There couldn't be more truth to this. I know it to be 100%-true but yet I still shy away from some things... mostly out of emotional exhaustion from bullies rather than low self esteem.
But this is body positivity... body neutrality to me. Seeing fat people in media isn't promoting diabetes it is saying these people are indeed humans like the rest of us and deserve respect. We all have a story... maybe one can argue that with weight issues it becomes visual so we can't make pretend our lives are flawless like others do.
I once got weight loss advice from a lady whom I later found out had an extreme eating disorder. Yet her in the cover of a magazine would be considered healthy and I would have been reprimanded for my appearance and shamed for what people assumed was my lifestyle. ( with no o evidence other than sizism and assumption mind you). She would have been " sexy" , I would have been " promoting obesity " .
So this is often why women will just give up doing what they want. Shame, fear, self hatred.
The backlash against fat people standing up for themselves is really a fear of them. We are out of control... and the haters don't like it.. we were their last safe prejudice. Some of us are activists.. many are seeing the light .. we are no longer "behaving" . And by behaving I don't mean forcing ourselves on diets that don't work to get the idealized body... but by choosing to wear a crop top or a swimsuit. Because the generations before us were shamed into the corner. We have been ignored , neglected , judged or cruelly made fun of.
The next time you want to judge someone for having thunder thighs .. ask yourself why... it's a pretty neutral thing. Ever stop and think one's distaste for " fat" people ( women especially) is a taught prejudice?! If one hasn't been told we were "gross" would you have ever even blinked at a 300lb lady on a beach?! Guess what she has a right to be with her kids in the fresh sea air too. She can take in the sun and enjoy the sand between her toes too. Thin priviledge is pretty ridiculous now.. maybe one of the reasons why so many are just getting sassy back.
Fat people shouldn't feel they need to limit who they are and miss their life because that is what is secretly expected of them.
So will I offend someone in a pool one day in a bikini.. hopefully. I am trying to get there... my anxiety and nerves take me away from my truth. And the truth is I matter no more or less but I do matter even though I am not a single digit dress size. And so do ALL others.
Smell the flowers, take the walk outside , buy that dress. Because in the end it is your life.
My fat crazy life may be an interesting book one day. I now see other people suffering my past and my inner knowledge screams no not again.
I am not promoting any lifestyle.. just like any average , thin , skinny," weight proportionate to height" person is not promoting anything by having a body. A magazine or business may have an agenda.. but us everyday folk we just want to have a happy life. A life without hesitation.
