Hi, everybody! I’m back from my hiatus, and hope you’re still around and ready to talk about some body positive stuff. Let’s get some housekeeping out of the way first, and then I’ll tell you what got me so fired up that I had to start blogging again.
The project I mentioned back in April (has it really been that long?!) is still in the works, but as it’s taking way longer than I hoped it would (and possibly morphing into something quite different than what I’d originally planned), I decided to get back in the post-writing mode while doing the project on non-blogging days. Regarding posts, I’m not going to keep to a schedule like I did before, but rather will post when I have something to say (or, like today, something has me pretty fired up!). The easiest way to stay up to date with BFD is to sign up for emails when I post (do that by sending me your email up there on the left-hand side of the page, where is says Subscribe), or by liking BFD on Facebook (click here).
So! On to the getting fired up thing. This showed up on my Facebook news feed:
At the time I saved it to share with you (over a week ago), this image – which was originally posted by some radio station page – had been shared over 50,000 times. Fifty thousand people thought this was hilarious, and true, and worth sharing. But so did someone who knows and loves me.
I thought long and hard about confronting the person who posted it. I composed dozens of emails, text messages, and comments. I talked to people who understand and support the body positive work I do. And, in the end, I decided to let it go. I know this person was not thinking about me when they posted it. Me and my fat body didn’t even cross their mind. Instead, they were thinking about themselves, and their own fear of becoming… well, like me.
In my experience, a post like this is often enjoyed and shared by people who will never actually become fat. (This is true of the person who I know who shared it.) If they relent in that endless battle and let their love of food “win,” they might gain a few pounds, but they won’t become an actual fat person, the kind that shows up in headless fatty pictures on OMG!OBESITY articles. Like, you know, me.
Thin people: I’d like you to imagine seeing a post on social media that says people fear becoming like you. That they fight every day not to be like you. That implies becoming or being like you is to be avoided at any cost. That would make you feel pretty terrible, wouldn’t it? That’s how I felt when I read this, because that’s what it says: You battle every day to not be fat, to not be like me. I am what you hope you never become. That’s too bad, because I’m pretty awesome.
Also, for the record, food is necessary for life. So that should win the battle every time.
