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a thread on the origins of fatphobia
first of all i want to say that i do not view the word fat in a negative way. it’s just a descriptor word like tall, thin, and short! i also won’t use words like ob*se or ov*rweight bc those are innacurate and i’ll get into it more later.
also everything i’ve learned has come from @yrfatfriend and the book, fearing the black body.
fatphobia was created as another form of oppression against black ppl during the time of the atlantic slave trade. larger features were associated with black ppl, specifically black women, as well as there were some african cultures where bigger bodies were the beauty standard.
another stereotype that contributed was the belief that black ppl couldn’t control themselves and would give into urges, such as sexual urges and hunger. therefore this led western, white societies to associate fatness with being black and created the “big black women” stereotype
doctors realized that they could profit off of fatphobia through diet products. being fat is not correlated to being unhealthy. around 1/3rd to 3/4th of people classified as ob*se are metabolically healthy. another study found that unfit skinny ppl were twice as likely to get di-
abetes as fit fat people. the bmi standard is also innacurate, bc it is soley based off of height and weight ratio, not the health of a person. therefore, it does not differentiate between fat and muscle and has misclassified over 10 million ppl as ov*rweight or ob*se when they
were completely healthy, according to a study done by UCLA. many fat people consider those terms very hurtful.
fatphobia is still very prevelant today and in order to fully liberate black ppl, we must end fatphobia. there is no correct body and weight and health are not correlated.
also im white and skinny, so i cannot speak from the i perspective and i am willing to learn as well :)
