Fat Shaming

fat sham·ing
noun
1.the action or practice of humiliating someone judged to be fat or overweight by making mocking or critical comments about their size.

It's come to my attention that our society has a SERIOUS problem with fat shaming (See definition above). It sounds like such a horrible word and it is! You would think in a country when there are more over weight adults than not, we would know how to look past someones size. Here are some fun statistics for you:

More than two-thirds (68.8 percent) of adults are considered to be overweight or obese. More than one-third (35.7 percent) of adults are considered to be obese. More than 1 in 20 (6.3 percent) have extreme obesity. Almost 3 in 4 men (74 percent) are considered to be overweight or obese. (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-statistics.aspx)

Now, I'm not condoning living an unhealthy life style. Actually this has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with the little comments I hear...from people I'm pretty sure don't even know what they're saying is "fat shaming." You can even fat shame yourself or someone you love and not even know it!

Examples of fat shaming:
Wow, Lady Gaga has a belly.

I'm being naughty today and eating French Fries.

Do you know how many calories are in that?

You have a beautiful face. (As an over weight person, this is the worst)

I'm not going to eat today since I ate so bad yesterday.

Seconds?

Jesus, what happened to Kelly Clarkson? Did she eat all her backup singers?

A&F: "Salon in 2006 saying he doesn’t want “fat” or “not so cool” kids wearing his company’s clothes."

"Dear Obese PhD students. If you don't have the willpower to stop eating carbs, then you won't have the willpower to do a dissertation." Geoffrey Miller

I could go on and on but you get my drift. Fat shaming is around us. And as a mother of a 6 year old girl I can't help but hear all the little comments. Especially when she starts to repeat the things she hears. One of Cali's friends told her mommy she was happy her mom packs her healthy food so she can be skinny. She is 6! Cali informs me of food that is healthy and food that is bad for her. She is 6! I bought Cali a "curvy barbie" for Christmas hoping this would help her see a more realistic body figure to play with, instead she doesn't want to play with her because none of her regular barbie clothes fit her. When she watches kids movies her favorite characters are the "pretty ones." Not the smart ones or the nice ones, the pretty ones. She is 6!

If I seem upset, I am! I need my daughter to grow up in a society that loves her for her, not her size. I don't feel like I grew up in a society like this. I've been overweight my entire life and I have struggled with yo yo dieting, comparing myself to others, desperate to get the attention of a boy. I'm still working through these feelings today and I'm trying with all my might not to let this rub off on my daughter. I want her to know she is worthy of love despite her size. God has given me the most wonder gift of all. A man who loves me for ME. A man that tells me I'm sexy as a curvy woman. A man who tells me i'm beautiful with out being prompted. This has helped me so much but until I can believe what he says I won't be cured of fat shaming myself.

This is my plea to all of you. Please stop describing people by their size. Examples: The chunky one, The heavy one, Thick, Fat. Please stop judging celebrities out loud in front of children. Please stop obsessing over the food you eat out loud in front of my child. Please stop obsessing over what I eat. Please stop obsessing over your weight. You're beautiful! Be healthy, happy and worthy! Your size has little to do with who you are. Let's change the tone in society and help all children boys and girls know they are beautiful and handsome regardless of their size. Let's allow them to be children as long as possible. Let them eat cupcakes at birthday parties, have candy at Halloween, eat pizza because it's delicious and help them stay active because physical activity is so important, not for their size but for their minds.

Be a positive example to your child, grandchild, niece, nephew and everyone in between.