This year has been a year like no other. You may have had to set up office on the kitchen table, home school some slightly-reluctant learners, or continue to work on the front line. Whatever your personal situation we have all had challenges we have had to face.
Now that there’s talk of getting back to some semblance of normality over the coming months, it seems like everywhere you look on social media people have resorted to fat-shaming and it really makes me mad.
Memes showing ‘hilarious’ before and after lockdown photos, jibes about our summer bodies being put on hold til 2022 and the oh-so funny mock-up of Barbie with three chins are all doing the rounds.
Fat-shaming is the last thing any of us need right now (or in fact ever). We are, after all, living through a global pandemic people! There are so many more important things to be worrying about!
The fact people flippantly share these memes is far from just annoying. It can have a potentially damaging effect on so many of us who are feeling pretty fragile right now for far more justifiable reasons.
As this interesting Cosmo article explains: “The largely fat-phobic posts that have been shared across social media may seem light-hearted to some, but in reality, they can be hugely problematic. The dominating conversation focussing on weight-loss has infiltrated the minds of many young women, who are now obsessing over getting their bodies 'ready' for '#HotGirlSummer'.”
And what on earth is a summer body anyway?! Just another truly divisive fat-shaming myth.
No one has the right to make any of us feel bad about our appearance or take the mickey out of our weight.
In fact, we couldn’t put it better than Georgia Mooney in this article from thetab.com: “Fat people aren’t a joke and they do not deserve to be continuously mocked for simply existing in their bodies. Stop equating fatness to something to be ashamed of, disgusted by or shunned. Just because you are insecure in your potential fatness and the way you look does not mean you can project your insecurities and add to an already incredibly toxic stereotype.”
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