fat and feminism, again.

[keryx]

It's ironic how I never tire of getting into this discussion with people. Fat people who aren't feminists. Feminists who don't recognize fat acceptance as an issue. Both of them not getting the difference between THIN and HEALTHY. I can't shut up about it.

Case in point #1: on the Don't Tell Me What Size I Must Be list yesterday, someone goes all off on how Slim Fast is making her life great and she needs to lose 100 pounds. And I fired back a really nice note that really diplomatically said - if you're going to talk diet on a fat acceptance list, the very least you can do is WARN ME before I read that shit. Because I don't care what you do, but I don't want to read it.

Case in point #2: the fat activist vs. weight watchers post on feminist_rage (any of you who don't already read f-r ought to at least read that post). Man, people start talking about this and I cannot shut up. I don't think any American woman has a true grasp on how healthy or unhealthy she is, because we've been sold this message that thin is now not only in, but a guarantee against early death. And we've bought it so well. So, hell yeah, fat is a feminist issue. It's one hairy ugly component of the beauty myth. Maybe not The Central Feminist Issue, but certainly one we ought to care about.

Comments

[firecat]

I'm glad you don't tire of it, because I certainly do, even though I agree with you 100%.

And reading the posts in question, as well as comments here, I see that it's not just "fat" that is used to keep American women down, it's also "unhealthy." In fact I think health-judging is starting to become even more of a problem than appearance-judging (although they're related), because so many otherwise perspicacious feminists have swallowed the notion that it's appropriate to judge other people on their health or lack thereof.

And also - "But I'm not being antifeminist. I'm losing weight for ME." Um, I would believe that if more than 1 percent of women ever said "I'm gaining weight for ME." But since they're almost all "losing weight for ME," I have a hard time believing they aren't being influenced by societal weight hysteria.

[libskrat]

Yes yes YES on the "unhealthy" as stick to beat people with. I meant to go there in my earlier comment and then I forgot.

I think the "unhealthy" thing is code. It's just uncool enough to judge people on their appearance that folks don't want to do it. But health, hey, that's fair game, and it makes a fine appearance proxy.

I'm gaining weight for me, dammit. :)

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

What about the unhealthy stick that beats me when I try to go up four flights of stairs and I feel lightheaded and winded? What about the unhealthy stick that beats me when I try to help a friend move and end up hurting myself? What about the unhealthy stick that beats me when I go down some stairs and notice my knees just can't take it anymore... and I'm still in my 20s?

There is nothing in my mind wrong with being health conscious. If I notice the above things happening to me, it seems completely reasonable to use the word "unhealthy" in regards to myself liberally.

The media serves two functions in this body-conscious struggle: to sell and to inform. To figure out where to get real information on health, you have to wade through mounds and mounds of sales pitches and advertising.

I guess you probably were not trying to blame the word "unhealthy" itself but the real key, I think, is to blame the people who use it inappropriately. There is nothing wrong with striving to be healthy. There is something wrong with trying to buy "healthy" as a product, or to sell "healthy" without making damn sure you're doing it in the most informed way possible.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

In my mind the problem is exactly that - we focus on buying and selling healthy as we'd do with any other product. Not only is it not a product, but it's a baldfaced lie - what is sold as healthy isn't even what will really make people healthy, it's a series of short-term "solutions" to a long-term problem. And it's waaaaaaaaaaaaay too focused on the appearance of healthy over the actuality of healthy.

Any I think your personal unhealthy stick is that you don't exercise, at least not in a way that builds stair-climbing muscles. Because, say it with me, your weight is not inherently tied to your health. ;) It may well be a side effect, though.

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

Which brings to mind another problem: the amazing abundance of information. You can pretty much find a study that will tell you anything will make you healthier; what's a layperson to do when we can't even trust the doctors anymore? What with revisionist medical practices and prescription drug advertising... I wouldn't touch a magazine with the word "Health" on it with a ten foot pole. It serves us all to educate ourselves while we're listening to our bodies... It's alot of work in a world where most of us work sitting down all day. Or even better, in scary repetitive motion all day.

I do exercise now... and like I told the lady at Curves - if I find that I feel good, my lungs feel good and I can lift things and I am energized, I likely won't give a good god damn what the scales say. :) At least I really hope that's true, right now I have a wayward eye at the scale.

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

Is there EVER a time when it's okay to say "I'm losing weight for me"?

[fooltheworld.livejournal.com]

Good question!

[firecat]

Of course it's OK to "say" it. I just happen to think that the decision to focus on weight loss (as opposed to the decision to increase one's exercise or eat more veggies) is usually partially informed by cultural weight hysteria, and that a lot of people who say "I'm losing weight for me" aren't aware of the extent to which they are influenced by cultural messages about weight.

But judging other people for their political awareness is just as bad as judging other people for their health, so I'll shut up now.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Pfft. Judging other people based on their political awareness ROCKS. Because I do it all the time. :P