A friend asked me what words I prefer to address the concept of fat bodies, and this is my response after thinking about it overnight.
1) I don’t like to use the word “overweight” because it implies that there is an ideal weight for a body, an ideal usually determined by someone else, often a bullshit height/weight chart created by insurance companies based on the bodies of men. I don’t believe that the body has an ideal weight, but instead lives in a flux of size ranges, all of which could be considered healthy and none of which are more perfect than the others. The word “overweight” is a judgment. It’s saying: there’s something you should be, and you’re not it.
2) How to address it? One option is not to. It is possible to create discussion around bodies, their nutrition, and their activity choices without ever referencing size or judging size. It is possible to say things like, “Move your belly out of the way as you twist,” without casting any judgement on that belly.
3) Another option for addressing it is using words that are true but not comparisons. I would rather be called fat than overweight. Fat is true – my body carries fat, as do all bodies. Overweight is not true, as it is unmeasurable by any standards I accept.
4) A person’s health can never be measured by their level of fat. I’ve seen fat women and men with stamina, strength, and flexibility that would knock you off your feet. I’ve seen thin people who were weak, tense, and stiff. I’ve seen it the other way around. I haven’t seen more of one and less of the other. If we want to work with people’s health and bodies responsibly, we have to deal with what’s true, and size is a red herring. Check out the Health at Every Size (HAES) philosophy for more detailed information about this.
5) We have a tendency to look at health through a very narrow lens – activity level and diet – when there are in reality a broad spectrum of factors that we could and should be looking at. It’s unhealthy not to get enough sleep and keep the body in a constant state of stress. Cars kill something like 5.5 million people in the U.S. every year, so they’re pretty unhealthy for us to be around and use. I’m pretty sure it’s unhealthy to keep electronic devices on your body for 16 hours a day, but that’s standard behavior. If we can understand health as an amalgamation of hundreds of different things, those of us working with bodies can more accurately discuss and assess what we can actually help clients with and what our focus can offer.
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