Health was never the problem

by | Personal, Self-Care

Fat woman shrugs

Maybe you’re wondering why I haven’t commented on the Nike mannequin and the resulting shit show on the internet. ARE you wondering that? I know some of you have sent me links and articles or tagged me in your mentions. So why haven’t I had my say yet? Why haven’t I posted MY Nike activewear selfie yet? 🤔🤔🤔

 

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Going to the gym now. In the gym attire I‘m allowed to wear. 🤷🏻‍♀️ This is such a sore spot for me – when I started working out 3,5 years ago – I went through a shiiiitload of brands trying to find clothes that fit me and felt comfortable when working out. Having now a huge brand like @nikewomen including bigger bodies in their range makes me the fvck happy. So please go fvck yourself Telegraph for putting out that cloutchasing article hoping for going viral and benefiting of the bullshit you publish. And also – Never forget what brands like @grrrl_clothing or @girlswhopowerlift did for us years ago – these were the only brands that provided amazing fit and quality for such a variety of bodies! I‘m grateful forever! #nike #nikewomen #grrrlarmy #glorifyingobesity #weightonlycountsonthebar #nonairbrushedme #nakedornike

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it’s so disheartening working in an industry where you think great strides are being made, only to be starkly reminded that fatphobia is rampant and no matter what we do we will never be respected Just last week we saw something incredible happen. @nike put a plus size mannequin in Nike Town. A representation of a body we never see in the fitness industry. It was powerful But yet again another think piece comes out. Another dehumanising, awful set of words to remind us fat people that we are despised by society. Tanya Gold the writer of the piece in the Telegraph describes the mannequin as “An immense, gargantuan, vast. She heaves with fat. She is, in every measure, obese, and she is not readying herself for a run in her shiny Nike gear. She cannot run. She is, more likely, pre-diabetic and on her way to a hip replacement.” I usually would write a response to this with a point to prove. something defending my point of view and those of my peers saying how outdated and disgusting these views are but quite honestly what’s the point? I’m that heaving with fat woman she is talking about. It’s ludicrous that fat people are mocked, bullied and told to get to the gym and lose weight yet we are also told, we don’t deserve the access to active wear. Do you see how ridiculous that is? Which goes to show It’s got nothing to do with health concern and everything to do with prejudice Prejudice and discrimination isn’t just harassment, or discriminatory behaviour. It’s living every day life watching as people stare at you whilst you eat. Move away from you when they think you will sit next to them, listening to countless jokes being made about your body shape on TV any film. It’s doctors not offering you care because of your weight or not getting jobs because of the size dress you wear. It’s no wonder people are turning to extreme weight loss measures like surgery because it feels like the only way out. If you are following this page and you aren’t plus size please use your platform to stand up against this especially and even more so for plus size people of colour. Hashtagging #bodypositivity isn’t enough. Please Speak out

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Wonder no more because I’m here to clear a few things up! Firstly I’m not surprised. There was no shock for me that people piled on or that it became such a big story. I live in a fat body every single day. Sometimes I share photos of that body on the internet. I know how it looks out there for us.

But post after post comes out denouncing this conversation about our bodies like we don’t know they hate us. We do. Believe me, we 100% do. And I know some of you might be surprised that’s still the case, you tried so hard to fit what they wanted you to be. Or you see women with hourglass figures on the runway or in magazines and think the problem is solved.

It’s not.

Not while there is an acceptable and a not acceptable body. Not while people feel so free to comment and critic a stranger (or in this case a piece of plastic). Even go so far as to make up a fake medical history for that plastic based on fear and learned prejudice. We are never going to be good enough for them. That’s why living our lives without thought or concern for them is such a victory: we, the unacceptably fat. The ones who SHOULD try harder, eat less, exercise more or get the surgeries. But dear lord, don’t sully the Nike brand doing (right, faceless internet?)

That’s why it’s not about thin women or brands whoring products under the body positive banner; Body Positivity is a movement shifting the prejudices people live with every day in their relationships, jobs and especially access to basic unbiased health care. Not about how many likes your underwear selfies can garner, your stretch marks or cellulite or if you can prove you move your body enough to be worthy of being left alone. It’s life and death for some people, try to keep that in mind next time.

I worry about the lack of emotion it stirred in me to see those words, targeted to shame and humiliate us.

Maybe I’m broken, I wondered? Did they finally push me over the edge into nothingness? Am I resigned to my fate in this world? But I’m determined that that not be the case. Perhaps after all this time, I don’t care what they think. Or more accurately, I don’t believe that ‘their’ opinion, filled with blatantly faux concern for fat people’s health, is more valid than my own. I know what my body does and doesn’t do. What it feels like and, when I can access adequate health care in an equally biased system, what my health is like.

And none of that, my ability to fit or perform in whatever category, changes for one second that I am a person. A person who deserves respect, or at very least, to be allowed to exist without hate and bigotry being my daily experience. That seems fair, right? I should be able to have that. Then why is it so sooooo hard?

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