What is body positivity, really? It depends who you ask.
As body positivity has become more commercialized over the years, the idea of a movement that originated as an offshoot of weight gain in the 1960s and 1970s has become confusing and universal. For many, body positivity and self-love are interchangeable terms, a reminder that everyone deserves love, proper appreciation, and respect. While this remains a valid message, it raises a key question: how will self-love save overweight people from fatphobia?
Many have seen heated debates on Twitter comparing “the shame of being ashamed of being overweight with the shame of being overweight”. And while it’s certainly true that no body type is free from societal scrutiny, it’s not about which is better or worse, but why they should be analyzed as two different forms of discrimination on two different playing fields. .
In general, the conversation about weight discrimination has focused on overweight and thin bodies, and this is largely due to the fact that in most cases the topic becomes generally accepted because of celebrities. Their power drives the trend, and the lack of well-known plus-size advocates (especially black women) has weakened the body-positivity of his original intent: to dismantle the systemic oppression of excess weight.
Fatphobia is an irrational fear, disgust, or discrimination against obesity or obese people. Fatphobia is rooted in racism and hatred of black bodies, evolving into the multi-layered oppression that overweight people face today. Fatphobia is much more complex than body shame. This is an inevitable plague that affects overweight people in the medical industry, at work, in the fashion industry, etc.
On the other hand, body shaming is defined as the act or practice of subjecting someone to criticism or ridicule for perceived body imperfections. Unlike fatphobia, this feeling of shame can be experienced by anyone, regardless of their weight. This is especially true for those who struggle with eating disorders, body dysmorphia.
Combining the two issues when they are fundamentally different understates the extent to which fatphobia has held sway over the terror of imperfect bodies for centuries. While body shame can sting and destroy on a personal level, fatphobia is a social issue that has a lot of power over a person’s life.
There is a level of violence when you are denied a job and you have to feed your family, provide for yourself in order to live and thrive as a complete person because you are overweight. And the HR specialist has an internal prejudice against overweight people. Or like when you get on a plane and find out that the airline has a policy on obesity. Self-love at this moment simply cannot save.
The very concept of self-love has become so confusing that many believe that plus-size people should feel “empowered enough” by this movement to want to lose weight and “get better,” as if being overweight is the worst state of their lives.
Fatphobia is the most widely used term, but we think society should start narrowing down exactly what we mean when we talk about fatphobia. In such a case, the term “systemic anti-fat bias” may be a better option. This is a weight-based oppression that affects people with overlapping marginal identities to a much greater extent. People who are on the border of different social groups, systems, cultures, and are influenced by their conflicting norms and values.
The hope behind this change is to help thin people better understand that bullying overweight people is much more damaging than just saying they need to lose weight. The experience of being overweight is downplayed because being overweight is still viewed as a choice or a moral failure, a factor in life that can be “easily” changed with enough effort and determination.
We don’t say “love yourself and racism will disappear” or “xenophobia will disappear” or “homophobia will disappear only with self-love”. And this is because we have not yet begun to humanize overweight people.
Obesity research has become a weapon against such people. There is a big push for “obesity treatment,” but what about making sure therapists understand weight discrimination?
While society as a whole continues to uplift and prioritize thinness, bodies that fall short of these standards are constantly ostracized and ridiculed. And this reason is put forward in the fight against systemic fatphobia. For equal access, equal respect and fair treatment in all areas.
Shaming anyone, no matter their size, is unacceptable and disgusting behavior. People of all sizes, races, backgrounds, and genders are affected by eating disorders, bad image, and the like. And that is why we need more self-love in this world to remind us all of our value in life.
But fatphobia is a field for discussion, not one that needs to be compared on a larger or smaller scale, but one that needs to be acknowledged. Because seeing more and more skinny celebrities talking about image battles does little to help the fact that 48 states allow people to be fired because of weight issues.
There is more to be done than many think. However, the first step is sincere conversation and understanding.