First
of all, thank you for being patient with us after two missed days of posts! We
hope you enjoy this one enough that it makes up for it! Today's Fat Myth Monday
is complicated. We were given suggestions by the WW's friends Jewleah and Sami
for today, and the suggestions went so well together that we thought we'd
tackle them as one. Here are their suggestions:
From
Jewleah: Can you talk
about the myth that skinny=healthy and fat=unhealthy?
From Sami: I think you guys should do an article on the difference
between being "fat" and being "obese." A lot of people
don't understand that fat, when referring to body type, is a social term
(someone who appears overweight) and obese is a medical term, and that they
aren't synonymous. A "traditionally fat" person can be in better
shape than a "traditionally skinny" person, for example.
For
today's post, we have come up with several links to research on the massive (pardon the pun) Fat=Unhealthy myth. The BB provided some excellent descriptions with each
article for you!
Article 1: This article cites research that
shows that being skinny doesn't mean your health is perfect, and that being fat
doesn't mean it's bad. It focuses on distribution of body fat, and finds that
some obese people aren't a greater risk for health problems while more
"normal-sized" individuals may be more disposed to risks if their
body fat is in the belly area only. Essentially,
the article shows the findings of a scientific study that shows metabolic
health and fat distribution are better indicators of health as opposed to
physically appearing fat or skinny.
Article 2: This is an awesome feminist
article that busts a lot of the myths that the BB and the WW are interested in.
It cites some research about how fat does not equal unhealthy, but it mainly
focuses on body love and busting those fat myths through a feminist lens. It is
awesome!
Article 3: The author of this article isn't
as body positive...but, the article still shows great research on why fat people
have trouble maintaining weight loss. The body changes after dieting for a lot
of fat people in a way that makes it biologically more difficult for fat people
to stay skinny. Also, it cites some great facts about genetics, heredity, and
more.
We
have also come up with a list of our own definitions of the kinds of terms
we'll be throwing around in this post:
“skinny” Physical shape is slender; often
considered the unattainable shape for all women on a diet, even if they already
are that shape; subsequently, very popular adjective for any kind of diet food
(i.e. skinny girl vodka, skinny cow ice cream, etc.)
“fat” Physical shape is round; often considered
the OPPOSITE of what is attractive in everyone, specifically women;
subsequently, very popular adjective for anything hated, even when it doesn’t
describe the item (i.e. fat pants, fat lard, fatass, “get your stupid fat feet
out of my shoes!”, etc.)
“obese” Medical term used to describe a person
when their body fat becomes severely dangerous to their health; often used as
an adjective for people who are not actually obese, usually in conjunction with
modifier “morbidly.”
“anorexic” Medical term used to describe a person
with this very serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder; often
used as an adjective to casually describe someone who simply appears too
skinny.
“in
shape” Physically able
to complete strenuous tasks or large amounts of exercise.
“out
of shape” Physically
unable to complete strenuous tasks or large amounts of exercise; often used as
a self-identifier for many people, but especially in social situations that
require any kind of physical movement (i.e. Fat girls shopping may say
something like, “Let’s take a break, I’m so out of shape, Hahaha!” to justify
(weird, there’s that again) taking a break, or anyone working out with a friend
might laugh and justify their panting or sweating with an “I’m SO out of
shape!”)
“physically
healthy” treating your
physical body with love and respect, i.e. eating foods that are good for you
and exercising your muscles
“emotionally
healthy” loving your
personality and your physical body and everything else that is wonderful and
less-than-wonderful about yourself simply because you are you and that’s great!
“physically
unhealthy” the opposite
of physically healthy, i.e. you put any kind of food into your body, especially
junk food, and you don’t exercise your muscles
“emotionally
unhealthy” not quite the
opposite of emotionally healthy; excluding mental disorders and chemical
imbalances, this means not loving yourself or hating yourself for any reason
And
finally, a list of truths to get us started:
1.
“Physically Healthy” does not necessarily equal “skinny”
2.
“Emotionally Healthy” does not physically manifest itself as “skinny”
3.
“Physically Unhealthy” does not necessarily equal “fat”
4.
“Emotionally Unhealthy” does not physically manifest itself as “fat”
5. “Fat”
does not equal “obese” just as “skinny” does not equal “anorexic”
6. Being
“in shape” does not mean you are “skinny”
7. Being
“skinny” does not mean you are “in shape”
8. Being
“fat” does not mean you are “out of shape”
9. Being
“out of shape” does not mean you are “fat”
The Wider
Writer has focused in on these truths with her own perspective (which is
perfectly shared by the BB):
“Physically
Healthy” does not necessarily equal “skinny”
It is not as
unattainable to be physically healthy as people think it is. EAT
FOOD THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU. MOVE YOUR HAPPY MUSCLES. If
your body is healthy, you’ll feel healthy. Your shape has nothing to
do with it. However, the means to become physically healthy can be
difficult for some people, whether it is because of a lack of education on
proper nutrition and exercise, or because of the financial accessibility in
their area.
“Emotionally
Healthy” does not physically manifest itself as “skinny”
Being
emotionally healthy is unfortunately often associated with this body
shape. Often people think that fat people are not happy with
themselves because they are fat, and who wants to be fat? However,
being emotionally healthy should not have any connection to body
shape. Instead, it should be tied to nothing other than loving
yourself, including the skin you’re in and your awesomeness!
“Physically
Unhealthy” does not necessarily equal “fat”
ANYONE can be
physically unhealthy. Physically unhealthy is not something limited
to people with a fat body type. In fact, it is possible to be fat
AND physically healthy (check research above) and to be skinny AND physically
unhealthy. I mean, come on. Didn’t we all have that
skinny-as-a-rail friend who could eat a whole bag of Cheetos in one sitting and
never gain an ounce? Just because your body shape is socially
desirable or undesirable does not mean that you are healthy or unhealthy!
“Emotionally
Unhealthy” does not physically manifest itself as “fat”
Getting the
point yet? This whole blog is literally about this
statement! YOU CAN BE FAT AND EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY. We are
living examples of this! We love our bodies and all of our physical
imperfections and we still remain physically imperfect. It is
possible.
“Fat” does
not equal “obese” just as “skinny” does not equal “anorexic”
This is a huge
ridiculous mess. I absolutely loathe these
confusions. Obese and Anorexic are too often used CASUALLY, which is
awful because then it belittles the very serious issues. Unless you
are a medical professional and the person you are discussing is your patient
and the person you are discussing them with IS IN FACT the patient, you have
absolutely no goddamn business telling someone that they are obese or
anorexic. Obesity is a serious condition in which your body weight
is detrimental to your health and is causing other bad things to happen (check
articles for support here). Anorexia is a VERY SERIOUS eating disorder
that affects a person’s mental well-being AS WELL AS being detrimental to their
health. Fat and skinny are body shapes. Let’s all
try to stop mixing these up before I lose it.
Being “in
shape” does not mean you are “skinny”
Okay, so the
whole “shape” thing is misleading, right? Well, maybe we should have
called it something else. Anyway, it is easier to be “in shape” if
you are also physically healthy because your body will be able to keep up with
the amount of physical work you are doing. And if you recall, you
don’t have to be skinny to be physically healthy. Maybe it would be
easier to use a metaphor for this. Your body is a really adorable
puppy. If you give a really adorable puppy food, water, a place to
live, and snuggles, that puppy will reward you in the only way it can: by being
your bestest friend forever. Likewise, if you treat your body right,
it will reward you in the only way it can: by helping you complete physical
tasks. Everyone loves a puppy metaphor.
Being
“skinny” does not mean you are “in shape”
Maybe the puppy
metaphor will work here: just because you have THE CUTEST KIND OF PUPPY EVER (a
welsh corgi, duh) does not guarantee that your puppy will be your bestest
friend forever. If you yell at it all the time and don’t feed it and
make it sleep in the cold, it will probably not reward you by being your
bestest friend forever. Likewise, even if your body is THE MOST
DESIRABLE BODY EVER, you could still be out of shape!
Being “fat”
does not mean you are “out of shape”
Can we keep
going with this puppy thing? I love puppies. If you have
the world’s ugliest puppy (not sure how that is even possible because all
puppies are adorable but do your best to imagine it) and everyone tells you
that your puppy is wrong and you need to get rid of it, it could still reward
you by being your bestest friend ever if you love it and treat it
right. You would then have a puppy that you love and that loves you
in return, and the rest of the world can get over it. So even if
your body is the most undesirable shape ever, you can still be healthy, and it
can still reward you by helping you complete difficult tasks!
Being “out of
shape” does not mean you are “fat”
I don’t know if
I can make the puppy metaphor work here, but you get my drift. I
want to stop hearing people use these terms interchangeably! I will absolutely
correct the next person I hear saying, “I’m so out of shape. I need
to lose weight.” If you’re telling me that you need to lose weight
to get into shape, I’m going to tell you that you need to put down that bag of
Cheetos, not because I want your body to look a certain way, but because I want
you to treat your body right. That’s like saying, “I have a
headache. I need to take Tums.” Tums aren’t going to do a
damn thing for your headache, and losing weight isn’t going to make you “in
shape” unless you also become a healthier person.
 |
| In summary... |
So, now that you've taken the time to read
those research links (hopefully!) and also explored our definitions, thoughts,
and fun puppy analogies, we hope that you have a greater understanding of body
love, false equivalencies, and social constructions. What people often view as
the socially acceptable body is NOT necessarily healthy, while what people view
as the socially unacceptable body is NOT necessarily unhealthy. Rather, skinny
and fat are social constructions masquerading as indicators of health and
happiness. The false equivalency fat=unhealthy is just ridiculous!
So
the next time you hear these terms used in an incorrect context, speak up! Body
love is a constant inner and outer struggle, and we need each others' help to
love our own bodies before we can begin changing society's view of the body.
Don't let social constructs control your feelings--your self-love could be the
key to changing minds!
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