This My Rant
Longtime followers of my incoherent babblings will know that I self-identify strongly with feminism (which isn't to say that I'm always a good feminist, because quite often I'm not). But there is one aspect of feminist commentary lately that seems to be coming up everywhere, and the discussion it engenders irks me to no end. It's the whole fat-positivism issue.
Before I get descended on by a howling horde, it isn't the issue itself that I find annoying. People have bodies; all bodies are different; we should be thrilled about this! I take no issue with this stance. What bothers me, particularly, is the discourse that it generates, wherein "thin" replaces "fat" as bad. When you do that, you aren't really going anywhere; you're just rearranging the value hierarchy of appearance and suggesting that there is something unnatural or unhealthy about thinness (or weight loss). As far as I'm concerned, it's the equivalent of people who present themselves as sex positive, then turn around and slut-shame in the same breath.
Not cool.
I know a lot of people who have/have had eating disorders. I know a lot of people who have been terrifyingly thin, who should have been (or, rarely enough, were) hospitalised and treated for it. I'm not going to argue that eating disorders aren't a very real problem (although sometimes they work the opposite way, too, with things like compulsive overeating, which doesn't get nearly as much attention), or that they aren't the result of a society that privileges thinness. But I don't see how creating an environment that privileges the opposite is solving the problem, when the problem is that women's bodies are so highly politicised that clothing and hairstyles and shoes and makeup and what body hair is removed all carry cultural connotations. Quite frankly, if anyone (men included) thinks that their preferences, fashion or otherwise, aren't culturally constructed, then they are deluding themselves.
As someone predisposed to thinness (my mother is even tinier than I am), I have the kind of metabolism that makes it easier for me to lose weight than to gain it, which is probably helped by the fact that I have always had a healthy diet and been active. The one time I did put on a bit of weight (and it wasn't very much), I felt sluggish and sick and horrible until I lost it again. But mostly, I have to be careful to not lose weight, which can be difficult-I get wrapped up in things and forget to eat until dinnertime, or nibble on pastries from various coffee shops throughout the day rather than having a proper meal. Sometimes, when I'm under stress, I have a hard time eating because I work myself up to a constant state of nausea. These are not behaviours that I recommend for a happy and fulfilling life. And, here's the thing-when I lose too much weight, I feel just as terrible as when I gain it. But for the most part, I know my ideal weight, and I hover comfortably around it.
And, I like being thin, which is doubtless a culturally constructed preference. I'm horribly vain about it (and horribly vain, in general), and not very apologetic about the fact. This doesn't mean that I think everyone should look the way I do or that I want to pressure other people into weight loss. It doesn't mean that I feel like I'm the pinnacle of attractiveness for all of womankind, because I don't: most days my reaction to my face in the mirror first thing in the morning is, "ugh." It doesn't even mean that I don't have body image issues or insecurities.
Which makes it particularly discomfiting to feel discounted from a discussion because I happen to conform to certain norms. There isn't anything positive about reversing the binary and condescending to or bashing thin people. Because, newsflash: you are still being defined by patriarchal binaries. You are still defining your sense of self-worth against someone else. How empowering.
Mostly, though, it's frustrating to see such a potentially interesting and productive discussion get derailed by the insecurities of the people participating.
Before I get descended on by a howling horde, it isn't the issue itself that I find annoying. People have bodies; all bodies are different; we should be thrilled about this! I take no issue with this stance. What bothers me, particularly, is the discourse that it generates, wherein "thin" replaces "fat" as bad. When you do that, you aren't really going anywhere; you're just rearranging the value hierarchy of appearance and suggesting that there is something unnatural or unhealthy about thinness (or weight loss). As far as I'm concerned, it's the equivalent of people who present themselves as sex positive, then turn around and slut-shame in the same breath.
Not cool.
I know a lot of people who have/have had eating disorders. I know a lot of people who have been terrifyingly thin, who should have been (or, rarely enough, were) hospitalised and treated for it. I'm not going to argue that eating disorders aren't a very real problem (although sometimes they work the opposite way, too, with things like compulsive overeating, which doesn't get nearly as much attention), or that they aren't the result of a society that privileges thinness. But I don't see how creating an environment that privileges the opposite is solving the problem, when the problem is that women's bodies are so highly politicised that clothing and hairstyles and shoes and makeup and what body hair is removed all carry cultural connotations. Quite frankly, if anyone (men included) thinks that their preferences, fashion or otherwise, aren't culturally constructed, then they are deluding themselves.
As someone predisposed to thinness (my mother is even tinier than I am), I have the kind of metabolism that makes it easier for me to lose weight than to gain it, which is probably helped by the fact that I have always had a healthy diet and been active. The one time I did put on a bit of weight (and it wasn't very much), I felt sluggish and sick and horrible until I lost it again. But mostly, I have to be careful to not lose weight, which can be difficult-I get wrapped up in things and forget to eat until dinnertime, or nibble on pastries from various coffee shops throughout the day rather than having a proper meal. Sometimes, when I'm under stress, I have a hard time eating because I work myself up to a constant state of nausea. These are not behaviours that I recommend for a happy and fulfilling life. And, here's the thing-when I lose too much weight, I feel just as terrible as when I gain it. But for the most part, I know my ideal weight, and I hover comfortably around it.
And, I like being thin, which is doubtless a culturally constructed preference. I'm horribly vain about it (and horribly vain, in general), and not very apologetic about the fact. This doesn't mean that I think everyone should look the way I do or that I want to pressure other people into weight loss. It doesn't mean that I feel like I'm the pinnacle of attractiveness for all of womankind, because I don't: most days my reaction to my face in the mirror first thing in the morning is, "ugh." It doesn't even mean that I don't have body image issues or insecurities.
Which makes it particularly discomfiting to feel discounted from a discussion because I happen to conform to certain norms. There isn't anything positive about reversing the binary and condescending to or bashing thin people. Because, newsflash: you are still being defined by patriarchal binaries. You are still defining your sense of self-worth against someone else. How empowering.
Mostly, though, it's frustrating to see such a potentially interesting and productive discussion get derailed by the insecurities of the people participating.