The Last Prejudice?
I really like to blog. My primary focus is to advance my common sense revolution. Trying to advance a common sense solution to a societal problem while maintaining my status as a social justice warrior. As you can tell, I don't edit before posting. What comes out of this keyboard is what you get - for now. Like I said, I do have plans for my blog in the future. In my mind, I start at the ending. I try to think of what point I want to make and then I start. Sometimes, the entry goes in a different direction, but for the most part, I know where I want it to end.
This is going to be different. I have no idea where this is going to end.
It started the day of the Western Premiers meeting. Alberta Premier Rachel Nottley held a press conference to explain why she wouldn't be attend and that she was going to send the Deputy Premier who appeared in the news conference with her.
I have read that Rachel Nottley is a brilliant strategist and that seemed quite evident to me as she stood next to Sarah Hoffman. I had never heard of Sarah Hoffman before but I will never forget her.
Rachel Nottley stood behind the lectern and she was wearing a very fashionable summer dress with no sleeves. It was dark in colour and she looked like a model.
Sarah Hoffman stood next to her with nothing to shield her. She looked very vulnerable. She was wearing a paisley flowered dress that looked way to old for her but I imagine it is hard to find fashionable clothing in her size. Yes, Sarah Hoffman is obese.
It was Mutt and Jeff. And, I confess, I made some judgey assumptions. Nottley looks like a model. Hoffman looks like she can not get a date. I assumed Hoffman was lazy and very smart. I don't think I was alone in making that assumption. Prejudice against fat people continues to be one of the deepest and most widely-shared prejudices that the public holds.
I felt badly that I had this prejudice. Ironically, because I have been the victim of this prejudice many times. I am the last person who should have this prejudice since I am morbidly obese.
Yes, morbidly obese. No, now obese enough to be a circus side show, but that is the diagnoses my doctor has put on my medical chart.
I have been at every possible weight. When I was in University, I was really thin, but I also was bulimic. I had a very scary experience one evening. I felt like I almost died. The thing that made me fight for my life was shame. I felt that if I died they would wonder why a 20 something young woman died and they would do an autopsy. I couldn't live through that shame. I know I would be dead, but that was my logic. So, I stopped purging. My diet had been foods that came up easily. My apologies to those with weak stomachs but I mostly ate ice cream because it was one of the few foods that tasted as good coming up as it did going down.
So, I got a little pudgey. My mother called me butterball.
As a young professional, I changed my life-style and started eating healthy fresh foods and started running. I became very lean.
My weight went up and down throughout my twenties. Frankly, I most enjoyed when I was a little bit on the heavy side. People took me a little more seriously and people thought that I was smarter than they did when I was very thin.
Then, I got married. It wasn't a happy marriage and I was depressed. Our house burned down 6 weeks after we were married and my father entered hospital on that die and eventually died at Christmas of that year. I became seriously depressed but did not seek any help. I started using food as medicine to make me feel better. It worked for short bursts of time so I started comfort eating when I felt depressed. I felt depressed all the time so I was eating a lot. I started going up a size every year. That was ok because I originally started out a size 2.
And, then, something bad happened. I sufferred from PTSD. I was seriously depressed and got to add panic disorder and anxiety disorder to the mix. I partly blamed myself for what happened and that it happened because I was attractive. I wanted to make sure that never happened again, so I deliberately put on weight. As much as I could. It turns out I was good at putting on weight.
And, now, my weight is affecting my quality of life and likely decreasing my life expectancy. Now, I want to lose weight and it seems almost impossible. My body doesn't want to let go of those pounds.
So, that is my struggle. It is personal to me. Other overweight women have their own journeys. Very rarely are overweight women stupid or lazy or undisciplined or lack work ethic.
Sarah Hoffman certainly can't be any of these. In addition to being Deputy Premier of Alberta, she is also Minister of Health. You don't get there by being lazy or undisciplined. And, here I was judging her. The last person who should have any moral authority to judge her.
Fat prejudice or fat shaming is the last prejudice that society seems to allow. This is somewhat ironic since the majority of Canadians and Americans could stand to lose a few pounds. We are essentially prejudice against ourselves.
Homosexuality used to be the one "socially acceptable prejudice" and there still were many organizations that offered "cures" for this affliction. Finally, the general public had to accept what Lady Gaga was singing in "born this way". Churches started to apologize and one column by a gentleman named Craig Gross had to accept that "both gay people and fat people had a place in heaven."
Whoa. Was it in doubt that because we were fat that we were going to heaven? And, fat people weren't even in the conversation? How did we get there?
Oh, right, sloth and gluttony. We are automatically assuming that all fat people are committing 2/7 of the deadly sins. Oh, and probably envy. We must envy those who are thin. Certainly, greed. Keeping all that food to ourselves. Also, lust. Well, everyone has lust in their heart. So, just by waking up in the morning, we are committing 5/7 of the deadly sins. No wonder I am not going to heaven.
However, I don't think my fate is sealed. I give a lot of my heart and my time to those less fortunate. I try to help people whenever I can. I have lived my professional life advocating for those who did not have a voice. And, frankly, I am adorable.
People think it is ok to have prejudice against fat people because they rationalize that no one puts a gun to their head to get them to eat. If only it as so simple. Poverty is one of the leading contributors to obesity. It is much cheaper to buy overly processed food with no nutritional value rather than purchasing fresh ingredients. Bottom line. Everyone has their own individual story.
\How do we overcome this prejudice? Well, all prejudice is based on ignorance. So, all of us that are "curvy" have to get out there and combat the ignorance. We are not lazy, undisciplined or have flawed characters. Well, maybe some of us. But, there are also thin women who have those same characteristics. Those character traits do occur in society with probably equal ratio from all BMI representations.
I am here. I am fat. And I am smart. And accomplished. And beautiful. And talented. And hilarious. I am loved and I love. I am worth knowing. And, it is worth repeating:
I am adorable.
This is going to be different. I have no idea where this is going to end.
It started the day of the Western Premiers meeting. Alberta Premier Rachel Nottley held a press conference to explain why she wouldn't be attend and that she was going to send the Deputy Premier who appeared in the news conference with her.
I have read that Rachel Nottley is a brilliant strategist and that seemed quite evident to me as she stood next to Sarah Hoffman. I had never heard of Sarah Hoffman before but I will never forget her.
Rachel Nottley stood behind the lectern and she was wearing a very fashionable summer dress with no sleeves. It was dark in colour and she looked like a model.
Sarah Hoffman stood next to her with nothing to shield her. She looked very vulnerable. She was wearing a paisley flowered dress that looked way to old for her but I imagine it is hard to find fashionable clothing in her size. Yes, Sarah Hoffman is obese.
It was Mutt and Jeff. And, I confess, I made some judgey assumptions. Nottley looks like a model. Hoffman looks like she can not get a date. I assumed Hoffman was lazy and very smart. I don't think I was alone in making that assumption. Prejudice against fat people continues to be one of the deepest and most widely-shared prejudices that the public holds.
I felt badly that I had this prejudice. Ironically, because I have been the victim of this prejudice many times. I am the last person who should have this prejudice since I am morbidly obese.
Yes, morbidly obese. No, now obese enough to be a circus side show, but that is the diagnoses my doctor has put on my medical chart.
I have been at every possible weight. When I was in University, I was really thin, but I also was bulimic. I had a very scary experience one evening. I felt like I almost died. The thing that made me fight for my life was shame. I felt that if I died they would wonder why a 20 something young woman died and they would do an autopsy. I couldn't live through that shame. I know I would be dead, but that was my logic. So, I stopped purging. My diet had been foods that came up easily. My apologies to those with weak stomachs but I mostly ate ice cream because it was one of the few foods that tasted as good coming up as it did going down.
So, I got a little pudgey. My mother called me butterball.
As a young professional, I changed my life-style and started eating healthy fresh foods and started running. I became very lean.
My weight went up and down throughout my twenties. Frankly, I most enjoyed when I was a little bit on the heavy side. People took me a little more seriously and people thought that I was smarter than they did when I was very thin.
Then, I got married. It wasn't a happy marriage and I was depressed. Our house burned down 6 weeks after we were married and my father entered hospital on that die and eventually died at Christmas of that year. I became seriously depressed but did not seek any help. I started using food as medicine to make me feel better. It worked for short bursts of time so I started comfort eating when I felt depressed. I felt depressed all the time so I was eating a lot. I started going up a size every year. That was ok because I originally started out a size 2.
And, then, something bad happened. I sufferred from PTSD. I was seriously depressed and got to add panic disorder and anxiety disorder to the mix. I partly blamed myself for what happened and that it happened because I was attractive. I wanted to make sure that never happened again, so I deliberately put on weight. As much as I could. It turns out I was good at putting on weight.
And, now, my weight is affecting my quality of life and likely decreasing my life expectancy. Now, I want to lose weight and it seems almost impossible. My body doesn't want to let go of those pounds.
So, that is my struggle. It is personal to me. Other overweight women have their own journeys. Very rarely are overweight women stupid or lazy or undisciplined or lack work ethic.
Sarah Hoffman certainly can't be any of these. In addition to being Deputy Premier of Alberta, she is also Minister of Health. You don't get there by being lazy or undisciplined. And, here I was judging her. The last person who should have any moral authority to judge her.
Fat prejudice or fat shaming is the last prejudice that society seems to allow. This is somewhat ironic since the majority of Canadians and Americans could stand to lose a few pounds. We are essentially prejudice against ourselves.
Homosexuality used to be the one "socially acceptable prejudice" and there still were many organizations that offered "cures" for this affliction. Finally, the general public had to accept what Lady Gaga was singing in "born this way". Churches started to apologize and one column by a gentleman named Craig Gross had to accept that "both gay people and fat people had a place in heaven."
Whoa. Was it in doubt that because we were fat that we were going to heaven? And, fat people weren't even in the conversation? How did we get there?
Oh, right, sloth and gluttony. We are automatically assuming that all fat people are committing 2/7 of the deadly sins. Oh, and probably envy. We must envy those who are thin. Certainly, greed. Keeping all that food to ourselves. Also, lust. Well, everyone has lust in their heart. So, just by waking up in the morning, we are committing 5/7 of the deadly sins. No wonder I am not going to heaven.
However, I don't think my fate is sealed. I give a lot of my heart and my time to those less fortunate. I try to help people whenever I can. I have lived my professional life advocating for those who did not have a voice. And, frankly, I am adorable.
People think it is ok to have prejudice against fat people because they rationalize that no one puts a gun to their head to get them to eat. If only it as so simple. Poverty is one of the leading contributors to obesity. It is much cheaper to buy overly processed food with no nutritional value rather than purchasing fresh ingredients. Bottom line. Everyone has their own individual story.
\How do we overcome this prejudice? Well, all prejudice is based on ignorance. So, all of us that are "curvy" have to get out there and combat the ignorance. We are not lazy, undisciplined or have flawed characters. Well, maybe some of us. But, there are also thin women who have those same characteristics. Those character traits do occur in society with probably equal ratio from all BMI representations.
I am here. I am fat. And I am smart. And accomplished. And beautiful. And talented. And hilarious. I am loved and I love. I am worth knowing. And, it is worth repeating:
I am adorable.
Comments
Post a Comment