Jessicka speaks about her weight-loss
I love this woman so much it hurts. I'm so proud of her and how far she's come, how she hasn't let it change her, and just how much of an inspiration it is to me.
Fat phobia is weighing heavily on my mind.
Source: http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com
Debunking Diets, Every-changing Image, and Fat phobia! ( Oh My!!!)
Looking in the mirror today I finally realized I had crossed over. I had made the transition into a "thin person" Had I become one of "those people" who never had to worry about finding the right size because everything fits? For some reason this realization still doesn't sit right with me.
While going through my strange transformation I started doing a lot of online research on the topics of weight loss, crash dieting and fat phobia. I even delved a little bit into "Pro-ana" communities on the web. But I digress, While researching a few friends and I have been keeping up with the Junk Food Science blog, which logically picks apart media BS, leaving behind science and factual information. Have a look and draw your own conclusions after reading the blog, but the gist is this: Fat isn't killing us ; cancer, heart disease, and the like are mostly the result of your genes. Dieting IS damaging our bodies. Diets don't actually work,
Here's the 411 on medical fat phobia!
The "war on fat" is harmful and deadly, especially to women, in several ways:
I'm going to make a somewhat scary admission here to those of you who didn't know me before, I recently lost A LOT of weight and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The reason I'm so passionate about the subject of fat phobia is less then a year ago I was a FAT girl ( and proud of it ). A fat girl fronting a band. A fat girl who loved her curves. I always saw myself as the alt. rock Tracy Turnblad. But lately, I been wondering, if along with the weight have I also truly lost my identity? Have I lived in Los Angeles for way too long and finally conformed to anorexic imagery and unattainable beauty standards? Let's face it weight stigma is powerful and destructive. Stronger women then I have crumbled and conformed, starving themselves to fit a certain image. For the record, I am thin now and was told by a doctor I did have to lose weight for medical reasons but, in saying this, I refuse to let others express negative attitudes toward fat people. It will never be an acceptable bias in my opinion. Lately, the questions that constantly plagues me ( after reading countless studies online, having my own weight fluctuate greatly, and witnessing reactions firsthand over the past 10 years) is fat phobia so deeply rooted in our culture that it's being programmed into the minds of every child and teenager today? Was I "the great white hope" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_White_Hope) ; to FAT girls everywhere and now that I've lost weight have I "sold out"? Recently my doctors have declared me "healthy"! I have fantastic cholesterol scores, great blood pressure, and all parts are in better working order. But I am noticing fans of my band stating .... I liked her much better when she was fat! Wow! After years of fighting against fat phobia, and being larger then most women in my musical genre is my opinion on the subject no longer valid because I'm thin?
Something to ponder... until next time!
--Jessicka.
Fat phobia is weighing heavily on my mind.
Source: http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com
Debunking Diets, Every-changing Image, and Fat phobia! ( Oh My!!!)
Looking in the mirror today I finally realized I had crossed over. I had made the transition into a "thin person" Had I become one of "those people" who never had to worry about finding the right size because everything fits? For some reason this realization still doesn't sit right with me.
While going through my strange transformation I started doing a lot of online research on the topics of weight loss, crash dieting and fat phobia. I even delved a little bit into "Pro-ana" communities on the web. But I digress, While researching a few friends and I have been keeping up with the Junk Food Science blog, which logically picks apart media BS, leaving behind science and factual information. Have a look and draw your own conclusions after reading the blog, but the gist is this: Fat isn't killing us ; cancer, heart disease, and the like are mostly the result of your genes. Dieting IS damaging our bodies. Diets don't actually work,
Here's the 411 on medical fat phobia!
The "war on fat" is harmful and deadly, especially to women, in several ways:
- Doctors overlook real problems because they are fat-focused
- Some doctors are so averse to fat people that they actually will avoid doing exams (including pap smears) on them
- Because a moral judgement is often made on fat people ("You have only your self to blame"), they often don't get proper treatment for unrelated health issues
- Harmful and potentially deadly weight-loss measures are pushed on fat people to their limits. They have been so beaten down by what society thinks that they feel weight loss is the ONLY alternative!
I'm going to make a somewhat scary admission here to those of you who didn't know me before, I recently lost A LOT of weight and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The reason I'm so passionate about the subject of fat phobia is less then a year ago I was a FAT girl ( and proud of it ). A fat girl fronting a band. A fat girl who loved her curves. I always saw myself as the alt. rock Tracy Turnblad. But lately, I been wondering, if along with the weight have I also truly lost my identity? Have I lived in Los Angeles for way too long and finally conformed to anorexic imagery and unattainable beauty standards? Let's face it weight stigma is powerful and destructive. Stronger women then I have crumbled and conformed, starving themselves to fit a certain image. For the record, I am thin now and was told by a doctor I did have to lose weight for medical reasons but, in saying this, I refuse to let others express negative attitudes toward fat people. It will never be an acceptable bias in my opinion. Lately, the questions that constantly plagues me ( after reading countless studies online, having my own weight fluctuate greatly, and witnessing reactions firsthand over the past 10 years) is fat phobia so deeply rooted in our culture that it's being programmed into the minds of every child and teenager today? Was I "the great white hope" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_White_Hope) ; to FAT girls everywhere and now that I've lost weight have I "sold out"? Recently my doctors have declared me "healthy"! I have fantastic cholesterol scores, great blood pressure, and all parts are in better working order. But I am noticing fans of my band stating .... I liked her much better when she was fat! Wow! After years of fighting against fat phobia, and being larger then most women in my musical genre is my opinion on the subject no longer valid because I'm thin?
Something to ponder... until next time!
--Jessicka.