As the end of the pandemic nears, I just want to feel relief. Instead, the pressure on women to emerge thinner than ever only seems to be ratcheting up.
THANK YOU. I hate the amount of guilt I am obligated feel about my body changing over the pandemic. Imagine all the things we could do with the mental energy spent focusing on our bodies?
It's fascinating when we're complimented for "achievements" we never sought that just happen to dovetail with certain cultural expectations. If you write an essay on the depression weight loss experience, I would love to read that! Thank you for this piece :)
I have a history as a teenager using these apps and have worked through college to undo my complicated relationship. This semester through a awful nutrition class with an old white man that has been challenged deeply and I have pushed back on home HARD. Then the NYTimes came out with this yesterday and it was so triggering for me. As I sat anxiously all day worried about what I was eating I was wondering why no one has really called out how toxic all of this is, especially to women. In the past month or so, with targeted ads turned off many of my YouTube videos, have advertisements for Noom that literally cut women’s voices together to make them sound like they are upset about their weight, etc. hearing these ads as someone with these kinds of history is so triggering and toxic, yet they only seem to be gaining traction and popularity. This meant so much to me.
Love this article! If anyone wants to learn more about fat shaming and diet culture you need to check out the "maintenance phase" Podcast and read "what we don't talk about when we talk about fat" both are eye opening and look at the toxic diet culture cultivated.
Thanks so much for this perspective, Emma. I think this issue you raised is an important one; kind of dovetailing into its own micro pandemic on the interwebs.
If you were experiencing this feedback in a body that was thin-privileged before your mental health crisis, imagine what +size and superfats are feeling following this time in lockdown. Weight has been a constant topic from comparisons of before/afters, peloton ads and now the pressure to emerge as the skinny goddesses we were always meant to be.
But, there's even more to this. I'm sure you're aware of it and it's so much to unpack in just one piece.
In the same timeframe of the pandemic, multiple top +size retailers (Madewell, Old Navy, LOFT) have discontinued or "remade" +size clothing lines, meaning, those of us who did pack on some pounds now have fewer options to shop for professional attire and return to the office. I can typically guess where fellow fatties have purchased their clothes because there are still such limited, well made options. These major retailers switching it up or discontinuing altogether is only going to add to the shame spirals as the world opens back up.
I encourage you to explore this topic more with perspectives representative of the full body spectrum. You have a strong online presence and platform that could lead to more allies for the +size community from straight sized individuals, like yourself. Your experience is absolutely valid, and I commend you for sharing it. Unfortunately the more you dive into the rabbit hole, the more fucked up it gets.
THANK YOU. I hate the amount of guilt I am obligated feel about my body changing over the pandemic. Imagine all the things we could do with the mental energy spent focusing on our bodies?
Wow. After weeks of spiraling and negative self talk about how my pandemic body looks I needed this. Thank you.
It's fascinating when we're complimented for "achievements" we never sought that just happen to dovetail with certain cultural expectations. If you write an essay on the depression weight loss experience, I would love to read that! Thank you for this piece :)
I have a history as a teenager using these apps and have worked through college to undo my complicated relationship. This semester through a awful nutrition class with an old white man that has been challenged deeply and I have pushed back on home HARD. Then the NYTimes came out with this yesterday and it was so triggering for me. As I sat anxiously all day worried about what I was eating I was wondering why no one has really called out how toxic all of this is, especially to women. In the past month or so, with targeted ads turned off many of my YouTube videos, have advertisements for Noom that literally cut women’s voices together to make them sound like they are upset about their weight, etc. hearing these ads as someone with these kinds of history is so triggering and toxic, yet they only seem to be gaining traction and popularity. This meant so much to me.
Love this article! If anyone wants to learn more about fat shaming and diet culture you need to check out the "maintenance phase" Podcast and read "what we don't talk about when we talk about fat" both are eye opening and look at the toxic diet culture cultivated.
Thanks so much for this perspective, Emma. I think this issue you raised is an important one; kind of dovetailing into its own micro pandemic on the interwebs.
If you were experiencing this feedback in a body that was thin-privileged before your mental health crisis, imagine what +size and superfats are feeling following this time in lockdown. Weight has been a constant topic from comparisons of before/afters, peloton ads and now the pressure to emerge as the skinny goddesses we were always meant to be.
But, there's even more to this. I'm sure you're aware of it and it's so much to unpack in just one piece.
In the same timeframe of the pandemic, multiple top +size retailers (Madewell, Old Navy, LOFT) have discontinued or "remade" +size clothing lines, meaning, those of us who did pack on some pounds now have fewer options to shop for professional attire and return to the office. I can typically guess where fellow fatties have purchased their clothes because there are still such limited, well made options. These major retailers switching it up or discontinuing altogether is only going to add to the shame spirals as the world opens back up.
I encourage you to explore this topic more with perspectives representative of the full body spectrum. You have a strong online presence and platform that could lead to more allies for the +size community from straight sized individuals, like yourself. Your experience is absolutely valid, and I commend you for sharing it. Unfortunately the more you dive into the rabbit hole, the more fucked up it gets.