From: Diane
Date: August 2, 2008
To: Julia Allison
Subject: RE: the guy who called you fat
1) You are not fat
2) You look the same as you have always looked.
2) You are probably aware of that already, but I just thought I would put it out there.
That said, I have been really thin (too thin) and was called fat. I have been muscular (my arms were guns!) and was called fat. I have been chubby and was called fat. And I have been FAT and was called fat. Yeah, I have eating issues. But I digress..
People (and by people I mean men, mostly) use this as a weapon. They know it hurts us because they know every girl secretly, or not so secretly has body image issues. So calling women fat is a way to cut us down to size.
——-
Okay, so here’s the truth. The TRUTH, TRUTH. I have no idea what I weigh. I am guessing it’s in the low 130s. Now, I do own a scale. But I choose (at this moment) not to use it. I’m sure I’ve gained a few pounds since March, when I (as loyal readers will remember) lost ten pounds in a post-breakup devastation. That’s sort of a given. You start eating again, you gain weight. Um … obviously?
The other truth is less flattering. I do not diet. At all. I do not exercise. At all. (I’m not proud of that).
I’m lucky that I don’t have the body image issues I had in college (I was bulimic for three and a half years). But that doesn’t mean I’m not aware of them.
I try to eat healthy, in general, but I have a sugar problem. Always have. It’s something I need to deal with, but I don’t need to deal with it because I have an ass and thighs - I need to deal with it because it’s unhealthy. Not because I’m not a size 0.
As for the exercise, or lack thereof - that IS a problem, and it IS something I mean to remedy, SOON.
In fact, I’ll probably chronicle it here.
That all having been said, the point Diane makes is a valid one - these issues, the issues I’ve just mentioned above - are MINE. Mine alone. And no guy, not even one I know, let alone one I don’t (!!), has the right to tell me - OR ANY OTHER WOMAN - otherwise.
