Content Note: This article references a parent's use of Weight Watchers for their child. I didn’t always hate and hide my body. I was athletic as a child. I swam competitively and played outside until the last drop of daylight. I trusted my body and knew it well. That changed when puberty hit in the fourth grade. I started to look more like a woman than a little kid, and a … [Read more...]
6 Situations Where Weight Loss May Not Make Sense – Even if You Think It Does
This post was originally published by EverydayFeminism under the title "6 Scenarios Where Intentionally Changing Your Weight Doesn't Make Sense -- Even If You Think It Does" and is republished here with permission. Content note: This article contains references to weight loss, dieting, and eating disorders. I met with a new specialist to talk about the osteoporosis I’ve … [Read more...]
How To Talk About Body Image Issues When You’re Not Fat
It’s hard to grow up in the world that we live in and not have body image issues. No matter what you look like, you undoubtedly have been exposed to advertising or messaging that tells you there's something wrong with the way you look. From “detox” teas to “anti-aging” skincare products to shapewear, someone somewhere is constantly telling us that there is something we need to … [Read more...]
Sí, incluso mi FUPA merece amor
Te estarás preguntando, ¿qué diablos es una FUPA? El Diccionario Urbano lo define como Fat Upper Pubic Area (Parte de arriba gruesa encima del pubis), pero yo llamo a la mía cariñosamente Creación. La tengo desde antes de que el término FUPA existiera — y durante mucho tiempo, odié mi Creación. La odiaba porque siempre tenía malos momentos comprando ropa que me fuera bien. A … [Read more...]
10 consejos para navegar el amor propio radical y la cultura del ejercicio
El ejercicio puede ser una herramienta valiosa para el amor propio. A través del ejercicio, podemos aprender sobre nuestro cuerpo, podemos hacernos más fuertes y más agiles, y disfrutar de incontables beneficios tanto físicos como mentales. Desafortunadamente, para muchos de nosotros, el ejercicio se siente mas como una herramienta para el odio a una misma que para el amor … [Read more...]
“Look at My Butt!”: How I Reclaimed My Right To Wear Whatever the Heck I Want
My life has been plagued by people telling me what I can and cannot wear. They tell me not only what is supposed to look good on my short, pear-shaped body, but more distressingly, what I have to wear to be “acceptable.” I've been living a life of “good girls don’t wear that” as a youth, to “successful women don’t wear that” in college, to “female ministers don’t wear that” … [Read more...]
7 Things I Wish People Knew About Being a Fat Woman
This article originally appeared on SHESAID and has been republished with permission. I used to spend a lot of time wondering if people were polite to my face and rude behind my back, probably because I’ve caught people doing that before. To my face they’d tell me how cute my outfit was. Then I’d turn around and they’d make a comment about how “brave” I was for wearing a skirt … [Read more...]
Gordofobia 101: 6 herramientas para desmontar los estigmas sobre el peso
Yo, como gorda de toda la vida, he sido el blanco de estigmas sobre el peso y gordofobia desde que tengo uso de razón, solo que no sabía que lo que estaba viviendo era una forma de discriminación. Supuse que me lo merecía porque estaba gorda y punto. Entonces, hace pocos años, me introdujeron en el mundo del activismo contra la gordofobia y la aceptación del cuerpo. Ahí aprendí … [Read more...]
8 Lessons for Men To Heal Rough Relationships With Their Bodies
Content note: This article contains references to dieting and struggles with food. Men in our society -- contrary to what the ideology of toxic masculinity would have us believe -- are extremely susceptible to the weight loss, dieting, and exercise culture we're subjected to every day. That includes, but is definitely not limited to, the near incessant advertising for workout … [Read more...]
This Is What It’s Like To Battle an Eating Disorder as a Trans Person
Content Note: The following article is written by two authors in separate vignettes exploring their individual narratives. Please know that if you are struggling with an eating disorder, there is help. In the US, dial the toll-free, confidential National Eating Disorders Association Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You are not alone. by Teo Schlögl: I am a white non-binary trans … [Read more...]
“Normal” Bodies Don’t Exist: Celebrating Your Body in the Face of Fatphobia
I remember once when I was thirteen years old in the middle of PE class. A teacher came along and told us that we would soon be having swimming lessons over at a nearby private school’s swimming facilities. At first, I was excited. I like swimming, I had a swimming pool at home, and my standard swimming costume of a one-piece, a rash shirt, and board shorts was something I … [Read more...]
Mixed-Race, Non-Binary, Queer Fat Femme: How I Fail and Succeed in Finding Liberation
I am a Black, mixed-race, fat, queer, non-binary person. Most saliently, I am femme. I have come to understand radical femmeness, femme magic, femme community, femme love, and femme power through my relationships with other womxn and femmes of color. While femme communities evoke safeness and security for me, they also often exist on the basis of trauma. Femininity leaves us … [Read more...]
5 Ways Outdoor Recreation Is Inaccessible to Marginalized Folks
This article first appeared on Everyday Feminism under the title "Outdoor Reaction Isn't Free -- Why We Need to Stop Pretending It Is" and is reprinted by permission. When I spent a summer as a river guide, I met three people who’d abandoned their homes to live on the Rio Grande. One lived out of a bus, another in a tent, and the last in his station wagon. They spent their … [Read more...]
When Healthy Isn’t an Option: How I Learned To Love My Chronically Ill Body
This article first appeared on Ravishly and is reprinted by permission. Once upon a time, I counted calories, carbs, and fat. I weighed myself every day, and I exercised for hours at the gym. I viewed my body as the enemy, and I beat it into submission through sheer force of will. I lost 100 pounds, and I kept most of it off. But I am not healthy, and I never will be. I'm … [Read more...]
