I just have read a blog post about Tess Holiday, her being an overweight model whom picture was removed from Facebook. Jessica Morley wrote an article about it in “Big can be beautiful, but it sure ain’t healthy“. In there she, rightfully, addresses health concerns about being overweight or not, and, that a public person, such as Tess, is empowering overweight girls to think it is okay to be fat (which is not health wise).
I wouldn’t want to take something away from that article at all as I think she hits the point, especially from her personal experience with weight loss and the positive consequences from it. That I want to leave in it’s full right, just adding on to it from a different perspective.
A man’s perspective that is.
I think in modern day life, people focus too much on the outside of everything. On how it looks, how it feels, how it this, how it that. But, we tend to forget to focus on the inside of everything. What is the process? What are the successes? What is the nuance? What were the failures and what can be learned from it?
As for people, or more specifically women, women are completely objectified and being compared to each other based on looks. There is an “ideal”, which is different in each country, to which women need to live up to. If they don’t, then they are losers, being shamed at, too fat ass, too big boobs, or small, or too thin, or too anything that is not according the standard.
That standard comes from men, how men are looking at women, consequently, how women compete with each other to who is closest to, or even is the standard. It is men who sees women for lust, for their body lust, sexualization, commercialization, purely looking and judging the book and completely ignoring any real content – women’s ability to strive from intellect.
Yet, this objectifying is one big imposed illusion through whatever media. The only standard is the human standard, our diversity, our not looking alike that gives us each our uniqueness where we must be proud of.
Reality is that people are overweight. Yes it has health consequences, sure, absolutely. However, the reason and nuance behind being overweight, that matters. That’s something to solve. Feel good from the inside, be knowledgeable about food, lifestyle and everything connected to that which will result in a shining outside.
It is plain wrong of men and women to attack bodies. That’s adding on to insecurity and fear and all that so that woman feels even worse and less empowered to find the right tools and work positively with herself.
So, from that perspective I do agree with people like Tess who have no shame in showcasing themselves as being obese as such is nothing to be ashamed of. If people like her can empower young girls also not to be ashamed for their looks and can be naturally themselves and work with their insides to make that shine without the pressure on how the outside is looking, is only to be complimented.
However, I also agree with Jessica’s arguments and both are adding on to each other.
Be yourself, be unique, work to the better and add on positively to your life!
Daniel Arendzen 
Fat and unhealthy aren’t the same, just as Thin and fit aren’t!! It’s really sad that it’s become all about the outside and being from India I can tell you that the “standard” here for women is fair as a wall paint. There even comes a fairness cream with a scale on it to measure how white you are and that angers me so much!!😠😠
Ohhh yessss I absolutely do not like those whitening products either! Terrible! I lived in Thailand for a year and they have exactly the same thing!
As to fat and health, I think there first needs to be an agreement on what fat is actually. Obesity, or extreme fat, is something else than not “complying to the ideal standard” (whatever the standard is). When one looks to Marilyn Monroe’s pictures compared with nowadays models then Marilyn would be considered fat, while she and people looking alike are perfectly healthy.
However, there is a correlation between general health and weight. The probability that one is getting diseases such as diabetic, heart diseases, whatever kind of disease does increase once people are getting obese (which Jessica points out in her post). I am not the thinnest either yet perfectly healthy! So, yes, fat and weight doesn’t equal by definition. In that I agree.
India, really enjoyed the country and learned much from her. I think Bollywood gives the “standard”?
Exactly, health is important than any other so called standard!! And yea Bollywood and TV are the worst standard makers. One day I was observing to see how many neutral to dark skin tone people appear on TV and I found 4 in the entire day of search
Yesss, so we basically agree! 😀 As I also wrote, when someone is healthy and good from the inside that also shines through at the outside 😉
4 naturally people over the whole day on telly? Gosh! That’s wrong!
Yea we do agree😉
Whohooo!