Is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me. - J.K. Rowling
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When I describe myself as fat,
others seem to take it to mean that I hate myself and my body. The word “fat”
has come to have such a negative connotation. It is used as an insult to those
who are overweight or obese. So often the media uses it to shame those who have
any fat whatsoever. Weight loss companies tell men and women that they should
not have any of it and then tell those men and women magical ways to lose it.
Because of the way the term fat was used and how it was directed towards me, I
tried to avoid the word entirely. I did not want to be associated with something
so negative; something that everyone is trying to get rid of. So again, fat
feminism surprised me (as it has many times). Why is there a group of women so happy to identify as fat?
Mainstream media occasionally offers
up fat people to be used as role models, but they are doused with clever adjectives.
When Whitney Thompson was on the cover of Seventeen Magazine, she was the first
plus-sized contestant to win America’s Next Top Model. The article published alongside
her photos used words like “curvy” or “plus-sized” and even “bootylicious”;
never fat. Using the word fat would have suggested that she was self-hating or
that the author/ magazine itself did not approve of her weight. But fat
feminists have taken back the word fat and have reshaped it into just another
adjective that can even be positive.
What really is fat? Fat cells store
extra calories to be used later when the body needs the energy. Fat cells also
regulate metabolism by releasing hormones (WebMD). And that is it. It is an
essential part of a healthy body. Fat does not determine worth or
attractiveness. It is unfortunate that people are using a naturally occurring
part of the body against each other.
I refuse to ever let someone use the word fat as a way to insult me. I have accepted fat as an adjective that can describe me but it does not have to be a negative thing. Someone calling me fat only shows how unoriginal they are. They are not the first person to call me that, and they certainly will not be the last; and that is perfectly fine because I am happy being fat.
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You know, this feels like two different posts here that you've blended together. I guess what we have to do is find the connecting link. Who gets to determine what "fat" is in a society? Fat feminists have one definition, and others have many other definitions (I'm sure some people are pro-healthy bodies in many shapes but wouldn't use the term "fat" in that context). How you define "fat" in the latter half of this post is part of the medical definition, of course. But I think what is missing here is a medical definition of obesity. Because we're not talking on the cellular level here but something else, right?
ReplyDeleteIsn't worth or attractiveness in the eye of the beholder? What I mean by that is that there is a wide spectrum of what an average person (not people in the magazine industry or in Hollywood) deem attractive. And for some people, weight does determine attractiveness, but it goes in both directions: some people are even more attracted to those who weigh more than the average, and some people are attracted to the other end of the spectrum.
When posting about this topic, think "sociological" and "psychological"--find research on how societies define beauty and the range of spectrums that each society includes.