The mainstream standards of attractiveness have little to do with health. In general, poor health isn\u2019t caused by fat. But the same things that make you fat \u2013 poor nutrition and inactivity \u2013 also make you unhealthy. So do the things that make you ultrathin \u2013 poor nutrition and smoking.<\/p>\n
A lot of people make a lot of money convincing people they\u2019re unhealthy and then selling weight loss programs. They attack the symptoms and not the cause; they have a few spectacular successes and many, many failures and they do very little to improve health. Different people have different body types and your body is supposed to have some fat on it. It is just as possible to be fat and fit as it is to be thin and out of shape.<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s not health, where do our standards of attractiveness come from? A portion comes from our evolutionary past \u2013 we size up potential mates with an eye toward good genes to pass on to our offspring. We also look for clues toward status and prestige. <\/p>\n
In a Google+ post a couple weeks ago, the always-insightful Cara Schulz said \u201cFashion trends are dictated by the poor, not the rich<\/a>.\u201d Fashion (including standards of attractiveness) are created by the rich to differentiate themselves from the poor. <\/p>\n When poorer folks worked outside and needed every calorie, which meant they were thin and tan, it became fashionable for wealthy persons to be pale as possible and a bit plump. It was a way that richer folks could separate themselves from lower classes. Then in the 50\u2019s that began to reverse as poorer classes worked inside and had greater access to increasingly cheap and shitty food. The tanning has curtailed due to skin cancer, but that didn\u2019t happen until the 90\u2019s. Now that 1\/3 of Americans are overweight, being dangerously thin is fashionable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Much of the prejudice against fat is because a disproportionate percentage of fat people are poor. I\u2019m sure there are psychological factors as to why that is, but the bottom line is that while calories are cheap, good, fresh, nutritious food is not. It costs more money to buy and it takes more time to prepare. Exercise takes time and a safe location \u2013 if you live in a dangerous neighborhood \u201cjust go walk!\u201d isn\u2019t a practical suggestion.<\/p>\n We put being fat in the same category as living in a trailer, driving a rusted out car (or worse, having no car) or being unemployed. We know those conditions don\u2019t make someone a bad person, but the Puritan idea that material success is a sign of virtue and God\u2019s favor and that poverty is a sign of vice is still deeply engrained in our culture.<\/p>\n And regardless of the value judgments involved, none of us want to be poor and we don\u2019t want people to look at us and think we\u2019re poor. In order to remove the stigma of being fat, we have to decouple fat and poverty.<\/p>\n All of these value judgments are understandable, but understanding them doesn\u2019t make them morally right or practically helpful. One of the purposes of religion is to help us make conscious decisions in alignment with our highest values. Our Pagan religion can help here.<\/p>\n A religion that acknowledges the Divine in everyone and that recognizes our common evolutionary roots should move us to reduce poverty in the first place. On an individual level we can contribute our time and money to shelters and food banks (meeting emergency needs) and to educational and mentoring programs (addressing long term needs). You\u2019ve probably got other ideas that are just as helpful.<\/p>\n How to truly eliminate poverty is beyond the scope of this essay and apparently beyond the willpower of our deeply individualistic society.<\/p>\n Efforts to push the poor toward healthier foods have met with opposition from the political right and from the poor themselves. One helpful action would be to end government subsidies for large-scale agriculture and instead subsidize local farmers\u2019 markets. This would raise the price of cheap calories and make fresh food more affordable.<\/p>\n On a personal level, those of us who are heavier than the mainstream society deems attractive can decouple fat and poverty by not dressing like we\u2019re homeless. Do you really believe there is beauty in all body types? Then be beautiful! That doesn\u2019t require an expensive wardrobe or the latest fashions. It just requires caring that you look as good as you can. <\/p>\n I know \u2013 I\u2019m a guy, and it\u2019s harder for women. I know \u2013 attractive clothes in larger sizes can be hard to find. I know \u2013 shopping at 5-9 209 is a lot easier than shopping at 5-8 300. <\/p>\n But I also know the temptation to say \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 why bother?\u201d and throw on some sweats. Which is fine if you\u2019re relaxing at home. If you\u2019re going out, it does matter \u2013 if not for yourself, then for all the other people who are trying to end the assumption that if you\u2019re fat it\u2019s because you\u2019re poor or lazy or stupid or whatever. <\/p>\n The Divine is within us all \u2013 dress like it!<\/p>\n Paganism is a Nature religion and I frequently encourage people to get outside and walk. Our bodies are meant for movement. Not the repetitive motion of an assembly line but the varied movements of creatures who came down from the trees, who searched and scavenged for food, who made tools and pursued game across the plains. Walk, run, bike, swim. Lift weights, lift books, lift your kids. Some of us have conditions that limit our mobility, but we can all do something. <\/p>\n We also need to adjust our expectation for ourselves. Mainstream society tell us if we work hard enough and diet hard enough then we\u2019ll be thin and everyone will love us. Even if we\u2019re able to do that, unless we also have the right genes, we won\u2019t lose weight. Or we\u2019ll lose some weight, but not enough. <\/p>\n If we\u2019re after the approval of the mainstream culture, it will never be enough. <\/p>\n We\u2019re Pagans. We follow different gods and goddesses and we have different values. If we do the right things then good results will follow. Maybe not the results we had in mind, but good results nonetheless.<\/p>\n Eat healthy food. Exercise. Rest. Meditate. And remember to show the world that beauty comes in all sizes, including yours.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll probably never weigh 160 and wear 33 pants again. I may never weigh 190 again. But I\u2019ll be healthier and happier and in a better place to do the work I was put here to do.<\/p>\n
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