Are all women masochists?
Perhaps the reason it’s so easy for women and girls to access the desire to violently attack themselves, is the fact that we are brought up to believe that pain and womanhood go hand in hand…
Male social status and the female body
The societal assumption is that body ideals are born out of what’s hot, what’s popular, attractive and appealing. Whilst this is somewhat true, a shifting ideal body type doesn’t originate with a woman’s looks. In fact, it’s all about social status. Particularly male social status.
Is body positivity making us more body conscious?
I know, it’s hard to imagine a world for women where what our bodies look like doesn’t take up so much real estate in our heads - but I think that would be the ideal solution. Not thinking about them quite so much, and therefore not basing our worth on how they look quite so much.
Are diets the modern day religion?
There is an astonishingly strong link between religious culture and diet culture. May seem rogue, but both cultures laud control, clarity, moral superiority and purity.
How to approach this New Year.
I’ve spoken about the tired old New Year-New Me fuckery before, (which you are very welcome to check out), but sadly this year, diet, exercise and self-improvement culture continue to be more rampant and pressurising than ever, so I thought that a little reminder of a few things wouldn’t go amiss.
The best Christmas present you can give yourself
Sending love to all of you this Chrimbo, it’s a weird and pressured time. Please don’t worry if you’re feeling a bit flat and shitty, but remember; denying yourself the simple pleasures of food won’t make you feel any better.
Has the diet industry changed for the better?!
As the societal appetite for self-hatred and self-punishment has, in some ways, shrunk in recent years, the diet, weight-loss and fitness companies that benefit from our self-hatred and self-punishment, have had to mutate and adapt to keep up with the current environment.
Does diet culture strip away our femininity?
I can’t tell whether it’s ironic or fitting that diet culture, an empire historically aimed at targeting and belittling women, is extremely masculine in its energy…
Why do we hate ourselves?
As a society, we can’t compute the concept of being happy in oneself without some sort of martyrdom along the way. It’s rather curious: hating oneself is widely seen as the sure-fire way to eventually loving oneself.
Why calories on menus is bad news.
We don’t need anymore poor fuckers with eating disorders. Ignore the Tory cunts and enjoy whatever food you so please without even a shadow of guilt.
Why exercise is so hard.
The whole vibe of the fitness world is “WORK OUT LIKE ME TO LOOK LIKE ME” which is not only a bare faced lie (our bodies do not work that way), but also bloody draining.
What is self objectification?
Self objectification is looking at oneself with a view to answering the question: “Would I fuck me?”. We don’t necessarily clock ourselves doing this, but sadly, the vast majority of us exist as if a pair of critical eyes float beside us, constantly judging our fuckability on the way to the corner shop, to work, to school and even in our own homes.
What do our mothers pass onto us?
My mum taught me how to hate my body.
Not intentionally, of course, she is none other than the best, most loving mum in the universe, but, nevertheless, through her own body dissatisfaction, I learnt what I should hate about mine.
No diet New Year
Capitalism loves New Year. The more depressed and dissatisfied we are with ourselves, the more money they can make. They have become increasingly canny at luring us in with enticing deals and attractive promises, and a year like 2020, where our collective mental health has been tested more than ever, is a perfect chance for them to rake in a profit.
The damage of diet culture.
The fact that I recognise the messages that gym bunnies, “nutritionists”, influencers, fitness gurus and diet companies pump out, as similar to the messages I receive inside my head from an eating disorder, a severe psychiatric illness that has a 20% death rate…is rather fucking scary.
Does 'obesity' increase risk of severe covid?
Aside from the questionable research, I don’t think the government realises the impact these policies are going to have on the nation’s mental health. Not only is it validating and perpetuating the eating disorder and diet mentality, but the policies seriously run the risk of pushing previously healthy people, into damaging and obsessive behaviours. Calorie counting, for example, is a CLASSIC disordered behaviour, and ‘rapid weight-loss’ (what the government have stated as their ideal outcome) won’t do ANY good to our immune systems, it will in fact make them less effective.
FATPHOBIA
I would never claim that fatness was the key to health, happiness and success, because you would think that was a stupid lie, and you would be right. But the world around us claims that thinness is the key to health, happiness and success, which is similarly: a stupid lie, but we all believe it.
Why diets don't work.
These plans are only lucrative because of the ongoing hatred people feel towards their bodies. It is a vicious cycle. We hate our bodies because we compare them to made up figures on our screens and adverts, we look for an external solution to sort that out, the solution sold to us doesn’t work (because it can’t), we are told that it is our fault, we villainize our bodies for its lack of cooperation, scold ourselves for our inadequacy and look for another external solution to sort our bodies out.
The ideal body
We are so completely and utterly surrounded by the ideal, that we are living in a virtual reality where these fictional bodies are deemed normal. Well, for anyone who needs to hear it (including me) - THEY ARE NOT NORMAL
Diet culture
I mean, we all know what a diet is; we’ve all probably tried one, or had people around us trying to lose weight or ‘be healthy’ at some point in our lives. We’ve all heard of Weight Watchers, we’ve all seen those huge weight-loss posters in the tube with men and women telling us how much happier they are now that they have lost 3 stone in 3 weeks or something ridiculous. But sadly, diet culture is infinitely more insidious than these screaming, in-your-face examples. It is not only relevant to those who suffer from disordered eating, or even to those who have low self-esteem. It affects every single human being in the Western world. If you’re thinking ‘not me!’ - trust me, it does, subconsciously.