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I get a lot of mail from fans and haters alike. I get trolls, I get my images stolen, I get mail praising me or chastising me, and it’s all in the name of art and fat acceptance. Lately I’ve gotten quite a few about how unhealthy my images are with one person saying that “a little bit of weight is fine, but” and another saying “aren’t you glorifying obesity?” I already wrote a post on my own blog about ssr节点更新, but I also wanted to address the “but health!” argument. Now, I could go into a whole rant on why fat isn’t unhealthy. I could post statistics and studies and links  on research and then I could try to justify my fatness by talking about how healthy my lifestyle is… and I’d just be playing right into the troll’s hands. You see, because they don’t care about health and, even if they did, my health is none of their business.

The big thing I wanted to talk about today is ableism. As it sounds, ableism is the intolerance and/or discrimination of people who are less able bodied than the social ideal. I myself see the fallout of ableism as I have bipolar disorder, hypothyroidism, chronic tendonitis, and plica syndrome (and a few other things). All of that means that I’m often in pain, tired, moody, and/or unable to perform normal daily activities. My spoons get used up fairly quickly. It’s even worse for fat people in general because our bodies are touted as diseased and flawed in and of themselves. Even worse are illnesses that people think of when they think of fat like heart disease, diabetes, joint problems, etc. Because even though thin people can and do have all of those same problems, fat people get double the dose of ableism because they’ve already had their humanity stripped away by fatphobes who see their bodies as an illness and nothing more.

What’s my point? My point is that it doesn’t matter how unhealthy a person is. They’re still human beings. They still deserve to be treated with human dignity, compassion, and fairness. This is why I don’t need to justify my health to  anyone- because I’m a human being regardless. Because you being an ableist fatphobic dick isn’t on me- it’s on you. Someone being in poor health isn’t a reason to discriminate against people or to hate them or loathe them… I mean really, what’s wrong with these people who think they can take a person with diabetes and treat them as sub human just because their health status is different, not worse, just different, from their own? The solution to discrimination and bigotry isn’t unhealthy people getting healthier, it’s ending the discrimination and bigotry.

I’m sorry and I don’t mean to step on your childish little toes, but there is no such thing as perfect health. People are different, not superior or inferior to each other. I’m not inferior to someone who doesn’t have hypothyroidism and I’m not superior to someone who has diabetes. We’re not playing the good fatty/ bad fatty game and we’re not playing the healthism game anymore. You can complain about it draining your tax dollars, but you could say the same about children with disabilities or people who do sports or kids who jump out of trees. Their health, their business. Back off.

“I was aware, the entire time, that the people around me … were very likely judging me. Or at least, some of them were. Maybe some of them pitied me, maybe some of them thought I was “inspiring” for being a fat lady exercising in public (maybe I was on a Weight Loss Journey ™ !) Probably some of them just thought I was gross, disliked having to see my fat body in tight swimwear, and wished I had stayed at home under a blanket. Such is life.”
– The Fat Nutrionist

While I don’t think Michelle (quoted), or me, or any one person can speak for all {insert subset of people here}, including fat people, I think this is pretty commonly what it’s like to be a fat person in the world, all the time. Welcome to my head-space, every time I choose an outfit. Every time I go outside into the world. Every time I meet my skinny and/or pretty friends. Every time someone mentions swimming in public. Every time I sit down so my muffintop rolls over my pants. Every time I am handed a menu in public, or asked if I want one of the snacks provided.

Yes, I literally mean Every. Time.

That doesn’t mean those thoughts always have to have the last say in the way you live your life. Sometimes I think I look ok. Sometimes I sit down without putting my handbag in my lap to obscure my stomach. Sometimes I will have that cupcake, thank you very much. The fat acceptance community has played a big role in that.

I realise these thoughts and insecurities aren’t exclusive to fat people. But if you’ve managed to avoid most of the crippling self doubt our culture tries to heap on us, you may not realise what it’s like to be a fat person in our world. This is what it’s like, every day.