I don't talk to

people. This is why I stay in my room.