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Fat/Food Memes: Just Say No

  1. erin lares says:

    “Perhaps in my dieting days I would have enjoyed this sort of bonding. “Haha, let’s all laugh about how bad we feel about our bodies and the way we eat!””

    Brene Brown would call this “common enemy intimacy.”

    • GlenysO says:

      Oh what a great term! I just got “Daring Greatly” from the library – looking forward to learning more from her.

      • Andi says:

        She’s amazing. Her books have inspired me to embrace being vulnerable in a way that has been a truly invigorating (and a little bit scary) experience.

  2. ebay313 says:

    Personally I notice so much the cultural view that we should all be losing weight/on a diet the most at work- not just my current work, but I’ve noticed this at almost every place I work. Though I think there is also certainly a gender aspect to this, which is also probably reflected in the fact that I’ve almost always worked in offices that were by a huge margin a majority women. But I constantly overhear comments about weight watchers or needing to lose weight, if there is a party involving food inevitably people explain how they have or need to account for the “unhealthy” foods they are eating there, or least saying how bad they are for eating them, and of course around the holidays there is always talk about having gained weight and now needing to work hard to lose it. Even just not participating by saying how bad I am or how I’m going to work that slice of birthday cake into my diet I feel quite alien. It really drives home how much this is so much a cultural norm and an expectation of socialization. The idea of just being ok with one’s weight or ok with what one is eating is such an anomaly. And it makes me want to scream that it isn’t totally normal.

    • GlenysO says:

      I hear you! I am currently in an office like this too. So much negative food and weight talk. It’s so sad to me that this has become the norm. Then think (and cringe): I was probably one of the people contributing to this in the early days. Mea culpa. Hopefully everyone will eventually come around and pick up a new, ridiculous thing to obsess about.

  3. Andi says:

    Amen! I saw the second meme yesterday on FB and I had such a visceral reaction to it (I am in recovery from anorexia) because I also try very hard to keep my social media clear of this shit. The person who posted this is not someone I expected to engage in this kind of nonsense, but I guess we never know. Down with the memes!!

  4. Cultural change can only begin with individual changes – as we all become more accepting of ourselves – at whatever weight we’re at – the world will become more accepting. And you are helping a lot of us to get there. Just so you know 🙂

    • GlenysO says:

      Thank you! I agree that individual changes are important – but it can be so hard when we live in a world that endorses various systems of oppression, such as body hatred…that’s why I think it’s so important to create a community of support. For those who just can’t muster the strength for individual changes, we need to extend a hand – or many hands.

  5. jodietitian says:

    I totally agree with all of what you said, it strikes me exactly the same way. I cringed when posts appear on my personal page and actually decided to set up my Facebook so that I had to approve anything I was tagged in (so it would not appear on my page). Recently (somehow) I was added to a friends “group” all focused on weight loss!! I plan to message her but thinking I may be able to somehow infiltrate and influence this group to see things differently…..haven’t figured it out yet…..I literally roll my eyes and cringe when I read the stuff that is posted there. How food and bodies became so complicated for people just is baffling.

    • GlenysO says:

      Oh my – that was certainly a liberty that person took! But such is the way now – it’s assumed that *everybody* believes in weight loss, restriction, etc etc. SIGH!

  6. Jo says:

    It’s funny, I’ve had a couple of these types of memes pop up in my feed lately and I didn’t take much notice. This is good in the sense that I’ve come far enough in this journey that they don’t trigger me like they once would have. But it’s also bad because you are totally right, they are complete fat phobia BS disguised as a fluffy joke and the world is worse off for them!!

    On another note, I listened to the ep12 podcast mentioned at the end of this blog and oh my goodness, the notion of coming out as fat blew. me. away. I can’t stop thinking about it – thank you!!!

    • GlenysO says:

      I know – it’s sad when we start to notice all the little things in life that contribute to fat phobia, sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. – I realized one day that it’s all around us all the time.

      Re: coming out as fat – that concept also blew me away when I first heard about it several years ago from one of my favorite fat fashion bloggers, Karen at Curvy Canadian (wish I could find the post now). It made total sense for how I’d been living my fat life as a young fat person (ie, don’t mention my fat) and how I didn’t want to hide any more if I was going to be fat again. Glad you liked the episode!!

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