Site icon A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss

Why Aren’t Feminists Allowed To Lose Weight?

One of my readers asked me to explain that it’s okay for feminists to want to lose weight, but I’ve never heard that it wasn’t. I’m wondering if y’all can help me understand this philosophy with maybe an explanation, links… anything.

I asked this question on twitter, and received the following answers:

because we only lose weight to look good for men.  O_o

Cuz losing weight is, y’know, only to impress dudes. Feminists aren’t supposed to like, care about that. And stuff.

I think feminists aren’t supposed to want to lose weight if it’s for a man or society.

Eh, it’s usually considered better to live in the body you’re in rather than eating only carrots for years.

Now, y’all know me – I didn’t let that last one slide.

Is that it? The assumption that weight loss is, merely, eating carrots for years? B/c after 150+ lbs lost, I don’t do that.

I received the following response:

no, it;s about accepting the body you’re in rather than waiting til you look a certain way. not to mention the whole equate worth w/ body shape thing that hurts women

…to which, I replied:

So you can’t want to change the body you’re in without thinking you’re deficient in some form? There’s no logical or legitimate reason that a woman would seek to change her body without it having to do with some kind of assumed shortcoming?

…and was met with:

We’re just bombarded with so much ‘FAT IS AWFUL’ propaganda that it’s hard to get things unentangled

…where I replied:

So wouldn’t it do the mvmnt better to work on UNtangling the message so that women can, in fact, choose to do what they want with their bodies, instead of feeling solidarity to a questionable message? The idea that a woman can’t care about her own body- regardless of whether or not that means maintaining a 6 or a 16- is bizarre to me when the mvmnt is about choice, IMO.

Y’all better help me out on this one… because the implication that a woman can’t want to lose weight without it being somehow related to patriarchy is damn near more demeaning and harmful to women than the original anti-fat principle in and of itself.

Exit mobile version