We all know this question. It doesnât matter what the numbers on the weighing scale show, or how much we've worked to love our bodies. Somewhere, someday, we have all looked at our perfectly nice bodies and asked ourselves, âDo I look fat?â The fact that our society, pop culture, family, and that one door ke rishtedaar echo the fear of being fat back at us, doesnât help. Body positivity, or the impulse to love our bodies as they are, thrives in resistance to a society that tells us we arenât âenough.â But what if body positivity as a concept itself isnât enough? When it comes to fat bodies, and being fat, what if #selflove isnât all that it takes?
Thatâs what those who advocate for âfat acceptanceâ argue. They say that body positivity has its limits and it excludes the very bodies that it claims to create an inclusive society for â fat bodies. And we're not talking only of the aesthetically-pleasing fat bodies. Writing in Healthline.com, Amee Severson writes about the pressure of being a âgood fatty,â and says, âIt wasnât until I noticed that #bodypositivity influencers made me feel inadequate, like my body was too much to be really OK, that I started to question whether or not I belonged there. If body positivity is going to do what it was always supposed to do, it needs to include fat acceptance.â
Another reason why body positivity may be limiting for some, is that it doesnât include the very real discrimination that fat people face. This canât be erased by a #selflove mantra. Like Severson writes, â The feeling of being constantly left out or judged for your body size isnât the same as not loving your skin or feeling comfortable in your body.â The fat acceptance movement recognises the politics of being a fat person in a society. Fat acceptance as a movement traces its roots to New York in the 1960s, when a group of people organised a sit-in in Central Park, and ate, protested and burned diet books.
The thing about our bodies is, for better or for worse, it is the most visible part of who we are. Which means that when youâre fat, youâre fat...everywhere. In the workplace, when youâre at the doctor, when youâre in photos of your best friend's wedding...everywhere. And often, this means facing barbs and discrimination. In the US, a 2017 survey showed that fat employees can earn less per hour than âstraight-sizeâ employees. A 2003 study in US showed that more than 50 percent of the primary care physicians think obese patients are âawkward, unattractive, ugly and noncompliant.â Ask anyone who is fat, and they might anecdotally confirm this too!
In India, things arenât much better. Have you heard of âfat-taxâ? From multi-brand stores to designers, charging up to 10% extra for clothes which are larger than a size L is more the norm, than an exception. After controversy calling out this discriminatory pricing, some designers walked the âfat-taxâ back. But, itâs still very much a given.
This is why, those who advocate for fat acceptance, say we need to move beyond body positivity. Of course, criticism has been leveled against fat acceptance too. Like this essay written by Lizzie Gernik in The Guardian, which says that âcelebrating obesity is irresponsible.â But as a counter, Rachelle Hampton wrote in the Slate about how fat pride is centered around the idea of âdignity.â She writes, âOf course, fat people arenât trying to encourage more people to become fat; theyâre trying to live a life with dignity. If youâve never been fat, itâs hard to understand the various ways in which your body stops becoming your own once you reach a certain weight. It becomes an object for public consumption and comment or ridicule.â
This need for dignity, especially in the face of a society which only judges you for your body, is at the core of both the body positivity, and the fat acceptance movement. The difference is, fat acceptance acknowledges that even with all the self-love you can muster, sometimes the fight for dignity is with the world outside.
Or, even a mirror which forces you to ask, âDo I look fat?â
Love, Maanvi Editorial Lead Vitamin Stree
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