Fat Shaming
Like most screen-obsessed teens, my friends and I spend copious amounts of time on TikTok as it is the best possible way to waste time. What I've noticed recently is the return of fatphobia. As a girl who has wavered between the single and double-digit pant sizes for years, I am passionate about body positivity, and the negativity I found made me sick. It didn't show up in the typical ways of young boys making distasteful comments on a larger girl's video or girls with a skinny superiority complex commenting on a larger girl's "courageous" choice in wearing a crop top. It was thin girls complaining that larger girls were too insensitive to their struggle.
Girl, what struggle?
Body shaming any size is terrible but let's be real here–skinny is the beauty standard. A thin woman will not be questioned by her doctor about her symptoms or denied a job for not having the "right look." I–being the TikTok addicted larger teen-girl that I am–immediately took to the comments of one particular video I identified with. This video was a girl who is a size 10-12 (my size) complaining about how girls who are a size 6 will call themselves fat in front of them. I hate when thin girls do this in front of me. Listen, everyone has the right to be unhappy with their body, but fat is a word that should not be used unless describing an actual body type. In a world where models have to be 6 ft, 110 lb goddesses, we often connect the word fat with ugly. This just isn't true. As an artist and body-positive activist, Kelli Jean Drinkwater points out in her TedX fat isn't a bad word until it's used in a negative connotation. By calling yourself fat and connecting that word to a wrong meaning, you're ultimately hurting the plus-sized community.
The girls in the comments took me back to middle school when I was the largest girl in my class. "You're so insensitive to our struggle. I have body dysmorphia. I'm allowed to call myself fat and be unhappy with my body." This comment irked me. As someone who has had body dysmorphia for years and struggled with healthy eating habits, I wanted to bonk her. Everyone has the right to feel how they feel about their bodies but using a word that describes a body type that does not fit the beauty standard in a bad connotation is wrong. Especially if you're in front of someone substantially larger than you. Another comment that irked me was a girl complaining that people skinny shame her all the time. Yes, skinny shaming exists, but it isn't nearly as prominent as fat shaming. Nor do skinny girls face the discrimination that fat women do. I realized something as I was reflecting on the experience later, a lot of girls are unaware of their skinny privilege. These are the girls whose metabolisms just miraculously work and allow themselves to indulge in carbs and low effort workouts. Could they still be insecure? Absolutely. Could they still develop eating disorders? Of course. I’m not trying to gatekeep body dysmoprhia or ED’s but plus sized women face more discrimination and are at a higher risk for ED’s.
Here’s a few things we can do prevent being fatphobic or insensitive to the struggles plus sized women face.
Don’t use the word fat to mean ugly. This one is a hard one and trust me I get feeling unhappy with how large your hips have gotten over the holidays but using the word fat to mean ugly is fatphobic.
If you still use the word fat to mean ugly don’t say that in front of someone who is larger than you. Do I really need to explain this one?
Don’t make comments on how much or how little someone is eating.
Never EVER try to put skinny shaming on the same level as fat shaming.
Support your fellow women no matter her size :)
In today's media-ridden world, it's hard not to be insecure, but if the only way for you to voice your insecurities is to put someone else down, then maybe you're more insecure than you thought. Now as I reach the end of this article I’m sure there is some clown who begs the question “why should we encourage fat people to be fat, it’s unhealthy.” Yes clown, being plus sized you are statistically more likely to die of a heart attack and or stroke but shaming plus sized women is more likely to lead to an eating disorder. One who has developed an eating disorder is more likely to also have a heart attack and fertility issues. Everyone’s body is different.
Fat isn't bad and if this article bugs you, maybe you're fatphobic.