After Canadian comedian Nicole Arbour came under fire recently for her video on YouTube insulting overweight women, the issue of “fat-shaming” became a popular subject across social media.
Larger women everywhere took issue with Nicole’s words calling the video, “Tired, cruel, and lazy”. (The Guardian) The star of my “Big Fat Fabulous Life” Whitney Way Thore made a video rebuttal condemning the comedian for her viral attack.
Insulting another person’s physical appearance not only demeans that person, but hinders their weight loss success. Fat-shaming is a very real thing that mostly women experience whether at home, in the workplace, or online. It can lead to stress and poor eating habits.
So why do we “fat-shame” others? Are we in such a dire need to be socially accepted by society that we forget what the struggles of weight loss is like for others? Or is it another way to socially oppress other individuals with larger physiques.
One woman thought that she was going to receive that same kind of treatment when she stripped to her bikini and held two markers in her hand while blindfolded. The point of the exercise was to promote self-love by letting strangers draw hearts all over her body. What Amy Pence-Brown did not expect was all the love and support she would receive from the passerbys who saw her sign. Take a look at the video of people’s reactions to her request.
At Model My Diet, we believe in visual motivation and support. Your model is a reflection of yourself and what you want to be in the future. When you share an image of your model, you are getting support from the community; a community that understands what it means to go through a weight loss struggle. Learning to accept yourself is the first step towards progression. Not everyone can have a perfect body, but once we learn to accept our imperfections, we can invite change into our lives.