People use the word fat to verbally attack one another far too often. In 7th grade, I was walking up the stairs of my high school and I noticed an older boy picking on a 6th grader. When I decided to stand up to the bully, he responded to me by saying “Whatever fatty.” I felt worthless in the very moment I was acting strong.
I’m not writing this to start a pity party for myself but I am here to tell you that your words hold a lot of weight (no pun intended). These small interactions we’ve all had affect us in many different ways. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been attacked for their appearance, whether it be because they are too “fat” or too skinny.
The worst part about this is not the inevitably of children being bullied, but of the consequences it ensues. People seem to justify another’s appearance/weight by the notion that they’re lazy, when in reality that’s not always the case. These actions ensue consequences to our own mental health. We blame each other based on the unrealistic expectations that our society has created for us.
GIF courtesy of tumblr.com
If losing weight was that straight forward, would we even be talking about health? Our struggle with food is heavily influenced by the media by altering reality through photoshop, diet plans, and political figures humiliating people. Our health and body issues are directly linked to mental health.
Health is tremendously important for our generation because of the increasing pandemic of obesity. You don’t know anybody’s body and health journey, so we can’t assume that someone walking down the street who appears to be “fat” or “skinny” hasn’t achieved a weight goal within the last year or let alone struggling with an eating disorder.
We have all heard before that everyone carries weight differently. A thin person can be incredibly unhealthy and negligent to their fitness and pass as healthy simply because of their appearance. This assumption is dangerous for those who are “thin” and “unhealthy” because there is this belief that health is determined by weight and appearance. We need to get to the point where we able to order a burger and fries every now and then without the guilt of what another person might say.
GIF courtesy of tumblr.com
With all that said, we need to work on ourselves and giving a helping hand to anybody who needs it. I wrote this article for myself and for everyone else who second guesses their order for a burger they’re craving because of the fear somebody will judge. The world is already a hard enough place without caring about something so materialistic as how we look.