Accepting Body Acceptance
It took doctors’ denials, and decades of dieting to finally stop dieting
In time travel movies, there are always scenes in which the time traveler walks around mouth agape, marveling at the changes in technology, fashion, and social attitudes when they leap into the future.
I have felt similarly these last few years as the fat acceptance movement has challenged society’s entrenched negativity and judgment around those who carry more weight than others. I know it began decades ago, but I see and feel its impact in many places, publications, and press now.
The persistence and advocacy of these activists have challenged accepted fat bias, and altered the shape and size of representative bodies in pop culture, movies and media. I greatly appreciate their labor.
Much like that time traveler, I can hardly believe what I am seeing.
It is a strange sensation to live long enough to witness something so pervasive begin to be widely disrupted. I have also witnessed the switch from corded phones, to cordless phones, to cell phones. I’ve listened to music on eight tracks, CDs, and Spotify.
I know I am living in a time of change, uncertainty, and technological strides. But I truly thought I’d…