This xoJane article by Daisy sparked a firestorm this EST early-afternoon, with fat-feeling Daisy bemoaning her inability to feel skinnyandhot when hot-tubbing in Tahoe and spinning at the gym, thereby justifying why she’s “not okay with being fat” (and the rest of us need to be okay that she’s not okay with being fat).
It might have been yet another skinny-obsessed article in the annals of the hundreds that get published every day, except:
- xoJane is a so-called feminist publication
- Daisy drops giant hints that this isn’t just about her self-perception, but about being fat.
Now I have to do something about it. You can’t tell the world you think you’re fat and then not lose weight. Or at least I can’t.
What bothers me lately, however, is that there doesn’t seem to be much room here for those of us who aren’t happy with the way we look and feel. I mean, it can’t just be me, right?
And, sorry, but there’s nothing worse than going to a class at the gym and realizing you’re the biggest girl there.
and
…I am not writing this to get compliments or reassurance (or insults). I’m writing it because it’s how I feel and because I think it’s OK to want to improve one’s body. I’m writing it because I think xoJane underrepresents that point of view in an admittedly noble attempt to make us all feel equal and beautiful.
What I read in this: fat bodies are worse bodies (hence her ‘improvement’ by losing weight), and it’s ‘noble’ to ‘make us all feel equal and beautiful’ cuz, yanno, we aren’t actually equal and beautiful, but it’s nice to be charitable to the worser-offs.
Read it and the comments to see just how hard privilege fights back when it’s threatened. Privileged people can’t bear another viewpoint. They can’t bear having their preconceptions challenged. They can’t bear having choices that align with maintaining their privilege challenged by being put in a socially conscious context.
(it’s also incredibly class-privileged, but that’s fairly obvious)
