For years I’ve witnessed the unquestioned humiliation of fat people hidden under the guise of heath concerns. Many of us have tried to defend ourselves by sharing personal details about our physical activity and lack of “health issues”. This has not kept us safe. “It’s fine as long as you’re healthy” is a common permission granted to fat people by friends, family and strangers alike. But is it really fine? And what exactly do people mean when they say “healthy”?
I think two lies are being told when people say “ It’s fine as long as you’re healthy”. For one, being fat is not fine for most people. People don’t want to be fat. They don’t want to look fat. They don’t want to date fat people. They don’t want fat co-workers. They don’t want fat people on their teams. They don’t want fat friends. They don’t even want fat people in their families. And when they do allow us to exist in their lives and spaces they use us to boost their self-esteem and to position theirselves as good people and heroes.
“It’s fine as long as you’re healthy” is a lie. They don’t care about our wellness and that’s articulated by their behavior and more specifically the fact that they would make the validity of our physical presence contingent upon something that cannot be seen.
Anti-fat bias is based on binary thinking that reads bodies as good or bad, fat…
