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| Food (hahagetit) for thought. |
Weight loss is frequently found at the top of many people's resolution lists. Women especially are expected to fit the U.S. culture's obsession with a perfect female form. This translates into women being not only EXPECTED to lose weight, but expected to WANT to lose weight.
To illustrate our point, take a look at the following link. It's a Target advertisement featuring weight loss supplements and fruit smoothies featuring, you guessed it, an athletic woman. It is also themed around a "fresh start" for the new year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=instream&v=yUgY7l7N5okSo, today's Fat Myth that we are going to disprove: All Fat Women Want to (and should want to) Lose Weight!
So, if you're pretty obviously fat like the BB and the WW, then you've probably had people try to justify your fat for you--that is, people say strange things that are meant to be compliments but just come out allllll wrong to a fatty's ears. It's like, "Oh Hi, This is my friend the WW. I know she's fat but that runs in her family." Okay. So it doesn't happen exactly like that, but still. People always seem nicer about fatness if they can justify it. Us fatties have had people ask us about our family history (personal!) and our eating habits (I like food?!) to try to find some redeeming quality rolled up in all the backfat and bellyjelly of our existence. People assume that if you're fat, you're on some kind of diet. Further, people assume that you SHOULD be.
And if you're not, you're criticized. Quietly and away from you, but you always know because of the hushed voices and condescending looks. "Oh is BB really going to eat all that? That just seems like a bad choice." Fat people need to eat too, folks. What we eat does not concern anyone else. Another common thing that people say to the fatties who aren't dieting is something like, "you know, your knees would stop bothering you so much if you just tried to lose some weight" or "it can be something simple, like parking at the end of a parking lot or taking the stairs instead of the elevator."
So, New Year's Eve, Day, and the subsequent January questioning about weight loss resolutions can be a stressful time for fatties--but not for the reason that you think. Yes, some of us may feel shame while others are out dieting...we may feel intense pressure to diet...but that does not mean that we want to diet or should! Some of us *GASP* love our bodies and actually have these bodies because we are what we are--not because we are guzzling soda, injecting sugar and honey mixtures into our veins, and frequenting every town buffet six times a day.
Besides, we all know that the "I'm going to lose weight" resolution is the one that fizzles out and dies. After the funeral of this resolution, people often feel depressed and do a "Fuck It" phase, where those handy vitamins and supplements just sit off to the side. What a waste of money.
We're not saying that if you choose to make weight loss your New Year's resolution you're a dumbass. If that's what is important to you, great. But seriously question why that is important to you. Is it for you, or is it to achieve some socially acceptable body? Is it because your family wants you to, or is it because YOU want you to? If it is the latter, you'll more likely have success and hopefully be happy with that.
So if you think you are giving a fat person helpful tips--you know, you can watch t.v. while you are on the treadmill! It's so easy--or you think qualifying their weight is helpful--Oh I know your whole family is big boned, too! At least you're dieting--don't! You're only reinforcing the myth that all fat women SHOULD diet and SHOULD WANT TO. We're not saying that a healthy life is bad by any means--the issues are too often confused. When people criticize diets they aren't criticizing health. We are simply criticizing the often unhealthy, unrealistic diets, unattainable body types, and shaming that go along with diet culture, especially around the New Year. A culture of body acceptance--and working towards that in your personal life is, for us at least, the more productive goal towards a satisfying future.
Tomorrow's hashtags will be focused on (you guessed it) New Year resolutions. Send us YOUR resolutions and they might show up in our post!
-Gribbski
P.S. Check out this new link we added today: http://www.themilitantbaker.com/2013/01/what-fuck-does-no-diet-talk-mean.html
It is all about the idea of No Diet Talk. We even added our shiny new badge to show we are proud supporters!
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