The trying times of the dissected body.
I want to talk about body positivity. We're living in a world where there is no longer people striving for the middle ground and people fall into the sad perspective of seeing things in black and white. You're either a feminist or you go out of your way to explain why they're all these raging lunatics that want to castrate every man and call it a day. Separating ourselves even further into a pit of who's wrong and who's right. Giving off a terrible sense of entitlement from both sides.
Now I know that things are no longer how they used to be and that as a society we've progressed from the dark ages. Now weight as a whole is a touchy subject for many.
Growing up I remember my mother always advocating the importance of eating healthy, of why home cooked meal were better than eating fast food and why staying fit was vital. I remember she would say this constantly because she herself was overweight. She had been thin her whole life up until she had her first child: me. Afterwards, she started working overtime at her job making it difficult for her to always make health-conscious decisions of what she ate when her lunch break was a maximum of 20 minutes and the only thing available was fast food. That coupled with stress and a thyroid problem she began gaining weight and no matter what she did, she could not shed the pounds she had no trouble of avoiding before. To make matters worse my father would constantly criticize her appearance, making her lose her self esteem and slowly burrowing her into a depression that stopped her from using the small energy she had left to continue to feel positive. I still resent him for it.
However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, I was always a very frail and relatively thin girl. Growing up I would get comments that perhaps I was maybe too thin and if I just ate a little more I could look prettier even though despite my mother's warnings, I would eat chips and candy after-school for semesters on end. I would sneak burgers when I was out with friends and as I grew older I seldom did any exercise but I never gained excessive weight so no one would ever crucify me as being unhealthy even though I was afraid that because of high blood pressure running in my family I would inevitably get it too if I didn't already.
So it leads me to what I want to discuss:
Body positivity is in itself a positive thing and it's very important despite what others may say. A lot of people against this movement will argue that their intentions are sensible and that they're not trying to make you feel like a monster but rather argue that it encourages unhealthy lifestyles and that it's not our duty as a society to make you feel good about yourself instead of raising the actual question of why we as a group feel the need to belittle those without the "ideal" body type. Quite frankly I don't believe the "I'm just a concerned citizen that wants everyone to live longer" angle. Sure, obesity leads to many diseases and complications but we don't feel the need to shame and constantly spit at smokers and drinkers who one would argue do the same amount of damage to their bodies.
Another interesting thing I've noticed about people that are against this movement is that they themselves have never been in this situation and it's hard to be understanding of something that has never affected one directly. There's a disconnection there, a barrier that is hard to see past if you're not willing to.
Furthermore, what it boils down to is appearance. Living in an world where looks are everything it's difficult not to come at it with a superficial view, our conditioning to the media's portrayal of the perfect body plays a part on what we deem beautiful and what we see as disgusting. And it's not just for overweight, obese, doesn't fit the prototype women but for everyone that doesn't accommodate to the standard that in order to be healthy you have to look a certain way.
It's not just a stab at your ego but also a dehydration to your mental state. If you perpetually tell someone that they have to change, that they'll never be acceptable or desirable, that the statistics say you'll die at 35 it won't increase the chances of them ever making a change but instead keep them in the idea that they're not worth their efforts. Instead of looking at the factors of why most of the population struggles with a weight problem many have attributed that the only solution is tough love. In short, I'll bully you until I deem you worthy of my admiration.
The truth is that this kind of mindset never work and most people that struggle with weight problem already know that they have a problem. Considering that most actually do make an effort of changing their lifestyle to a healthier one it doesn't always guarantee that you'll weight 120 pounds and look like the models advertised on television. You can eat salads everyday, go on strict diets, change to vegetarianism, exercise daily and that still won't warrant a thin body. There's more here than just self-control.
Body positivity is about feeling comfortable in your own skin.
So instead of keeping the fat shaming dogma we should consider other methods, other ways we can help our fellow man instead of constant condemnation.
As always
thank you for reason
I'd love to hear your views and ideas about this topic so feel free to comment or message me about it.
sincerely,
your frustrated narrator
It seems that the radio is dying. Over the years ...
