I had thought that today I’d share a recipe with you folks. However, Tuesday night, a friend shared a Facebook essay written two years ago on the subject of fat-shaming and weight loss. It’s a profoundly disturbing piece; while I agree with many if not most of the author’s observations, I cannot and do not agree with her conclusions. I’ve copied the essay into a .pdf file; assume that the essay is protected by copyright law and be careful how you use or re-publish it.
Ijeoma’s Story
The writer, Ijeoma Oluo, tells us she decided to lose weight after a boyfriend sexually assaulted her. This wasn’t her first assault experience; she had been sexually abused as a child and had already left an abusive husband. “And when I tried to figure out why — why someone who so many people had repeatedly said had so much going for her would be hurt so often, I settled on my weight. I decided that as long as I was fat, nobody who wasn’t abusive was going to want to be with me. … So much cultural messaging says that if you are fat, you should be grateful for whatever love you can get — even if that love isn’t love at all.”