A Desperate Plea to The Health and Performing Arts Industries

(CW: weight/eating disorders/bigotry, etc)

Hello. I am fat.

I know, I know — I shouldn’t start this out that way. But, it’s an empirical fact. You’re the one who made a judgment based on that three-word sentence. That said, our culture prizes weight loss. And thinness. And visible muscle tone that is uninterrupted by fat tissue.

I’m also trans. These facts about my body aren’t the most interesting or important or even the most unique things about me. But they’re visible, and they get pointed out to me a lot in two key places: work, and the doctor’s office! (Also, Bill Maher talks a lot about both in a pejorative fashion, but he’s a jerk, so what do I care?)

Did you know that if I lost another 50 pounds, I’d still be overweight, but significantly less so? Did you also know that I’d also still be extremely unhappy?

Weight cannot be the test of someone’s character. It cannot be seen as a moral failing.

I am tired of family and friends and even more so, doctors and colleagues treating me like I am a bad person for being fat, and like I am doing the right thing when I torture myself to lose weight.

I wrote the above quite some time ago, and now am strongly in eating disorder recovery. 10/10, would recommend. Any body/Anybody can be healthy. Any body/Anybody can be sick.