About 'promoting obesity'.

Hello!

For many (most?) of my usual readers, this might be preaching to the choir, but today I want to talk about the bullshit phrase 'promoting obesity'.

promote

prəˈməʊt

verb

verb: promote

1.

support or actively encourage (a cause, venture, etc.); further the progress of.

synonyms:

encourage, further, advance, assist, aid, help, contribute to, foster, nurture, develop, boost, stimulate, forward; advocate, recommend, urge, support, back, endorse, champion, speak for, proselytize, sponsor, espouse, push for, work for

Do I encourage fatness? Do I further it? Do I advance, assist, aid, help, foster, nurture, develop, boost, stimulate, forward, advocate it? Yadda yadda yadda. No. I simply dare to exist in my body without the shame society expects/demands me to have. When I refuse to be shamed or refuse to hate myself that's when the bigots crawl out of the woodwork. 'Promoting obesity' is a bullshit phrase used by people who want to deny basic human rights to people based on a physical characteristic. For all the posturing and the fake concerns for our health that is what it boils down to - bigotry. Pure and simple.

I'm fat, and I exist. I'm not promoting it. I'm just living my life. I breathe, but that doesn't mean I promote breathing. I have hazel eyes and freckles, but I don't promote them. The only thing I promote is not being a dick to other people to boost a superiority complex. I don't want to eradicate people who aren't fat and I've never heard of anyone who does. I don't encourage anyone else to try to become fat, and I'm certain no one has ever seen a photo of me then jumped up and declared 'Whoooo! It's the fat life for me!'

I want to be allowed to live my life in the face of overwhelming bigotry and I want that for everyone. I don't walk down the street carrying a placard that says 'Be fat or die!' I ask for the same rights as anyone - to exist, to be happy, to flourish, to be loved, to be treated equally. Many would say those rights are my due, but a small percentage would say I deserve nothing good because I have more adipose tissue than others. Isn't that ridiculous?

Imagine if you will that suddenly thin people are despised. Yes, let's pretend just for a moment.

'Jeez, that's just promoting thinness!' 
'Ugh, if they keep making clothes for thin people they won't put on weight!'
'Who does that thin bitch think she is, wearing nice clothes and pretending like that's normal?!'
'God, she's so unhealthy! I bet she eats nothing but quinoa and mung beans! That's not a balanced diet!'
'Who could find THAT attractive?'
'Ugh, all thin people should just die.'
'That person is totally going to die young or get ill and use up all my tax £/$!'
'That's just setting a bad example! Won't someone think about the children?!'

Shaming people on their physical characteristics is ludicrous.

Fat people daring to exist, quietly minding their own business is a big problem for bigoted asshats all over the internet. I don't know of any fat person with a secret desire to take over the world and kill all the slim people. We're not the ones who want to eradicate a percentage of the populace just because of the way they look. We're just doing our thing, living our lives and getting judged all the time.

I have a lot of friends and sometimes I like hanging around with other people who know what it's like to be 'othered' constantly. I have friends of all sizes though, because I'm not a bigoted jerk. I don't have size requirements for people who get to be in my life. I just go by 'Don't be an arsehole' and expect the same from my friends.

I've heard some ludicrous things typed by internet warriors such as 'Having clothes to fit fatties just encourages them.' Err, do you want to see us naked? No? Then shut the fuck up. If you think fat people deserve to wear sheets until we slim down enough to fit in 'normal' clothes, you really are a piece of work.

What do you think about the phrase 'promoting obesity'?

Thanks for reading.
Leah xoxo