I vividly remember the first time that I was body-shamed. I was in eighth grade and it came from someone very close to me. Since that moment, I have been intensely paranoid about any type of weight gain and extremely critical regarding the physical appearance of my body. This is not unusual, for we live in a world where the way our bodies look determines our self-worth, largely in part because we are women.
Nicole Arbour in her now-infamous YouTube video, “Dear Fat People,” received a firestorm of controversy for her insensitive remarks and condemnations about obese individuals. Arbour claimed that fat people are “killing themselves,” insinuating that they are completely at fault for their condition. She went on to call fat-shaming a term that “fat people made that up.”
Arbour has received mixed reviews about her recent “satire,” but it does raise interesting commentary about how we perceive and accept weight in the United States. You see, Arbour overlooked the vast intricacies of our obesity epidemic. She failed to observe that “eating too much” or simply choosing to be unhealthy is not the predominant underlying factor affecting most with obesity.
According to a 2013 report by the CDC, more than one third, or 78.6 million, Americans are obese. Further statistics show that while factors such as socioeconomic or educational markers do not seem to have much correlation with obesity in men, women with lower socioeconomic status and lower levels of education are statistically more likely to be obese. Female obesity has much more to do with lack of time and ability than with laziness and sloth, as Arbour suggests. It’s difficult for women to make healthy choices when confronting poverty or situations in which they are forced to both work and tend to their families.
The connection between obesity and poverty does not end here. In 2007, Cheryl Sternman Rule wrote about the food desert phenomenon, a term that indicates a lack of healthy food in a “food landscape” in a particular neighborhood, typically an impoverished area. This landscape includes everything from farmers markets and grocery stores to fast-food restaurants and convenience stores. Rule stated that this landscape plays a significant role in our food choices and thus the corresponding rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The idea of the food desert highlights the concern that obesity and unhealthy foods and eating habits are correspondent to socioeconomic class. Obesity, in America, is more widespread among the poor.
As for students who struggle with their weight in college, healthy options are few and far between on campus, and most accessible restaurants in proximity are either unhealthy or pricy. In my experience, eating healthy in college is next to impossible. I go to the grocery store and I buy what I can afford: cheap white bread and canned vegetables. Fresh fruits and healthy options are a luxury to me because I don’t have much of a budget for food.
Many experience a weight gain when they get to college due to the sudden influx of cheap, unhealthy food into their diet. We are faced with outrageously expensive tuition bills and no time in the day for a full-time job. This time typically coincides with the age at which our metabolisms begin to change. As a college student, I can’t afford to eat healthy.
We are socially set up to gain weight, yet we still face extreme body-shaming and social pressures to look a certain way. I even experience something that I will call “food-shaming.” Eating unhealthily is looked down upon and prejudiced at a high rate, especially for women. That gender norms are extended to what we eat is ridiculous. But without fail, when I go out to eat and order a burger while my boyfriend orders a salad, I am always handed the salad by the waiter. I am made to feel that I should always be dieting, that women in general need to be constantly watching their figures. Such a history of body-shaming has made women deprive themselves of what they actually want to eat in order to keep up with the constantly shifting standards of beauty.
And besides all this, no one deserves to be attacked for what they look like.
The overwhelming attacks on obesity often leads to depression in those who are continually shamed. Poor body-image is frequently tied to suicidal thoughts among teens. Tess Holliday, a well-known plus-sized model responded to Arbour’s video on Twitter, stating, “Fat-shaming doesn’t save lives, it kills them.”
Nicole Arbour, your video failed to touch the realities that surround obesity. Instead, you increased stigmatization that a significant portion of our population confronts, and you will continue to be unsuccessful in enacting any type of positive change in the health of Americans.
