I'm feeling fiery today, and it's because I know that there are people out in the world (maybe you?) who are feeling blocked in their ability to enjoy movement because of that scabby scourge that is fatphobia.
And that's counter to my mission, of bringing people back to their movement joy practice ('cuz we all had one when we were 4, ya know??).
Now, the more I learn about bodies—and you KNOW how much I like to learn— the more clearly I see all the ways that fatphobia (and it's colleagues in bullsh*t called able-ism, health-ism, race-ism and all the other -isms) make the work of 'training' (aka guiding your body to feel better and do more) much, much harder.
Again and again, fatphobia stands in the way of our individual AND collective progress.
On the one hand, fatphobia contributes to the daily subjugation of people who have visible body-fat on their bodies.
As Lindy West first (in my world) pointed out, anti-fat bias is one of the last socially acceptable ways to discriminate against people publicly and directly to their face (not to mention behind their back, too).
And yet health practitioners, from massage therapists and personal trainers to doctors and psychiatrists, routinely focus on a person's weight (or worse, their BMI, a useless sham of a statistic) to bully them into behavior change. (When has bullying ever worked? As in long-term, measurable change that DIDN'T come with terrible side-effects?)
This kind of systematic bias causes pain and suffering, inside and out; in my opinion, it is a form of violence.
This, of course, props up the social/cultural pressures that point to one body shape as 'the right one', and cast the others aside.
And this message leaks into all of our psyches, whether we look 'fat' or not. Raise your hand if you have 'felt fat' no matter how you look, or what other people say about your body?
raises hand<<
In fact, I spent a solid portion of my teens and twenties obsessing about my food intake, over-exercising, and rapidly fluctuating my weight. I didn't "look like" I had an eating disorder (which is not something you can see, anyway), but if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…
.
Thankfully, I got the message, and started moving away from this harmful way of seeing and treating my body.
And I am happy to see that the word is starting to get out into the broader meme-o-sphere, as well, and the 'word' is this: fatphobia isn't based on scientific reality.
Body fat is not a signifier of health, let alone morality, and any guidance that puts the LOSS of body fat as a goal above all the other ways that someone might make their body and world a better, safer, place to be, is downright negligent.
Humans come in different sizes. Period.
Only when a critical mass of people in the world see that fact as fact can we let (all) humans be humans—magnificent, imperfect, creative, communal, energetic, sluggish, allll of it—and get down to the real business of saving ourselves, each other, and our world.
And if you're curious to learn a bit more, I can highly recommend subscribing to Virgie Tovar's Body Positive University as a friendly (and fiendishly smart) guide into this way of seeing ourselves and the culture we all swim in. I look forward to reading her emails evvvverytime.
That's all for now!
In your corner, Will