#weight normalisation

‘Platforming unhealthily thin bodies encourages them’ sure, that could be a discussion, but if we are to have that conversation it should extend to fat bodies too and probably anyone who’s had something like Botox done or veneers/implants put in because that can be unhealthy too. I fear that covers just about most celebrities? It’s clearly an unrealistic expectation, so your best bet is to work on being more secure in yourself while prioritising something more objective like your health.

And I think if you’re excusing being fat by saying you’re ’opposing/not giving into beauty standards’ you are still too focused on these beauty standards because they are still coming in the way of bettering your health. They very clearly have a strong effect on you. Again, if you’re an adult that is wholly your responsibility to work on.

Of course I think this somewhat comes with age. If you’re a child then this responsibility falls to your caregivers and this is where I think open discussions on diet and caloric/macronutrient needs can be a part of harm reduction so you might be better equipped to resist societal pressure.

I was thinking about it because of this post:

Being a healthy weight primarily affects you physically, you’re less encumbered, your health could improve, you can fit into things better etc. On its own it affects little else. You might never be satisfied if you were chasing an idealised body type based off someone else or you might never be valued by others in the way you want.

In terms of healthcare, at best it inherently takes trial and error and there’s no guarantee that health professionals are optimally trained or humble. And if you are of any marginalised identity you will likely still face discrimination.

And in terms of social interactions (which tends to be the focus of fat acceptance), I will admit that attractive people occasionally get treated better. However, being a normal weight/underweight is not a guarantee to being seen as attractive. And it definitely doesn’t improve how you communicate, how social you are, if you come across as intelligent or interesting, if you’re an honest person or all the other things that people might look for in companionship/in another person.

Being a healthy weight JUST puts you at the physical baseline in terms of weight. It’s the range that on average limits weight-related health issues, though body composition and your waist:height ratio should still be considered.

Believing that skinny people have it SO much better than fat people idolises their body size, even if you’re expressing this through anger or sadness. Why do I have such a big issue with this view of being thin? It’s paralysing; it’s othering; it encourages viewing thinness and fatness as identities rather than just weights. We tend to actively value identities in the face of erasure, applying this framework to fatness/thinness makes weight normalisation seem impossible (identities are often unchangeable) or worse, harmful to the ‘community’. People should work towards weight normalisation in a safe manner for their health, the approval or disapproval of others should not factor into this at all, your health is largely* devoid of morality, others can’t shame you for it.

*I do think that if you have dependents then it’s less free of morality. If someone’s life partly relies on you, particularly if they didn’t have a choice in this, you have a responsibility to be healthy

Do people in fat liberation genuinely think there are only two body types: skinny and obese? Are people who are at a healthy weight/are overweight just invisible? Or is it just that everyone who isn’t obese is skinny? If it’s that then do we know the meaning of the word?

Like yes, being skinny is a huge strain on you physically and mentally but so is being obese. The latter can be a strain on your finances too! (Obviously that doesn’t make being skinny is any better, weight normalisation is the goal)