The one with the rant…
Who knew that a piece of plastic modelling sportswear would cause such outrage?
Recently, Nike put a plus size model in their stores (image here), modelling fitness wear. And, collectively, everybody lost their shit.
For the most part, the plus size community raised their hands in the air and screamed ‘Yesssss!!!’. We have plus size fitness clothing (finally—I mean I can remember having to exercise in men’s t-shirts and jog pants because there was literally NOTHING), and now we can see what it looks like on a model who LOOKS LIKE US!
Not only can those of us who are fat and want to exercise now feel seen, but we can actually find clothing that fits us, and it is accepted as normal. REPRESENTATION!
However, bigots saw only wobble and jiggle, diabetes (as it contributed to my mum’s death, this one always hurts), and ‘unhealthy’. And particularly, if you read the article in the Telegraph from Tanya Gold (seriously I am not linking it; it’s awful, and mean, and nasty), words like ‘massive’ and ‘gargantuan’. This isn’t about you, dear reader. This is about Tanya, poor love. But more on that later.
So let’s try to unpack this unholy mess.
Let’s begin with plus size fitness clothing as a whole.
Way back when, I was much larger than I am now. I didn’t exercise, I was stuck in a restrict/binge eating cycle. I smoked. I kicked the fags and decided that I wanted to lose some weight. And there began challenge number one. Finding clothes to fit me, so I could exercise.
I cannot describe the angry, frustrated tears from being told I needed to lose weight over and over again, and yet not being able to find a fucking sports bra. Or leggings. Or shorts. Or anything. HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT WORK EXACTLY? And I know I wasn’t alone. I’m still not.
We are, finally, over ten years since I first hit the gym, seeing some real clothing choices out there. Even Primark have fitness clothing over a size 16 – admittedly only to a size 20, but given our starting point, it’s progress. Brands are realising that not only do fat men and women exercise (hallelujah!) but that we also have spending power. Over 50% of women in the UK are a size 16+ That’s a lot of money. And call me cynical, but I suspect that this has more impact for most brands than the ideal of representation.
So why, oh why does this offend Tanya and her ilk so much? Fatphobia is the basic answer. Tanya and those like her are quite frankly terrified of becoming fat. The diet industry has pushed the idea that we shouldn’t be above a certain size for so damn long it’s ingrained into our psyche. Fat people don’t believe they are worthy of even existing, and thin people project their fears into words and make us feel worse.
Cheers, guys.
Add to that the culture of putting someone else down to feel better about themselves and we have a seriously toxic mixture. I admit, this is a simplified way of looking at it, there is also a whole history of white supremacy, colonialism and homophobia linked to fatphobia too, but that too is for another blog post. (If you want to learn more, people like Rachel Cargle, Jessamyn Stanley and this article in Wear Your Voice Magazine are your first port of call).
Let me reiterate (I did go on a twitter rant about this this morning) THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH HEALTH. And, let me add SCIENCE DOESN’T SUPPORT THIN BEING HEALTHIER.
Being too thin is worse than being too fat.
Overweight people live longer than those thin, or at an ‘ideal weight’.
And how big an impact is fatphobia having? Half the people surveyed in this report would rather be DEAD than FAT.
Oh, and for those who think we need shaming, or reminding that we’re fat. Seriously. Do you not think we know? That we notice when we look in the mirror? In the same way you’re aware of the random hair that sprouts from your chin, or how you have dark circles under your eyes that you hate. WE KNOW we are fat. And FAT SHAMING MAKES THINGS WORSE. So, if you really cared about our health, you would shut the fuck up.
But as I said. This isn’t about us. This is about how scared Tanya and her friends are of being fat. How that bit of jiggle your thighs make is despised and feared by them. Dear reader, you are fine, they are the ones with the problem. Because one size ‘health’ does not fit all, just as one size clothes do not fit all.
And what frustrates me the most about all of this shit? Being active is better for your health overall.
That’s it. There I said it. Move about. Do stuff. I don’t care what you do, you do what you can. Not just because it’s ‘good for our health’ but because it feels good. And if we can do it, we should do it.
But to do that WE NEED FUCKING CLOTHING. I mean. Unless you want us doing it naked? I mean we can do that, if you’d rather, Tanya?
So, dear reader, I will continue to wear leggings, I will continue to jam my plus size thighs into cycling shorts in the summer. I will stuff my sports bra full of boobs and let my bits jiggle when I run, when I cycle, when I lift. Plus size fitness needs to be seen as normal. Because it is.
And if that means, Tanya my love, that I have to come and jiggle my gargantuan thighs and massive butt in your vicinity (or that of any other fatphobe) then, by god, I will. I’ll do it until fat bodies doing exercise become accepted—and then I’ll do it some more.
You do not own ‘health’. You do not own fitness. You do not own movement.
EveryBODY does.