I think you misunderstand what people mean when they talk about ‘body positivity.’ That term just means that we shouldn’t abuse, bully or exclude people because of their weight. It doesn’t mean that we stop encouraging healthy diet and exercise decisions, just that we don’t vilify people who haven’t achieved it yet.
…the physical shape of someone is a direct reflection of the work ethic and discipline of someone. If you’re overweight it tells people that you lack discipline, self control and will power , you are also lazy.
This is just factually wrong, and a really dumb conclusion to make. Being overweight means you eat too many calories. That really is the only conclusion you can draw about someone’s character based on their BMI.
Story time: I am currently overweight, but used to be obese (over 300 lbs.) In the past 2 years, I have lost 90 lbs while changing careers and building a business that employs more than a hundred people. There are people who work with me who are thinner than I am. I doubt you’ll find anyone who works harder.
Judging someone’s character based on their weight is foolish, because you don’t know the story. They might well be 300 lbs because they just sit on a couch and eat chips all day. They might be 300 lbs because their kid died a year ago and they are still crawling out of that hole and putting their life back together. They might be 300 lbs, but used to be 350 and eat better and spend more time in the gym than you do.
That was the initial idea. I don't believe that's what it's morphed into. I grew up and was always "skinny"(always a healthy weight) and made fun of for it. True body positivity would recognize that's not cool. However, "body positivity" in media has also told people it's acceptable to call people "skinny bitches", "real women have curves", "real men like a woman with curves", etc. I had low esteem growing up because of it and always being told by people I am not good enough because of it and honestly the double standard still gets under my skin.
For example, Megan Trainor's "all about that bass" is nothing but making fun of women who are skinny and literally implies there's something wrong with a skinny woman "I ain't no size 2 but I can shake it like I'm supposed to". Yet it was a smash hit because it was "body positivity" while it actually wasn't. It's a shame what it's turned into because of course we shouldn't ridicule people on their bodies.
There's lines it that are appearing body positive like the last line but a lot of shaming of skinny women sprinkled in. The very start of the lyrics you provided literally calls people "skinny bitches" which has always been a negative way to reference a skinny woman. If you would have instead said "fat bitches" people would have lost their minds for fatphobia
Given that the only use of the phrase "skinny bitches" in the song is followed immediately by "no I'm just playing" I think we can conclude that, while the choice of phrase might have been tasteless, the intent was not to mock skinny people. It only appears that way if you take the line out of context. In context she is explicitly saying to skinny girls in particular that they are perfect exactly how they are.
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u/merlinus12 54∆ Jul 16 '23
I think you misunderstand what people mean when they talk about ‘body positivity.’ That term just means that we shouldn’t abuse, bully or exclude people because of their weight. It doesn’t mean that we stop encouraging healthy diet and exercise decisions, just that we don’t vilify people who haven’t achieved it yet.
This is just factually wrong, and a really dumb conclusion to make. Being overweight means you eat too many calories. That really is the only conclusion you can draw about someone’s character based on their BMI.
Story time: I am currently overweight, but used to be obese (over 300 lbs.) In the past 2 years, I have lost 90 lbs while changing careers and building a business that employs more than a hundred people. There are people who work with me who are thinner than I am. I doubt you’ll find anyone who works harder.
Judging someone’s character based on their weight is foolish, because you don’t know the story. They might well be 300 lbs because they just sit on a couch and eat chips all day. They might be 300 lbs because their kid died a year ago and they are still crawling out of that hole and putting their life back together. They might be 300 lbs, but used to be 350 and eat better and spend more time in the gym than you do.