The real reason people are weight-obsessed.
July 11, 2015 at 12:12 pm
(This post was last modified: July 11, 2015 at 12:15 pm by Razzle.)
Recently I took a look around some eating disorder forums looking for threads about WHY sufferers want to lose weight. As I suspected, very few said it had anything at all to do with the shallow preoccupation with being attractive that is often attributed to them. Even people who are non-judgmental about eating disorders or campaign against them, often manage to suggest that it's about something as ridiculous as wanting to look like models so the opposite sex will like them. I think the reasons the sufferers I saw give, apply equally well to MOST non-shallow people who are body-dissatisfied. We're not shallow at all necessarily, we're just highly aware, even if unconsciously, of the symbolic MEANING of fat.
Personally, I have a BMI of 19 but I wobble too much for my liking. I think a leaner look would suit my personality better - I feel self-restrained, dedicated, serious, non-threatening, non-confrontational, unimposing and fragile on the inside, and I want to look that way on the outside. Excess fat suits some people a lot. It works great on larger-than-life, jolly, life-loving people, because their bodies represent their lust for life. The other archetype fat can represent is that of comfort-eating and low self-esteem, which is the reason most people who can't pull off the "jolly fat person" archetype want to lose weight. It's about what our bodies mean symbolically, not shallow aesthetics or to copy what's in the media (I HATE the assumption that restrictive eating at a low BMI means you're shallow or vain or want to look like a celebrity - I'm probably the least shallow person I know). Being fat wouldn't suit me at all, it wouldn't feel right, just as wearing clothes that misrepresent my personality would make me self-conscious due to other people's false expectations about me. And people DO make these connections between body shape and personality, it's just usually unconscious.
Can anyone who's ever been dissatisfied with their body relate to this? Or is it just people with eating disorders who feel their own body shape matters for more reason than simply looking attractive? I hope not because I feel that way, ha.
Personally, I have a BMI of 19 but I wobble too much for my liking. I think a leaner look would suit my personality better - I feel self-restrained, dedicated, serious, non-threatening, non-confrontational, unimposing and fragile on the inside, and I want to look that way on the outside. Excess fat suits some people a lot. It works great on larger-than-life, jolly, life-loving people, because their bodies represent their lust for life. The other archetype fat can represent is that of comfort-eating and low self-esteem, which is the reason most people who can't pull off the "jolly fat person" archetype want to lose weight. It's about what our bodies mean symbolically, not shallow aesthetics or to copy what's in the media (I HATE the assumption that restrictive eating at a low BMI means you're shallow or vain or want to look like a celebrity - I'm probably the least shallow person I know). Being fat wouldn't suit me at all, it wouldn't feel right, just as wearing clothes that misrepresent my personality would make me self-conscious due to other people's false expectations about me. And people DO make these connections between body shape and personality, it's just usually unconscious.
Can anyone who's ever been dissatisfied with their body relate to this? Or is it just people with eating disorders who feel their own body shape matters for more reason than simply looking attractive? I hope not because I feel that way, ha.
"Faith is a state of openness or trust. To have faith is like when you trust yourself to the water. You don't grab hold of the water when you swim, because if you do you will become stiff and tight in the water, and sink. You have to relax, and the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging, and holding on. In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe becomes a person who has no faith at all. Instead they are holding tight. But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be."
Alan Watts
Alan Watts
