Redefining beauty: Why cankles are hot! #CanklesAreHot

Cassidy Boon is a 20-year old feminist fat activist who wants to change the way we define female beauty.

I need to talk about something - something important. This particular thing is almost always forgotten about - instead of being celebrated like it should be, it's brushed away, shunned or even looked down on. And it's not even a thing exactly - no, it's far more important than a mere object, it's a part of us - a part of women. I am talking, of course, of the cankle. The cankle is a seamless blend between the calves and ankles that owes itself to a comfortable, plus-sized and beautiful body. Whereas the images of women blasted onto our retinas by sexist, misogynistic media outlets almost always feature a clear distinction between the anatomical landmarks known as the ankles and the calves, the cankle flat out ignores that, decides to mingle the two into one and be all out fabulous in the process.

Having cankles as a woman is a sign that you're in charge of your own life - that you're independent, strong and that you love your body for what it is - not for what everyone else wants it to be. The melding of your ankles and calves is a symbolic FUCK YOU to the Patriarchy for its ever scrutinizing, fatphobic ways. I have cankles and they used to get me down. I used to feel bad about myself because I didn't have that svelte contour down there. I remember literally wanting to cut the excess fat off with a cheese slicer when I was an angsty, Goth teenager. But now, as a result of becoming a part of the fierce, vibrant, body-positivity movement, I have realized that I am not to blame for them. I am only to blame for NOT realizing that they are actually a very sexy part of the female anatomy. Now I know some women give into fat shaming - they reduce themselves to objects and let themselves be sculpted by the Patriarchys all-reaching arms by actually trying to get rid of their cankles. Some women literally have liposuctions on their cankles because the patriarchy has taught them that cankles aren't beautiful. This is of course a myth, cankles are fucking HOT! Cankles were actually the ideal in the early 1900's, around the time when dresses were beginning to become shorter. Men would go crazy for them because they signalled that the bearer of the lush meat was getting her nutrition. It was only in the 1940's due pin-up propaganda and doctors' lies about obesity, that the cankles were split into two in the public eye. Cankles are a sign of a little extra flab, sure, but is that necessarily a bad thing? The answer is a big NO! The truth is that there is no correlation between being fat and being unhealthy. There are fat people who’re really healthy and there are plenty of skinny people who’re sick. The only people who want you to believe that obesity is connected to diseases such as heart problems or cancer are phony doctors and dieticians who sell you their disgusting non-nutritious shakes AND YOU’RE EATING IT ALL UP, literally. There’s this huge conspiracy to put fat people down so that they will feel bad about themselves and buy shitty weight-loss products. I, as a fat-positive, body-positive feminist, realize that this is the way it all works and I love my cankles now!

I want to start a campaign, nay, a revolution. I want everyone to know that cankles are a natural part of a healthy woman's body and that whoever tells you otherwise is a fat-shaming misogynist that can honestly GO OFF HIMSELF! Actually, NOT having cankles is a sign of malnutrition and giving into a woman hating culture and I don't want that for any of us - I mean it.

Let go of the expectations girls! It's high time to take back cankles from the grubby, sloppy hands of the Patriarchy and reclaim them as our own, beautiful bodyparts that deserve love and affection. Only when we love our cankles can we love our ENTIRE BODIES! Get behind this fabulous, canklelicious body-positive cause, tweet under #CanklesAreHot, because cankles are BACK and they're smoulderingly sexy!