Diet talk (and anti-fat talk) is also culturally normalized, especially among women, explains Joy Cox, Ph.D., an activist and researcher in New Jersey whose work focuses on fat acceptance and intersecting identities. Hearing her say this reminds me of that mirror scene inMean Girls.Karen, Gretchen, and Regina are crowded in front of a mirror, each critiquing their own perceived body “flaws”—too-big hips, calves, “man shoulders,” weird hairlines, huge pores, nail beds that “suck.” They expectantly turn to Cady, who is new to American teenage culture and confused by the extreme negative self-talk. She scrambles to come up with a flaw of her own, but ends up with the mismatched, “I have really bad breath in the morning?” (“Ew,” and dismissive eye roll from each of the other girls is the response.) Certainly, many of us have experienced that commiserating about diet struggles and body “flaws” is a reflexive way for women to bond with each other in our culture, and that refusing to participate in it can be difficult. Read the full article here...
Author, Christine Byrne for Self Magazine
