Have you ever noticed how, whenever something body positive – or “pro plus-size” – is published, the fat-shaming trolls always spread the same handful of comments? It’s like “eat less, move more, lose weight, you’re fat” is the solution to everything for these mean folks… and most times, it’s not even a pertinent answer.
The other most common “arguments” is what we take away from them: we use too much health care or we take over their physical space are probably.
Yeah, right.
All we want is to steal from space and care from you. That same healthcare where we are too often judged for our body size BEFORE undergoing any sort of actual health assessment.
I will be relieved when I go to the ER and won’t be asked if I have diabetes by a doctor that tries to connect every problem I have with that condition (which I don’t even suffer from).
I hurt my knee at the gym, not because I’m heavy. My chest hurts because I pulled a muscle lifting free weights, not because I’m having a heart attack.
I haven’t smoked in 10 years and I don’t drink much.
And I eat well and, like everyone else, I cheat some times.
My last bill of health was clean as a whistle; I’m definitely not the worse patient my doc has seen.
On paper, I’m in a pretty decent shape.
But that doesn’t matter because all many people see, when they look at me, is my size.
Nobody can see my normal blood sugar or appropriate cholesterol level, my standard blood pressure or the general state of my body.
My goal is to empower people when it comes to traveling.
I don’t want to steal anything from anyone. The tips I share on this blog are so everyone can enjoy travels EQUALLY. I don’t encourage to spill onto someone else’s seat on a plane. On the contrary, I want to help to make sure it doesn’t happen, because, you know what? We are as uncomfortable – if not more – as our fellow passengers when that happens! (And, as the industry is not responding to the changing needs of the market, we gotta figure things out and share our own tips so we can all travel happily together!)
Oh wait… I have to come clean.
THERE IS ONE THING I PLAN ON TAKING AWAY FROM YOU :
The thought that one’s size decides one’s happiness and what she/he can – or can’t – do.
I want chubby people to be able to travel AMONG “standard” sized people. (And travel is one challenging field in that regards, which is the purpose of this blog!)
I’m happy with my extra pounds and inches. I’m being creative to make my travel experiences positive, in spite of the industries and the people not being ready for a plus-size backpacker.
I’ve had my fair share of bullying. I fought to find my balance and be zen with who I am… And I’m not ready – or willing! – to give up on this, especially when I’m on vacation!
And you know what? I wish nothing but the best to those haters. I truly hope they find their happiness and their purpose in life… other than harassing people for their size, of course.
And I’m not saying we are the same; because, obviously, we are not.
I’m simply saying we should all be treated with the same respect.
At the moment, being fat remains one of the few socially acceptable reasons to be bullied or ostracized.
I’m tired of being considered a separate – bad – kind. Or to be considered a fetish. (I don’t see why it should be considered kinky to be with someone who is fat!)
I’m tired of living on the fringes of society’s standards, of living in parallel of the “standard” sized world.
What is it that I hear? Oh, it’s just the sound of trolls tagging me as a blogger who is “glorifying obesity” (probably the third most common argument we get trolled with).
Ha! I get high blood pressure taking my blood pressure. I want to put in my will that the only time they can say that I died of anything related to FAT in my obit will be if I die too soon after my mother. ( think Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds )…I would not what anyone to think I died of a broken heart. ( She has been my biggest body oppressor )
Oh snap! Well I think that sometimes, by acknowledging what oppresses us, we set ourselves free of it (at least partially).
I think that when I came to terms with the bullying I went through in school, it was a breakthrough for me.
I am lucky enough to have a very supportive mom who’s only freaking out when I travel into top-5 murder-rate countries… or at least she says. 😉
She supported me when I wanted to get into synchronized swimming… if there is one discipline that tend to be “all about body size” (with dance maybe), it’s this one!
I did Synchronized Swimming and Swim Team…my grandmother blamed my weight gain back then on that…muscle turned to fat, and being in the cold water made you grow that extra fat to keep you warm in the pool like a seal ( eyes rolling )…So have you traveled to India alone? I’m thinking about it but very nervous, as I get older I seem to be less adventurous.
Muscle into fat like a seal??? It’s the first time i hear that one… Yeah, one of my grandma used to nag me a bit about my weight, “because I would never find a boyfriend”. (That stopped when she saw the picture of my super cute handsome boyfriend haha!)
About India: I went with a friend in India. Depending on what area you plan on visiting, you can manage alone. But it is nerve wrecking; your mental health would be seriously put to the test!
The poverty, the begging, the constant, pressured solicitation, the sanitary conditions, the air pollution…
Let’s pack up and meet in Nauru or Tonga or Palau where would be goddesses… 😉
sounds like fun….I want to take a laughing yoga teachers training near Bangalore but after I get all the way there…I can’t just come home…We shall see…first I have to sell some art.
Well, best of luck. You got til October, haha! 🙂
P.S. : Bangalore itself is quite a mess… so I would recommend you go in a group trip or something like it…
Thanks for that!…