The Diary of Thin

Prologue

"When I was young, someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I said small."
-Blythe Baird

My life, as it is now, is defined in sets of two. Good or bad, pass or fail, before or after, fat or skinny. It makes sense, if you think about it - we have two eyes, two ears, two hands to hold - why not define the universe in terms of left and right?

It wasn't always this concrete. I must give my parents credit - when I was little, they tried to teach me about diversity by pointing out that some people are black and some are white, some are fat and some are skinny; they taught that the latter is better than the former, but it was impolite to say so. However, I consider it worthy to note that they epically failed in raising a culturally aware child largely due to the fact that they themselves are rather racist, sexist, and quite culturally unaware in general, not because they are bad people but because their parents, too, were just as notably socially unenlightened.

So, as I said, I was eagerly informed from a young age that, coming from a successful family of almost entire German heritage, it was crucial for my success as a female that I maintain my thinness, something that, according to most child psychologists, was a "setback" in my self-development, and, according to others, is the root of our society's problems. According to me, it's at least a building block in the wall I built for myself. I wouldn't say my parents were entirely to blame, though - it isn't their fault they were raised without the internet. However, I do argue that, had I not had "skinny" drilled into my head as the only feminine ideal, I might not have found the need to write that which you are currently reading.