I think those "Look how bad it was!" posts are for straight sized women. They're to assuage straight sized women and tell them that fatphobia against them is unreasonable and mean and they shouldn't feel bad....while never actually dismantling any fatphobia. It's to tell straight sized women "all those years you spent feeling bad, you shouldn't have because you're not a REAL fattie-fat-fat." It's always an image of a straight size woman "we shouldn't have called fat" and not a message of "fat is a neutral term, everyone needs respect and power, regardless of body size." It's never a message of how awful *it still is* to use "Precious" as a stand-in insult for any fat Black woman. (Oh, and most of those images are white women.)
Thank you for teasing out a nebulous feeling I have had about these same kinds of posts! It feels performative and like an end in itself, rather than a means of bringing about any change in our treatment of fatphobia and body image issues TODAY. It made me think of the fervor with which some segments of society adopted “land acknowledgment” statements a few years ago (mostly, it seems to make people feel like they were doing something but without actually having to do much of anything).
Completely agree. Its a form of rage-baiting (although I think its unintentional). I've similarly unfollowed people on here who are angry about the state of American politics (fair) but their posting is just so emotionally unregulated that I just don't have the capacity to witness. I think it's all the same issue - being stuck in the harm and not being able to get to the other side.
i think society is dwelling, and this is why i have limited consuming all forms of media other than substack. i'm not buying what ANYONE is selling these days.
I have been thinking this for so long! Thank you for voicing it so well, with a nuanced take. I also dislike when people post all the hate comments that they get, in a sort of look how awful it is out there for us way, we must fight back. I don't find it empowering, it just makes me feel like I've seen inside people's heads and that makes me feel worse about myself.
There are smarter ways to move the conversation on and so many of these accounts are just doing a copy and paste version of false empowerment
I totally agree about the posting the hate comments thing too. Like when people post them while doing a little “I don’t care” dance or something to show how allegedly unbothered they are… come on, you’re bothered lol. I’d rather someone post a video of how much it pisses them off to get hate comments on their work. You’re human, that sucks!
we're so far beyond the "awareness" and "acknowledgement" phase of so many issues... agreed i'd rather see more people sharing about actional ways forward to start changing the problem!!
I referenced Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson in a post I wrote about how when French people call Americans “fat “it’s quite hurtful.
I’m an American who lives in France and I write a lot about France. I would hope that my post did not qualify as low effort content, and reopening old wounds.
I think those "Look how bad it was!" posts are for straight sized women. They're to assuage straight sized women and tell them that fatphobia against them is unreasonable and mean and they shouldn't feel bad....while never actually dismantling any fatphobia. It's to tell straight sized women "all those years you spent feeling bad, you shouldn't have because you're not a REAL fattie-fat-fat." It's always an image of a straight size woman "we shouldn't have called fat" and not a message of "fat is a neutral term, everyone needs respect and power, regardless of body size." It's never a message of how awful *it still is* to use "Precious" as a stand-in insult for any fat Black woman. (Oh, and most of those images are white women.)
SUCH A GOOD POINT
i was thinking this whilst reading!! its to just comfort and say ‘yes it’s okay you’re thin enough, the media was wrong about you’ with a heart emoji
It's just low effort content. Thanks for keeping yours high effort!
Appreciate you!
Thank you for teasing out a nebulous feeling I have had about these same kinds of posts! It feels performative and like an end in itself, rather than a means of bringing about any change in our treatment of fatphobia and body image issues TODAY. It made me think of the fervor with which some segments of society adopted “land acknowledgment” statements a few years ago (mostly, it seems to make people feel like they were doing something but without actually having to do much of anything).
yes, you get it!
Completely agree. Its a form of rage-baiting (although I think its unintentional). I've similarly unfollowed people on here who are angry about the state of American politics (fair) but their posting is just so emotionally unregulated that I just don't have the capacity to witness. I think it's all the same issue - being stuck in the harm and not being able to get to the other side.
This part, "That’s likely because we don’t really know how to move forward, and we know we haven’t."
Loved this piece - it's such an important conversation.
Thank you Kait!
i think society is dwelling, and this is why i have limited consuming all forms of media other than substack. i'm not buying what ANYONE is selling these days.
I have been thinking this for so long! Thank you for voicing it so well, with a nuanced take. I also dislike when people post all the hate comments that they get, in a sort of look how awful it is out there for us way, we must fight back. I don't find it empowering, it just makes me feel like I've seen inside people's heads and that makes me feel worse about myself.
There are smarter ways to move the conversation on and so many of these accounts are just doing a copy and paste version of false empowerment
I totally agree about the posting the hate comments thing too. Like when people post them while doing a little “I don’t care” dance or something to show how allegedly unbothered they are… come on, you’re bothered lol. I’d rather someone post a video of how much it pisses them off to get hate comments on their work. You’re human, that sucks!
we're so far beyond the "awareness" and "acknowledgement" phase of so many issues... agreed i'd rather see more people sharing about actional ways forward to start changing the problem!!
Oh ok
I quite like these images of normal sized women. They make me smile. They look so hot 🔥
I referenced Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson in a post I wrote about how when French people call Americans “fat “it’s quite hurtful.
I’m an American who lives in France and I write a lot about France. I would hope that my post did not qualify as low effort content, and reopening old wounds.
Did you post this already? Or is this part 2?
I’m not sure what you mean. I’ve referenced that lead image in another post but this is a new piece