i sent this to a stranger on the internet after she posted on her blog saying she wanted to kill herself because of her weight

"for years i have waited and waited and waited because i was told that with age i would eventually get some goddamn curves. i am honest to god built like a needle and i've spent my entire life on protein shakes and prescribed laziness in an attempt to attain some of the womanly curves i was told puberty would eventually give me. i am 20 years old now. the curves are not coming. i will always be built like a 10 year old boy and there is nothing i can do about it.

it's not attractive. boys don't like my body. it has nothing to offer them. and sometimes that really hurts. i've never had a boyfriend that stayed with me for more than a month. constantly, i see people look at me and i know what they think: she doesn't eat. she's anorexic. what a poor, sad creature. and for a long time i agreed with them about that last bit. i cut. i overdosed. i stopped eating because fuck it, if that's what everyone thought, why not just wither away.

but the fact of the matter is that there is very little i can do to change the body i was given. i will do everything i can. i always will, because i want to change even if it's not likely. the more important realization is that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING i can do to change OTHER people's opinions of my body. nothing at all. and facing that inevitability has been excruciatingly difficult at times, but it's also given me strength.

because ANYONE who looks at WHAT i am and turns away without even glancing at WHO i am is not worth my time, my effort, my energy. not worth my pain, my frustration, my tears. fuck them. i have no reason to be angry at myself when there are people like that in the world and the same goes for you. you are allowed to dislike your body and i commend you for doing anything you can to change it so you don't have to not like it anymore, but nobody else has the right to make you feel the need to.

anyone who looks at your thighs and turns the other way doesn't deserve you. anyone who thinks they're better than you just because they look different is absolutely delusional. all they are is DIFFERENT. everyone is DIFFERENT. and to be honest i don't think there are a lot of people out there who don't wish that they could change, and that sucks. but don't ever let yourself feel like what you are on the outside dictates who you are on the inside. don't ever let that define you.

you're so much more than your body, and anyone who refuses to see that does not deserve you. ever. "just a vessel," to quote our lovely sherlock holmes. and once more, just for kicks: anyone who doesn't give you a chance to be loved because of how you look is simply seeing without observing. because anyone who takes the time to really, REALLY look will know to their core that you are worth being loved."