How much longer are women going to have to deal with body shaming before we realize that it's actually a serious problem? The amount of unsolicited advice offered up to people online about their weight or health is so ridiculous, and blogger Bethanie Garcia knows this all too well.
Garcia, a mom of four from Arizona, posts about her life on Instagram and she's often criticized for the way she looks, specifically about her size. The comment in particular that inspired her to speak up again wasn't even directed at her, but what posted on Facebook by a friend of hers. Garcia copied the comment and spoke to how harmful it can be.
“If someone’s obese and promoting body positivity but not trying to improve their overall health, they don’t deserve praise. Instead praise those obese people actively trying to make a positive change in their health. Discipline = self love.”⠀⠀This is an actual, real status that a “Facebook friend” posted to their page the other day. This is just a tiny, small example of the blatant fatphobia that is constantly circulating in our society. Because any who is obese and not ACTIVELY trying to lose weight is disgusting and not worthy of praise for loving themselves...?
It doesn’t matter if they have health conditions, or if they’re on meds that cause weight gain, or if they don’t have access (money) to healthy food (and if you think that everyone does, that’s called #privilege). ⠀⠀⠀⠀And let me guess, you know a fat person’s diet and gym schedule just by looking at them, right? If they’re fat, they probably sit on the couch all day eating fast food. No way they’re in the gym every single day and eating nutritious food, right?
Or — what if a fat person just doesn’t give a f*ck anymore and would rather live life loving themselves than live life for a number on the scale? How dare they think there’s more to life than losing weight?!⠀⠀So here, let me fix that quote for you. “If someone is obese and promoting body positivity, good for them. It takes a lot of strength and discipline to love yourself in a world that constantly screams that beautiful/worthy/healthy is reserved only for certain sizes. All human beings and all body types are deserving of praise.”⠀⠀
And you know what, in my opinion, is disgusting and not deserving of praise? Small minded assholes that post fatphobic rants on Facebook. Just saying. 🤷🏻♀️
This isn't the first time she's posted about body positivity, either. Garcia is open about wanting to see "real" pictures on Instagram, but she often gets heat for it. She decided to respond to those types of comments as well.
Whenever I use the word “REAL” (i.e. real woman, real bodies, etc), I get a lot of the following comments... **all are actual comments or messages I’ve received**⠀⠀“So you’re saying because I’m skinny I’m not real...?”⠀⠀
“I love this but I believe that EVERY body is real.”⠀⠀“
I’ve worked my ass off to get my body in shape. That doesn’t make me any less real than you.”⠀⠀
So, let me clarify my definition of “real” 👉🏼 (who knew that word could be so controversial?!)
REAL:⠀⠀⠀* fat people⠀
* skinny people⠀
* people with abs⠀
* people with flabs ⠀
* people that get injections ⠀
* people that wouldn’t dare get plastic surgery ⠀
* people that wear size 00⠀
* people that wear size 5xl⠀
* literally any human being ever.
NOT REAL: ⠀* people that facetune or photoshop their bodies⠀
* people that facetune or photoshop their faces⠀
* women (or humans in general) in media, ads, magazines, television that are airbrushed and photoshopped to “perfection” ⠀⠀
If you’re still confused, please swipe for a detailed graphic. 😊. // editing to add: these are not magical underwear. It’s photoshopped. I thought that was obvious. 😂
Garcia is right. There are too many other things to worry about than photoshopping your pictures or how much you weigh. No one has the right to call someone else out on the way they look because they think they know that person's story.
