A Spark of Eccentric || Brad Simpson (The Vamps) Fanfiction

3

Although they were very lightweight and free from obstruction, my eyelids were literally dropping faster than Earth's gravitational pull.

My English professor was blabbering about an article that talked about body shaming, and while her arguments were justifiable, her method of teaching was not that efficient. Since our English class with her was basically a formal writing class, we were given something to read, then she expected us to write a lot about the topic. Unfortunately, her soft voice managed to make the whole class sleepy to the point that barely anyone paid attention.

"Okay, so, in order to fully understand the text that you've just read, I want us to fully discuss what happens here in the classroom," our professor said, then I stopped taking notes down.

"Now, the thing is, body shaming is very evident in society today. For example, if you've all watched Insatiable on Netflix, the main character gets shamed when she was larger, but when she lost a lot of weight, she got praised. The article we have today is similar, wherein the author shames those who have large bodies and praises eating disorders as if they're what everyone should have. Can anyone tell me how this is wrong?" The professor asked the whole class, and many people raised their hands. They talked about how sick and twisted the article we read was, and I listened along and mentally agreed to what they shared. It's not like my similar opinion was needed, anyway. Plus, my classmates, when speaking, made more sense than me.

"Okay, you all have good arguments. Now, I'd like to hear why you think that body shaming exists," she challenged us, and no one raised their hands. At this point, I turned away from my professor so that she won't call my name randomly.

"How about you, Monroe?" The professor asked, then I looked at her.

"Me?" I asked, then she nodded her head.

"You got the highest score in the latest essay. I'd like to see you speak in front of class," our professor said, then I nervously looked left and right before standing up from my seat.

"I think that the reason why body shaming exists is because we're running out of respect," I started, and everyone looked at me, as if they're interested in what I have to say.

Well, here goes nothing.

"I mean, society has set this standard for perfect bodies and all, but the problem is, these standards aren't necessarily in sync with how a body reacts nor performs. You can be the biggest person in the world yet still be healthy, and vice versa. These standards, however, distort one's ability to discern a body type from another without judgment; no one has the same body, so why do we need to compare bodies with the set standard? The need to compare bodies among each other easily represents how we need to respect each other more. We're comparing other people with our personal preferences or standards, which doesn't help, especially when they care about your opinion. Why do we even care if the person is too large or too small? Maybe it's important when we relate it with healthcare, but that should be where the line is drawn. Other than that, we don't have a say on how we want that person's body to be nor do we have a right to comment rudely about body sizes, and that's how we're supposed to maintain respect," I said, and my professor gave me a tight smile.

"I admire your perspective," the professor said, then I sat down and bowed my head, wishing the ground could swallow me whole.

I'm not going to bore anyone with what my professor said, but, basically, she just made the whole class agree to what she said, and she rebuffed those who thought otherwise by giving them examples. However, she got a little bit carried away with it.

"What time is it?" The professor asked my classmate, who turned his phone on to check the time.

"9:52, ma'am," my classmate answered, then I immediately packed all of my stuff. My next class was in 8 minutes and I had to run in order to get there on time.