Earlier this year, we all applauded Chrissy Teigen for daring to acknowledge her armpit fat (after she got it removed, yes, but I guess we have to start somewhere). But back fat has no celebrity spokesperson as of yet. I’ll give Iskra Lawrence kudos for acknowledging its existence when she talks about general fat rolls, and I’ll give her further kudos for pointing out the poses models use to make it disappear on camera. I will also point out that most of us, myself included, are neither Chrissy Teigen nor Iskra Lawrence. Without diminishing their personal struggles with these body parts, the world is much more forgiving of your armpit and back fat when the rest of your body is considered universally and irrefutably hot as hell. And, I’d venture to guess that if either of these women kept talking about armpit and back fat, it would eventually make a dent in their image — not the other way around. Really, it would take several generations of supermodels saying the words “back fat” in order for it to become something less than totally gross in the general public’s opinion. Forget about the rest of us non-supermodels: We’re just supposed to shut up and cover up, and that’s what I did for most of my life. I don’t remember the day I realized my fitted tank top didn’t look the way it did on the Delia*s model, but I do know I stopped wearing those tank tops, STAT. For as long as I’ve been shopping for my own clothes, I’ve instinctively skimmed over the low-scooped dresses, the sheer-back tops, and stretchy, snug fabrics like jersey. It wasn’t even a conscious thought. I just looked right passed them for the items with more structure or coverage, because that’s what I was supposed to wear.