Hi everyone. I am an almost 66 year old grandmother and have had my own battles with excess weight during my adult life (since college) and have been reading here for quite some time and have become very interested in your discussion here. I had found myself feeling guilty about my gradual disenchantment with Whitney but it was when she rather suddenly started the "if you even mention dieting or weight loss around me, you are fat-shaming me" stuff that I became really perplexed. And I wondered it this was just something she had come up with or if she was being influenced or pushed by TLC to do this. So I decided to go and do some investigating about the fat acceptance/body positivity movement....as I had considered myself a supporter of this movement...but hold on, because I fought to control my weight most of my adult life, I am suddenly a fat-shamer? I know just how hard it is to fight the good fight and I had always considered myself to be understanding and sympathetic.
It turns out that this was not just something Whitney came up with herself....but instead, this is an out-spoken off-shoot of the fat acceptance/body positivity movement. And the battle lines are being drawn up between two sides that have split apart in this movement.
There is an epidemic of not only diabetes (and PCOS, insulin resistance, etc.) but also of obesity. And social media has created a huge market share of women in search of fat fashion. Fat women had been overlooked by the fashion industry for decades...probably because like me (when I was fat), they were searching for the loosest, most comfortable and most concealing clothing....and fashion was not the high priority. But then a new generation of social media savvy gals began to create blogs and videos of "HAULS"....modeling clothing from various stores and online vendors....and they became "influencers"....a new form of entrepreneurship. And LOTS of money and financial incentive became involved...not to mention attention and celebrity.
What I cannot seem to figure out is when and where the split happened....and why. The underlying cause is usually financial when these things happen....but it is also possible that some really aggressive and outspoken member of the bunch decided that it was beautiful and fabulous to stay fat and that diets and intentional weight loss were bad and fat-shaming.....and the others were intimidated....and a split/rift happened. I am still investigating. This is what I spend lots of time doing now that I'm an old lady....search the internet to find out why people are doing what they're doing....especially when I find it to be socially and politically relevant in some way.
But there are definitely two camps....there are all of those who have weight loss blogs, exercise blogs...tell their weight loss journey via pictures of their every meal, their every work out, be it the gym or yoga, etc....and then the other side....claiming they are healthy, dance in their underwear to show they are proud of their bodies, claim that life is to enjoy and one should eat cake whenever they want to, etc. Both sides are approached to endorse products....health and weight-loss stuff for the one side and fat fashion for the other side. After all, if you are dieting and exercising, no point in buying an entire closetful of fat fashion, right? And they quickly learn to NOT dare to approach the militant side with weight loss products...as they will be chased off with burning torches.
I will continue to investigate this...as I am very fascinated with it. It is far bigger than just Whitney and her show. And I am so perplexed by this also...because to me, you NEVER give up. That is how I managed to stay a normal weight most of my adult life. You never give up if there is ANY chance you can succeed. You never give up totally until you have no choice. And if you fail....you get up and try again.
And I feel that everyone is entitled to their opinion.....and if someone absolutely does not want to try to control their weight, that is completely their right. What upsets me is thinking that young impressionable girls would be unduly influenced by this. They should absolutely love themselves every single day...everyone should...but they should never give up.
