In recent months there has been an explosion over “body shaming.” Women everywhere have been condemning the idea of body-based ridicule and have stated they are proud to be in their own skin. To that I say, “You go girls, be proud.”

But don’t shame other women in the process of praising yourself.

When most people think of the term body shaming they usually associate it with curvy women, but that isn’t always the case. I am a size 00 in jeans, I wear size small T-shirts and they still sag off my thin frame. I don’t tell you this to brag, I tell you this to prove a point that I too deal with figure-based ridicule.

While many women are fighting back against body shaming and loving their own build, they are typically doing it at the expense of other women, whether they consciously know they are doing it or not.

Pictures have sprung up across the Internet with harsh slogans such as “Real men like curves. Only dogs go for bones” or “No, I don’t wear a size 0. But that’s only because I have the body of a woman, not the body of a 12 year old.”

In what definition of the term is this not body shaming? While one body type is being glorified, the other is being relentlessly attacked. Saying thin girls are not “women” is utterly offensive and completely contradicts the fight to eradicate body shaming — it simply shames a different group of women.

Another bone I’d like to pick is with the media. So many popular songs and artists today mock skinny women. Meghan Trainor’s “All About that Bass” and Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” are examples. Both songs refer to thin women as “skinny bitches” and praise voluptuous body types. But if Minaj’s song were about reversed body types and toted lyrics like “f— the fat b——,” it would be deemed socially unacceptable. So why is it OK to say that about thin women?

What many people don’t know is that they are often mocking thin women without knowing it. I cannot even begin to count the times I have been insulted by my friends without them even knowing their comment was snide.

For example, winter had just ended, and a group of us were out for our first run of the season. My pace was about the equivalent of a gimpy turtle, and by the end of the first mile I was puffing my inhaler like it was my job. I uttered the words, “I’m so out of shape.” I instantly regretted my decision.

“Oh my gosh, shut up” and “Come on, Beth, look at yourself” spewed out of my friends’ mouths. While this might not seem offensive, after the hundredth time of hearing it, it gets annoying, and I am fed up.

You see, I am a normal girl. I love Christmas cookies and candy canes, and I get out of shape over winter just like everyone else. I have a right to be concerned with my physical well-being and appearance, and I don’t need to be reprimanded when I state that concern.

Another problem I constantly run into is at the lunch table. Eating with friends is fantastic, and after we all indulge in 12 pounds of ice cream it’s even better, until I say, “Gosh, I feel so fat after all that.”

Cue the “What does that make me then?” or “You look like you don’t eat anything at all” comments. I believe everyone’s body feels bloated and sick after eating too much junk food, including mine. I do not say things like this to fish for compliments or make others feel bad about themselves. I say it because for me, my body feels bloated and unhealthy compared to normal.

These things are often seen as compliments. Many people don’t realize when they say these things thin women are actually insulted. Being told you look sick because you are so thin is not a compliment no matter how cheerfully you say it and how much you mean it to be nice.

Ridiculing me because I feel out of shape despite the number that appears on the scale is wrong. Telling me I practically look anorexic is wrong. I am thin, naturally. Some women are bigger, naturally. And some are smack dab in the middle. No one chose to be born the way they are, therefore no one should be shamed because of how they are built.

A body is a body, no matter the shape. Tall, short, muscular, thin, wide or weak, we are all human, we all have emotions and figures that need to be respected and loved. All forms of body shaming need to stop now. We shouldn’t be humiliating other body types to validate our own.