Body Positivity & Thin Identifying White Women
June 12, 2020
Why it’s different.
With the recent discussion around “why are thin identifying white women taking up the space of body positivity?” it requires a necessary pause.
A body like mine comes with personal and an intimate journey of acceptance,
one that at the end of the day
and with high rise yoga pants,
gets tucked away when I need it to.
That is not a privilege that everyone has.
When their different abilities, skin colour, body size, orientation cannot be simply tucked away.
There’s a difference.
And I haven’t spoken about it enough.
That’s on me.
Yes, all bodies deserve a voice, and I’m grateful that mine has helped so many of you feel better about yours.
But many voices of different bodies aren’t being heard because they don’t even fit OUR moulds, our reflections, our experiences.
We’ve been doing work to stop hating our bodies, acknowledge disordered eating, beginning to feel good about wearing a bikini and showing up in our lives with our postpartum bodies, marks and scars and finding ourselves worthy of love and intimacy. That’s all still valid and real.
But the work can continue.
Because while we struggle with self esteem and healing, there are groups of people who’s bodies are being denied human rights.
I can shop anywhere I want to fit into clothes.
I can go to the doctor with a sore throat and not be asked to lose weight.
I can eat a plate of fries without concerned or judging eyes on me.
I can post images of myself without being told I’m anti-health.
I don’t need to worry about accessibility.
I’ve literally never been treated differently or with hate because of my skin colour or orientation.
I don’t have to experience the looks on people’s faces when I walk onto a plane, bus, or shared seating anywhere.
So while I sit with my yoga pants rolled over my most intimate of scars and insecurities,
I have to sit and say:
It’s just not the same.
It’s time to admit that, do the work, and be better.
Credit to @raffela_mancuso for her work in being a disrupter and conversation starter. Even when it’s uncomfortable.