The Diet And Beauty Industries’ Cycle Of Disempowerment

February 15, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 7 Comments

The diet and beauty industries don’t stumble into making billions of dollars. They employ very specific strategies, one of which is their cycle of disempowerment.

The cycle goes like this:

Step 1: They Create The Message

The diet and beauty industries tell us what is good/beautiful based on the products they sell (essentially, they create “problems” out of things that are completely normal – fat bodies, grey hair, wrinkles etc. – and then sell “solutions”)

This happens through a lot of different mediums – advertisements, billboards, fashion magazines and more. We are ~~told~~ sold a stereotype of beauty rooted in white, thin cisgender, able-bodiedness.

Step 2: We Internalize The Message

We start to believe that the (completely made up) stereotype of beauty is reality. We start to believe that bodies, and people, are better the more closely they approximate the stereotype. We even start to believe that only people who can fit the stereotype of beauty can be talented.

Step 3: We Enforce The “Standard” On Other People

This happens in so many ways. It happens when we engage in negative body talk against other people. It happens when we care more about what an actor is wearing than the work she did that got her nominated for an award in the first place. It happens when we insist that people should dress in “flattering” ways (which is to say using clothes the create the optical illusion that we look closer to the stereotype of beauty.) In this way we become walking, talking, peer-pressuring advertisements for the diet and beauty industries.

Step 4: People Are Disempowered, The Diet And Beauty Industry Profit

This cycle is incredibly profitable for the people who sell the promise of bringing us closer to the stereotype because, as my friend Courtney Legare likes to say, they are in the business of stealing our self-esteem, cheapening it, and selling it back to us at a profit.

We can break the cycle though, and we can do it in a lot of ways. We can stop engaging in negative body talk of any kind, we can interrupt other people when they start engaging in negative body talk (or we can just walk away.) We can examine our own prejudices and privilege as they relate to people who fall outside of the stereotype of beauty. We can purposefully celebrate bodies that fall outside of the stereotype in everything from our social media feeds to the art we have in our homes. We can ask ourselves if the things that we buy, the bodies we celebrate, and the choices we make are supporting or challenging the current paradigm.

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Putting Exercise Amounts on Food Labels Is A Dangerous Idea

February 13, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 9 Comments

WTF are you doing Today I’m writing about the horribly misguided idea of putting exercise amounts on food labels. Before I get too far into it, I want to point out that this may be triggering to those who could develop, have, or are recovering from disordered eating and/or eating disorders.

Some UK researchers are trying to suggest that food labels should include “how much activity it would take to burn off food.” They are calling it PACE (Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent) and they claim it could “combat ob*sity.”

There’s so much wrong with this that I hardly know where to begin.

First of all, when I hear the phrase “combat ob*sity” I imagine someone rushing at me, wearing boxing gloves. All these metaphors that are used to discuss what are supposed to be health interventions for fat people are telling, in their common theme of violence. Combating… tackling… war on… – these are all things that harm, not help, their victims. It’s another reminder that they want us thin or dead and they don’t seem to care which.

They are claiming that this is based in research. In reality, the The UK Royal Society for Public Health wanted to use PACE labeling and created a project team who seem to have been tasked to find a way to say that the research supported it (anyone who learned scientific method at the fourth-grade science fair knows that this has already gone awry.)

They cobbled together the results of 14 small studies, each of which had a different design, and almost none of which were carried out in real-world settings. The studies found that in a single incident of reading a PACE type label (typically in a non-real-world setting) people consumed fewer calories. They then extrapolated from that single incident to three meals and two snacks a day to come up with a number of calories not eaten that sounded more impressive.

Then the study’s author put out a statement that said “Public health agencies may want to consider the possibility of including policies to promote it as a strategy that contributes to the prevention and treatment of ob*sity and related diseases.”

Except that’s not what they found. All they found that in one incident of using a Pace label, a small group of people ate a few less calories in that one incidence. (Seriously, the number of words in their press release that mean “maybe, we don’t actually know” would be impressive if it wasn’t so awful – might, may, maybe, linked, suggests, associated, some promise, likely to, could, the list goes on and on. They have not drawn a single solid conclusion. Not. One.

And here we see one of the major problems with research around weight and health- it’s held to an impossibly, shockingly, low standard. As a former research methods student, I can tell you that making the claims they are based on the “research” they’ve done would cause a student in a Beginning Research Methods class to fail their assignment.

Then there are the issues with the actual calculation.

“Under the proposed system, a small bar of chocolate would carry a label informing consumers that it would take 23 minutes of running or 46 minutes of walking to burn off the 230 calories it contains.”

The number of calories that are burned during a minute of activity varies wildly from person to person, based on many factors that include everything from the person’s weight, muscle mass, balance of slow- and fast-twitch muscle, and level of fitness, to how fast the person is running or walking, what kind of surface they are doing it on, and how hilly it is.

The lack of even the most basic science here is staggering. And that’s not the worst of it.

You see, it’s not just fat people these so-called scientists don’t care about, it’s also people of all sizes who may develop, have, or are recovering from, eating disorders. Because the idea that you have to use activity to earn food or that you should “burn off” off food using exercise is a precursor to, and common behavior of eating disorders.

So people who are supposed to be public health professionals are going to risk perpetuating eating disorders, some of the most deadly mental illnesses, because in a few small studies a few people ate a few fewer calories one time?

At the very least, interventions that claim to be pro-public health should not leave the public less healthy. This is beyond irresponsible.

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ESPN Body-Shames Zion Williamson

February 12, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 2 Comments

Imagine working your entire life with the dream of making the NBA, playing in a game that’s aired on ESPN.

Then, imagine that you make that dream come true! You become a number one draft pick. Heartbreakingly, you have a knee injury common to basketball players that causes you to miss the first 44 games of your career. Then imagine finally getting to make your NBA debut at the age of 19 – and scoring 22 points – 17 of them in the fourth quarter on seven consecutive possessions in just three minutes, causing the stadium to erupt in chants of “MVP!” and then, when it was time to leave the game to protect the knee rehab “WE WANT [YOUR NAME!]” in a game being aired on ESPN. All your dreams coming true.

Now, imagine you learn that ESPN’s announcer team of Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy spent basically the entire game body-shaming you, starting literally four minutes into your professional career. Including questioning if you were heavier than the official reported weight, claiming that you were out of shape, creating a graphic to compare your weight to the rest of the NBA players like it’s a stat, and saying that they wouldn’t have drafted you number one if they had a re-do.

That’s exactly what happened to Zion Williamson.

Then of course, there are armchair doctors all over the place blaming his knee injury on his weight. David Griffin, the Pelican’s executive vice president told ESPN “The notion that this happened because Zion is in poor condition is asinine. He wasn’t in poor condition when he went 12-of-13 last week against Utah. That’s not what it is. He’s just a very unique body type and certainly from a physics perspective.”

I’m sorry that this is happening to Williamson. That said, the Pelican’s approach is a good model for treating people in larger bodies who have injuries (rather than a medical community that insists that we have to become thin people before we can get ethical, evidence-based care.)

Plenty of people responded to point out that body-shaming is wrong, which was really heartening. Of there were those who claimed that the announcers had a professional responsibility to body shame him. For the record, Williamson is killing it. He’s played in 9 games and scored 20+ points in 7 of them. In a game played last Thursday, “When he was announced in the starting lineup for that game against Chicago,” CBS Sports reports, “he received the loudest cheer not just of Pelicans players, but of Bulls players as well. Everyone in attendance was there to see Zion Williamson put on a show, and he did. He finished that game with 21 points while shooting 81.8 percent from the field.”

In a game played today “Williamson had yet another sensational showing, posting 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists while shooting 10 for 17 from the field and 11 for 14 from the free-throw line. He did all this in 28 minutes. ”

Some, well-meaning but misguided, said that Williamson shouldn’t be body-shamed because he’s not really fat. But that’s missing the entire point, since countering fat-shaming by denying fatness says that the current target doesn’t deserve poor treatment (which is true) but at the expense of reinforcing the incorrect idea that they would deserve it if they were fat (or some greater degree of fat), or that being called fat is an insult. There is no size at which people deserve to be treated poorly.

There is absolutely no justification for fat-shaming, whether it’s an NBA player or a person just trying to do their shopping. Body-shaming is just wrong.

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Let’s Have Better, And Less Fatphobic, Conversations About The Oscars

February 11, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 3 Comments

let's stop using the oscars as an excuse for fatphobia! Now that I live in LA, the Oscars have a special personal meaning – that I should avoid downtown because of the traffic. But of course the Oscars mean more than that – it’s a night where artists get to see if they have won one of their industry’s top honors, which – especially for the women and femmes – will likely be completely overshadowed by people’s opinions of their dresses, hair, make-up, and bodies.

Much of this talk will be steeped in fatphobic terms like “flattering,” and that will be amplified for the fat people whose options are massively limited because most designers refuse to dress them and because people discussing their “fashion” will have already been bathed in fatphobia, including the idea that, for fat people, the only appropriate use of clothing is to create optical illusions to try to make us look thinner.

Once again, we – and especially women and femmes – will be given the message loud and clear that how we look is far more important than what we have achieved. I’ve discussed this before and there are plenty of things that we can do if we’re not onboard:

When talking about the Academy Awards, focus your conversations on what the nominees and winners achieved – actually discuss their work.
Talk about the Oscars’ continued lack of representation of marginalized communities (including People of Color, and women, and non-binary people – who are literally left out of award categories that are divided on a gender binary) and share the writing for people from these groups.
Share Janelle Monae’s incredible opening performance
Talk about people who used “fashion” to make an important statement.

Don’t click on “best and worst dressed” lists. Consider the possibility that people who are grown ass adults are allowed to wear whatever they want, and that if we don’t like it the correct solution is to not wear it, not to take to the internet to engage in what is often pretty difficult to separate from any other cyberbullying – this goes double for people in marginalized communities.

Just say no to Fashion Bashing
Speak out against body shaming and fashion bashing when you see it – on your friends’ social media, in the comments sections of articles about the Oscars, etc

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Yes, It’s Wrong To Charge More For Larger Size Clothes

February 10, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 4 Comments

the fat tax on clothing When fat people try to get clothes that fit us, there are several levels of oppression that we might face:

No Clothes For You

The first is companies and lines who simply don’t bother to make clothes to fit us. They know fat people exist, they are fully capable of making clothing in larger sizes, but they just don’t.

We’ll Take Your Money, But Keep Your Fat Ass Out Of Our Store

These are companies that make our sizes, but don’t carry them in the stores – this even happens in stores that specifically cater to larger sizes (ie: Lane Bryant sells “extended sizes” or, as I like to call them, sizes, only online. Their lingerie brand, Cacique, doesn’t fit sizes larger than a 28, but instead of expanding their sizing up, they decided to expand it down to serve the population already served by almost every other brand that exists.)

Not only is this dehumanizing, it’s expensive. Sizes aren’t consistent, even within individual brands, and it’s often hard to tell how something will look on you until you’ve tried it on (especially since many “plus size” models aren’t even big enough to fit into the clothes they are modeling.) So instead of going into a store and trying on four different pant/shirt outfits in three sizes each to find the right one, we would have to pay for all 24 items upfront, and pay for shipping.

The Fat Tax

The fat tax happens when they charge more for clothing in larger sizes. People (including some fat people – internalized oppression is real) tend to bend over backward to justify this, but it is simply wrong.

Defenses include that it’s more difficult to make larger “women’s” clothes. It’s more fabric, blah blah blah bolt size, blah blah blah whatever.

The idea that larger sizes should cost more because they are currently more difficult to make is literally charging fat people a penalty because the fashion industry built all their systems and processes around not bothering to clothe us. We’ve always existed, and we’ve always existed with less access to clothing. Fixing that is the right thing to do, charging us more to fix a history of exclusion is not.

When it comes to extra fabric, I think it’s hard to defend the idea that size 00 -size 14 are the same price, but a size 16 should cost $15 more due to the extra fabric.

But don’t just take my word for it, reader Dayna R (aka @knitwrit15) did the math:

A 12/14 is not so much different than a 2/4. Don’t believe me? I ran the numbers. Size charts from clothing companies vary vastly, so I’m using the Craft Yarn Council size chart for women.

Assuming XS is size 0-2, the L would be size 12/14. The difference between the waist sizes is 34 minus 24, so 10 inches. If waists were perfect circles and the two circles were overlaid using the same center point, the difference in radii between the larger and smaller would be 5.41 minus 3.82, which is 1.59. So there’s only a 2” difference from the edge of one waist to the edge of the other waist. That’s a total of only 4″ if a point on each circle were aligned with the other.

If I were sewing a pair of pants for these two sizes, I’d add 2.5” to the four seams of the XS to fit the waist of the L. There’s a 10-inch difference in the circumferences of 3X and L, so it’s the same as between XS and L.

It’s not that much at all.

Even if it was a lot, it’s still not right. The actual solution here is incredibly simple, and it’s easy to implement because it’s what they are already doing for so-called “straight sizes” – which is to take the cost of each size, and average it across all sizes so that everyone pays the same amount for the same piece of clothing.

Fair is fair and just like a size 00, 5, 10, and 14 should (and do!) all pay the same price, so should people who are sizes above that. It’s time for people who happen to be smaller to stop feeling (and being) entitled to more and cheaper clothing that those who happen to be larger, and it’s time for those selling clothing to stop penalizing us financially as part of their process of no longer excluding us.

David’s Bridal has already gotten rid of the fat tax, other brands, lines, and stores need to follow suit.

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Dealing With The Vague Future Health Threat (VFHT) Form Of Fatphobia

February 9, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 8 Comments

The Vague Future Health Threat is something that I first wrote about almost a decade ago. But it’s still going on, and it came up in conversation today, so I’m writing about it again today!

This happens to me way too often: I’m in a conversation with someone who thought it was appropriate to make random guesses about my health based only on my size. I’ve quelled my rage, given them the benefit of the doubt, and asked permission to suggest another point of view – to which they’ve agreed. I’ve explained that there are other beliefs out there, I’ve explained about the science. I’ve explained Health at Every Size. I’ve explained that there are plenty of people with the same food and lifestyle choices who have vastly different body sizes – both healthy and unhealthy. I’ve explained that health is not entirely within our control, that it is neither an obligation nor a barometer of worthiness. I say that I’m happy with the prioritization of my health and the path I’ve chosen to support my health.

Then it happens. The VFHT: The Vague Future Health Threat.

It sounds like this “Well, you may be healthy now, but it will catch up to you someday”. They look triumphant because the VFHT, they believe, is indefensible.

Now instead of completely quelling my rage and giving them the benefit of the doubt, I’m just fighting the urge to set this person on fire. It’s not just the person I’m talking to – it’s also that this is the 20 zillionth time I’ve heard this. I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be 102 years old and still pressured to diet so that it doesn’t “catch up to me”.

I find this to be paternalistic, ignorant, scientifically unsupported, and annoying for the following reasons:

1. Adding healthism to fatphobia does not improve the situation. Health issues should never be used to threaten, taunt, or insult someone.

2. I have a rule – if you’re going to act like you’re psychic, cough up some lottery number or leave me alone.

3. Everyone is going to die. There is a 100% chance. I just happen to live in a culture where it almost doesn’t matter how I die, they will try to blame it on my fat. A piano being carried through the air by a flock of flying alien flamingo piano thieves could be dropped on my head and the coroner’s report would mention my body size, calling me “morbidly” fat, and some researcher would come along, count my death as “death by fat” and charge all of my crush-injury medical expenses to my fatness and report about the high medical cost of fat people.

That doesn’t make it true. This “it will catch up to you” claim is just not supported by the available science, and of all the people who’ve VFHT’d me in my life, NOT ONE has accepted my invitation to cite his/her research (including doctors).

4. Speaking of the lottery. What if I changed the rules of the lottery so that if you lost, you had to pay the lottery money as a penalty? Now not only is your chance of winning infinitesimally small, but there is a near 100% chance that you’ll end up with LESS money than you had after you bought the ticket. Would you play?

Now imagine that this isn’t your money we’re talking about – it’s your long term health. There is not a single study that proves that any weight loss method is effective long term, but many studies indicate that weight cycling (yo-yo dieting) is less healthy than being obese. Since diets have such an abysmal failure rate, with most people losing weight in the beginning and then gaining it all back within 2-5 years (and up to 2/3 of people gaining back more than they lost) if I go on just 2 diets where I lose weight and gain it back (and I have an extremely high chance of doing just that both times), then I’ve likely damaged my current health and endangered my future health by weight-cycling, all on a roll of the dice that was obviously a losing bet from the beginning.

The person VFHTing me is asking that I do something they can’t prove is possible, for a reason they can’t prove is valid, with a very high percentage that I’ll end up less healthy at the end. Hard pass.

So what do you say to the VFHT?

Here are some possible responses broken down by category.

Quick and simple:

It’s not your place to make guesses about my future health.
My health is not your business. (If, at this point, they bring up tax payer dollars or health care costs, I ask them for an itemized list of things for which their local, state, and federal taxes pay, or health problems that people develop for which causation cannot be proven; broken down into categories of things they are happy to pay for, and things they don’t want to pay for. If they don’t happen to have that list on hand, I let them know that I’ll be happy to discuss it once they do.)

More detailed/scientific

I don’t know of a single statistically significant, properly controlled scientific study that supports that statement. So, either cite your research or I’m going to assume that I know more about this than you do and you are just talking without actually knowing what you’re talking about. (Or “talking out of your ass”, depending on my mood).
You have no way to know that. Cite your research or I will assume that you are putting my health at risk by talking about things for which you have no actual knowledge or qualifications. That is completely unacceptable to me.

The pointed response (feel free to mix and match questions/responses with boundary statements)

How dare you make assumptions about my health? It’s not your place to discuss my health with me.
I find you completely unqualified to make that statement. Please keep your opinions about my health to yourself.
My health is not your business and you are not allowed to comment on it.
You will immediately stop making guesses and assumptions about my future health or this conversation is over.
I appreciate what I assume are good intentions, but I’m simply not interested in your opinions about my health.

The snarky responses (Not the best for starting conversations, but excellent for ending them!)

I had no idea you could predict the future! Would you mind giving me tomorrow’s lottery numbers?
Actually the fat doesn’t have to catch up with me – I keep it right here.
I totally forgot that being thin would make me immortal – thank god you told me or I might have died someday.
I meant to tell you that I’m actually worried about you. I read on a website that we are about to experience another ice age and without fat stores to keep you alive and warm, you’re absolutely going to freeze to death. I know it sounds weird but it was on the internet so you know it must be true and I think you should immediately go and tell everyone.

Remember that in many cases you get to choose how people treat you. If you decide that they don’t get to VFHT you, then you just need to put that plan into action, set boundaries and consequences and get after it.

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Stop Suggesting Body Positivity When Fat People Ask For Equality

February 8, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 4 Comments

Weight-based shame, stigma, bullying, and oppression To be a fat person in this fatphobic culture is to be constantly mistreated, and then blamed for that mistreatment. If you don’t want to be the victim of institutional oppression we’re told, you should stop being fat. (As a queer person who came out in Texas in the mid-90’s this is a familiar refrain – if you don’t want to be gay-bashed, stop being gay…)

Because we are literally born into a fatphobic culture, many fat people (whether we were born fat or became fat later in life) have to overcome intense internalized fatphobia in order to begin our own path to liberation. (This is also why, in any discussion about weight-stigma online, you will find fat people arguing on the side of fatphobia – it’s not proof that fatphobia is a good thing, is proof that fatphobia is so ubiquitous that fat people often internalize those messages to the point that we argue for our own oppression.)

So for many of us, the first step of our liberation is to learn to love ourselves. To realize that it is absolutely ok to be fat. Once we realize that we are worthy to love our bodies as they are, often we start to realize that we are worthy of many of the other things that are denied to us – like clothes that fit, or a chair that accommodates us at the doctor’s office, or on a plane.

The problem is that people, including people who are trying to be allies, want to make everything about how we feel about ourselves. So if we complain that, say, a new athletic wear line doesn’t bother to go up to our size, people will respond “You’re beautiful and amazing, don’t let this get you down.” That’s a nice sentiment, but it doesn’t help us get some leggings.

Focusing on fat people loving ourselves ignores the very real consequences of fatphobia – weight-based shame, stigma, bullying, and oppression – and the way that they affect us. So when we demand equal treatment, and people try to placate us by telling us that we are great, or that we just need to see our worth or whatever, they end up derailing important discussions. The problem is that personal body positivity doesn’t solve the problems of equality – we still can’t buy clothes that don’t exist, or sit in an armless chair that the doctor’s office didn’t bother to buy, or not be asked to pay double for the same experience on a plane that a thin person gets.

I want to acknowledge that being an ally is not easy. No marginalized group is a monolith, and different people want different things from those working in solidarity, which means that anything you do that makes some members of the group happy will upset other members of the group. Still, when a fat person is talking about needing justice and equality, it is best if you resist the urge to change the subject – to body-love or anything else.

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Comebacks To Shut Down Fatphobia – Part Three

February 7, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 7 Comments

Are you pregnant_No, but the night is young...--Betsy _Boo_ Mitchell Henningin the book Fat!So_

Here’s the next installment of my series of comebacks to the fatphobic nonsense we have to deal with. If you have a phrase you’d like me to create a comeback for, or if you have a comeback that you love, please leave them in the comments! (You can read Part One Here and Part Two Here!)

Again, let me be clear that these are just some suggestions. They may not work in every circumstance – especially considering things like power imbalances and privilege. Finally, I’m sure I’m not the first (or last!) person to think of these, so all the credit to those who are doing this work, especially those who came before me!

I just want you to be happy.

That’s great news. I’m as happy as I can be in a world that is chock full o’ fatphobia, so I appreciate your commitment to fighting fatphobia with me so that I can be as happy as I can be!

Because you’re [a certain BMI], you’re at higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure…”

This is way more complicated than your making it. The fact that you are saying this tells me that you don’t know enough to talk about it with me, which works for me since I didn’t ask you and don’t care what you think.

“I don’t understand why you’re fat. I’ve never seen you eat very much at all.”

I think there are two things for you to do here. First, you can stop monitoring my food intake, like, now. Second you can let go of the stereotypes you have about fat people.

When is the baby due

Oh, I’m not pregnant, but the night is young! (Courtesy of Marilyn Wann)

I don’t date heavy girls.

Wow, that would be really disappointing news if I was fat woman with horrible taste in men.

Don’t you WANT to be thinner?

No, I want to live in a world without fatphobia

How can you be ok with yourself?

Because I know that being fat isn’t the problem -fatphobia is. (As a fat, queer person, this reminds me of how I know that being queer isn’t a problem – homophobia is.)

I just want to know what you are doing for your health and longevity.

Thanks for asking, let me tell you all about Health at Every Size!

“Diets do work! My <mom/sister/self/partner/teacher/parole officer> lost XX pounds on <insert plan>!”

I used to get duped by this too. It turns out that most people lose weight short term, but almost everyone gains it back. Dieting because a tiny percentage of people lose weight long term is like jumping out of a plane without a parachute because a few people have survived when their chute didn’t open!

I can’t believe how FAT I was in this photo!

I think you look great. Either way, I’m not really into fat-shaming. I’m going to head out, maybe we can hang out some other time.

You’re not fat–you’re beautiful!

Sigh. I most certainly am fat, and who said I wasn’t beautiful? Sounds like you have issues with fatphobia to work through fatphobia.

But everyone knows that being fat is just unhealthy!

If you study a little history I think you’ll find that “everybody” isn’t very credible. Also, if you’re curious, being fatphobic and healthist is not better than just being fatphobic.

‘Sitting is the new sugar.

Nope, sitting is just the same old sitting. Not only is this scientifically a mess, it’s ableist as well. Just…no.

It isn’t flattering

Fuck flattering!

Using clothing to try to create an optical illusion so that my body looks more like a stereotype of beauty that’s rooted in thin, white, cis, het, able-bodiedness? Hard Pass.

It is my opinion and I am allowed an opinion

It’s an opinion when you think it, when you say it out loud to a fat person, it’s dehumanizing fatphobia. If you want some support getting over that, I’m happy to help. If you want to keep your opinion rooted in stereotypes and bigotry, then I’m done listening.

You’re so brave for wearing/doing that!

It’s a shame that fatphobia has messed up the world so much that just existing as a fat person without shame is considered brave.

Clothing Company Marketing: We make clothes for all shapes and sizes!
Clothing Company Website: Clothes only go up to a size 24

This is a shitty bait and switch. Be honest about the sizes that you make. Just market your clothes without lying, it’s not that hard.

I mean, I’m a big girl, but I’m not enormous!

So you are against fatphobia only up to your own size? Fix that.

If you lost weight, you’d be a knockout.

I’m already a knockout, if you lost your fatphobia, you could see it!

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WW (Weight Watchers) Is Advertising To People With Eating Disorders

February 6, 2020February 17, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 2 Comments

I'll take terrible ideas for $500 Please alex

I recently wrote about the dangerous downsides of dieting, including eating disorders. I saw a post that clearly illustrates one of the issues from Anna Sweeney MS, RD, LDN, CEDRD-S, known on social media as @DietitianAnna I know her to be an incredible dietitian and a fierce advocate for her clients and for intersectional social justice. She posted:

My client unenrolled from Weight Watchers two years ago. They asked for a reason for her departure. “I am being treated for an eating disorder,” was her response. WW, new name, same game, started emailing her again at the start of the year.

This further reveals a serious issue within the diet industry – they perpetuate eating disorders, they do it with impunity, and they don’t seem to care.

Surely anyone who is a professional within the diet industry should be aware that their product is based on behaviors that are red flags for eating disorders (counting calories – whether you call it calorie counting, “points” or something else – moralizing food, frequent weigh-ins, using activity as a way to “earn” food etc.)

Even if they don’t care that enticing people into these behaviors can trigger a full-blown eating disorder (and let’s be very clear – they absolutely should care) at the very least they should know that if someone discloses to them that they actually have an eating disorder, they should never, ever, under any circumstances contact them again (unless, of course they are sending an apology and check to compensate for their involvement.)

Eating disorders can be deadly, and they are being perpetuated by an industry with so little ethics that they continue to sell a product that has a failure rate that hovers right around 100%, with a majority of people experiencing the exact opposite of the intended effect.

They lie to us, they harm us, and they have no shame about it. We can walk away from them and never come back.

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If you are uncomfortable with my offering things for sale on this site, you are invited to c heck out this post.

Three Of The Most Dangerous Downsides Of Dieting

February 5, 2020 ~ Ragen Chastain ~ 3 Comments

It's not just that dieting is unlikely to help us, It's that dieting is likely to hurt us. Saying no to diets is self-care. We hear a lot about how the research shows that almost everyone who attempts weight loss loses weight short term and then gains it back long-term, and while being whatever size someone ends up isn’t a problem, it is a problem that everyone from mothers to doctors are asking people to do something that nobody can prove is possible for a reason that nobody can prove is valid. But it gets worse, because there are dangerous downsides to dieting.

Weight Cycling

Also known as yo-yo dieting, this is what tends to happen when people go on more than one diet, as they lose weight and gain it back repeatedly.

Consider weight cycling as an example. Attempts to lose weight typically result in weight cycling, and such attempts are more common among [fat] individuals [62]. Weight cycling results in increased inflammation, which in turn is known to increase risk for many [fat]-associated diseases [63]. Other potential mechanisms by which weight cycling contributes to morbidity include hypertension, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia [64]. Research also indicates that weight fluctuation is associated with poorer cardiovascular outcomes and increased mortality risk [64–68]. Weight cycling can account for all of the excess mortality associated with [fatness] in both the Framingham Heart Study [69] and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) [70]. It may be, therefore, that the association between weight and health risk can be better attributed to weight cycling than adiposity itself [63].
Source: https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-10-9

Predators using weight loss failure to push dangerous and deadly “solutions”

Companies (and their secret lobbyists) who peddle deadly diet drugs and barbaric surgeries that, if they don’t kill us, can completely ruin our quality of life, have a new marketing strategy. They admit that almost nobody succeeds at intentional weight loss, but then they use that as a reason that more, and younger, people should be subjected to the dangers of the so-called “solutions” that they sell at an enormous profit.

Eating Disorders

We often hear that not every diet becomes an eating disorder, but every eating disorder starts with a diet. Dieting itself often meets the definition of disordered eating. And there is no way to tell if you’ll be just another person who failed at dieting, or if you’ll end up in a fight for your life with an eating disorder.

According to NEDA (the National Eating Disorders Association)

In a large study of 14– and 15-year-olds, dieting was the most important predictor of a developing eating disorder. Those who dieted moderately were 5x more likely to develop an eating disorder, and those who practiced extreme restriction were 18x more likely to develop an eating disorder than those who did not diet.

So it’s not just that dieting is unlikely to help us get healthier or thinner (two separate things,) it’s that dieting is likely to harm us. Saying no to diets is self-care.

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Book Me! I’d love to speak to your organization. You can get more information here or just e-mail me at ragen at danceswithfat dot org!

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If you are uncomfortable with my offering things for sale on this site, you are invited to c heck out this post.

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