So often, huge conflations between health and value are being made, both by fat-phobic people as well as members of the “body positive” community. These conflations usually come up in conversations about weight and value, with fat-phobics concluding the respect they should pay a person, purely based on their weight and body type.
Members of the body-positive community often dispute this with a very damaging ideology: “As long as they’re healthy, it doesn’t matter what their weight is”. This statement is by far one of the most harmful responses to fat-phobia out there. It allows for the extreme invalidation of the disabled community, as well as people with chronic illnesses.
Our worth as a human being should not be based on the demographic you exist in, the size, or degree of functionality of your body, but by the character you have and the respect you have for others.
Thus there is a necessity to move towards body neutrality. We must understand that someone’s body does not dictate anything about their worth.
We must have a neutral view on the bodies of others, because why should we be the judges of anyone’s worth? Many leaders and politicians believe they have the right to dictate others' worth. For instance, Boris Johnson chose to put the calories of foods on menus, as well as schools having to weigh students, purely to put them into a bracket that ranges from “underweight” to “obese”. Not only does this enforce unhealthy food habits as dangerous and complicates eating disorders, but weighing young children and grouping them based on their BMI (which is not an accurate way of measuring health), is disturbing and traumatic for many.
This must stop. If we want people to live healthy lives, we must make fruits and vegetables more affordable, not discourage people from eating enjoyable meals. Even so, all bodies are good bodies.
Written by Kate Hopwood
Artwork by Zara Masood
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