4.19.2012

Ramblings on weight and autonomy

So this has been making the rounds on Facebook:

Original caption: "Each of these women weighs 150 lbs.
I'm comfortable with the message - women come in all shapes and sizes. Period. Some of us have more muscle, some have more body fat, some of that body fat can be fluffy or firm ... it varies. It is what it is. We are what we are.

It's sad that we still need to make points like these. There's far too much time spent auditing men's and women's bodies - we need to look like X and anyone who doesn't fit that mold is inferior/a freak of nature/lazy/etc. AND, if you have the audacity to fail to be X, let me give you boatloads of unsolicited advice on how to force yourself to fit that mold.

I recently leveled up (imho) when I realized that I needed to stop making jokes about skinny people. I have long been a fan of the fat acceptance movement (because STOP AUDITING OTHER PEOPLE'S LIFESTYLES UNLESS YOU ARE THEIR PHYSICIAN), but still cracked "she needs to eat a cookie/sandwich/etc." jokes whenever Anne Coulter came up in conversation. Or when someone particularly slim passed by me on the street. Or... whenever. It finally hit me - if I'm tired of fat folks having to explain their fatness (medication/injury/love of food/etc), then skinny peepz shouldn't be criticized either. You never know why someone weighs what they do. Or looks the way they do. And really, it's none of  your damn business, other than to let them be - their own bodies, their own choices and don't you dare act like they need to justify it to you. I'm happy to have come to that realization. Becoming a more positive, supportive human being is a journey, after all.

Anyhoo, I guess my point is that critics should shut their pie holes (even the "I'm just worried about your health" types - it is condescending, and some people refer to them as "concern trolls"). I'm fine discussing obesity and eating disorders in general terms, but interrogating/attacking individuals is cruel and unnecessary. 

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