Change our bodies or change their minds
Lindsay at babble has this thought posted: They want us to change our bodies because they think it’s easier than changing their minds.
My thoughts on this (because of course I have an opinion, I have an opinion on everything, ya know?) are that the "they" that want us to change our bodies are all the fat-phobes who have bought into the conventional (and unproved) wisdom that says fat is always unhealthy, no matter if it's 20 lbs or 400 lbs. Those fat-phobes aren't just the common man out there, they're also the researchers that begin a study looking for reasons to vilify fat and willingly ignore everything that doesn't back up that theory. They're also the doctors that ignore research showing that being fat isn't any worse for a person's health than being thin (all factors being equal).
Why don't they want to change their minds? Could it be that then they would have to admit that they've been wrong all along? That they weren't smart enough to see through the lies they've been fed? That they started out with an erroneous assumption and ignored the results that showed they were wrong and they just can't admit that they would do something like that? That it's never been about health? That it's always been about aesthetics and selling a product we don't need, that we never needed? That it's been about greed? The more they can make us unhappy with our bodies, the more money they make off us, selling us diet plans, the perfect hair color, the tanning salons so we can have that perfect tan, the designer clothes, the wrinkle cream, the plastic surgery, the gym memberships to tone that body, all so we can meet that unattainable ideal (which keeps getting smaller and smaller). Never be satisfied with who you are or how you look, because if you ever do decide to love yourself as you are, they will cease to have a reason for existence, and you will be royally pissed about all the time, effort, emotion, and money you wasted trying to be something that you aren't and can never be, at least not permanently.
How easy is it to change our bodies to meet their ideal? Well, from my personal experience, it's more time and effort than I want to expend. I don't want to have to obsess about every bite of food I can't eat for the rest of my life. I don't want to have to live with starvation for the rest of my life. I don't want to have to spend half of my waking hours exercising like a hamster on speed trying to get thin while I'm starving myself. I have a life to live, a husband to love, books to read, movies to see, grandchildren to play with, crafts and sewing to do, shopping to do, housework and meals and laundry to do, friends to enjoy. If I'm exercising half my waking hours and starving myself, I'm not living, I'm existing. Sorry, I would rather live happy and fat, than miserable, starving, and thin. I think I'll live longer if I'm happy than I would if I was miserable, no matter what my weight happens to be. If the world of fat-phobes can't accept that, too bad, sucks to be you.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
5 comments:
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I've noticed that people who are "healthy" and who tell those of us with health problems that we'd be better if only we did x, y or z seem to have a similar bent. I think some of it is definitely--as you pointed out--an excuse to be "right," even if they actually aren't right. I also think some of it, particularly when it comes to people with chronic health problems (who may or may not be fat), is fear-based. The people who think they're "right" and perfectly "healthy" because they eat right/exercise for four hours a day/bathe in the blood of baby sheep do not want to acknowledge that bad things happen, because they are afraid that if it can happen to other people, it could happen to them. And, unfortunately, for some people who equate "being healthy" with having higher moral ground, the thought that they, too, are susceptible to illness and bad things happening is TERRIFYING.
ReplyDeleteYou raised some great points in this post. :)
annaham - I've noticed that too. My philosophy is "shit happens, deal with it", and generally, I do (not without bitching about it sometimes, but I still deal).
ReplyDeletei agree!!
ReplyDelete"The people who think they're "right" and perfectly "healthy" because they eat right/exercise for four hours a day/bathe in the blood of baby sheep"
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've been thinking about that of late. Most of the people who keep saying, "Hey, *I'M* not fat like *YOU* are because hey, I bother to eat right, make healthy choices, exercise, blah blah" are full of shit. If you work alongside them and with them, you see that NO they don't eat better, engage in healthier activity, work out more, etc. They seem to *believe* they must eat better, make more better conscious choices, exercise more, etc, because if they didn't, they wouldn't be thin, unlike us. Fact remains most of them (esp. the ones who say those things as an excuse to bash fat people) DON'T do them - they just think they do. They think being thin is their reward for living right, when all it was was winning a genetic lottery.
"do not want to acknowledge that bad things happen, because they are afraid that if it can happen to other people, it could happen to them. And, unfortunately, for some people who equate "being healthy" with having higher moral ground, the thought that they, too, are susceptible to illness and bad things happening is TERRIFYING."
Spot on, sister.
One woman at work (pretty fat) who just had a heart attack and was called "borderline" diabetic has taken to walking and using a pedometer all day long. Just over the month since her heart attack her sugar has gone down to normal, her steps have doubled, and she's *gained* weight. Meanwhile she has no trouble saying that the "fat" woman (who does weigh substantially more and who suffers asthma and diabetes) would cure her sugar and asthma if ONLY she would lose weight and do something for herself. Guess fat people are such gluttons they sometimes eat their own. Sigh.
If we accepted our bodies the way that they are, all these people would be out of business. There are so many companies that thrive on our low body image. I'm a lifetime member of WW. I'm not going to give them another cent so they can continue to convince more people that being thin is more important than being healthy.
ReplyDeleteIf I want to exercise two hours a day and eat less calories than a six year old, it is my business. I'm not going to say that you have to do it. We all have our own lives to live. We have to stop saying I can workout long hours so everyone should do it. It doesn't matter if it's possible or impossible to reach these goals. We need to decide what goals are important to our lives and live by our own rules. Life is too short.