Current weight: 295.8 lbs,
Total weight loss: 10 lbs.
More and more, I’ve been thinking about how being overweight can be such a stigma.
Sometimes just talking about being overweight or acknowledging someone is overweight is taboo. Even though it is possible to be overweight by today’s standards and to be healthy. And healthy bodies definitely come in all shapes and sizes. It is great that the body positivity movement is trying to spread this message.
Healthy and beautiful bodies come in all shapes and sizes!
#diversity.
The Stigma of Weight
Being overweight itself is not necessarily a problem, but it can certainly be a symptom of a problem. And for some reason, it is hard to look at being overweight as just another medical condition. Like having an underactive thyroid. Or eczema. Or allergies. People don’t mind giving their height, but most will immediately balk at giving their weight. How did it get to be this way??
In the conversations around weight, there seems to be an underlying and pervasive judgment. After all, everybody knows that in people who are overweight, there is lack of self-control. Laziness. Indifference. Right???
Blame is cast. Shame develops.
And this blame and shame can be hard to avoid – so hard, in fact, that even those who struggle with weight sometimes self-impose these feelings. And then these become part of the problem because failure becomes personal.
This is certainly what has happened with me over the course of my life.
My Stigma
The other day, I had to get a photo ID for work that required some of my ‘stats’. I sat in the waiting area until my name was called, and then I proceeded to the small window behind which sat an attendant.
She asked me multiple basic questions: address, date of birth, height. All of this was done in a conversational, matter-of-fact way. Until she asked for my weight.
At that point, she lowered her eyes and her voice, and in a hushed, almost embarrassed, tone asked:
“And what is your weight?”
It was so quiet that I could barely hear her. In fact, I knew what she was asking more because of her demeanor than her actual words. I have certainly experienced this attitude before.
After I answered her, I sat back down to wait for the paperwork. As I waited, I overheard the attendant’s same conversation with the next woman, who happened to be quite thin.
I could hear their entire conversation. The attendant asked for the woman’s weight in a normal voice. And the woman answered her matter-of-factly. No shame. No judgment. Just one reference point of many. One piece of data. Probably how the conversation and exchange of information should be.
As I left, I considered this example of how weight is stigmatized and how different sized people are treated differently. I think the attendant was trying to be mindful of my feelings, which I can understand, especially since it can be a sensitive topic.
But I also realized a more important point, and that is my contribution to the stigma of excess weight, and to the pervasive judgement and blame associated with it:
When I answered the attendant’s hushed question about my weight, I whispered back my answer just as quietly.
And the worst part? My answer wasn’t even the truth. I lied about my weight.
I was too ashamed to give the real number.
And so continues the stigma of weight.
Ugh.
Day #18:
Current weight: 295.8 lbs
Total weight loss: 10 lbs
– Previous Post –
– Next Post –