Ragen Chastain is a terrific writer as well as incredibly powerful advocate against fatphobia. I appreciate her work so very much. I also appreciate how she credits others—like Black women who've written about the intersections between racism and fatphobia and other writers like Kate Harding, whose blog Shapely Prose was a milestone in fat-positive writing and advocacy, not to mention a place that built community among people questioning diet culture, exploring Health At Every Size (before that was even a well-known term), and generally pushing back against sizism everywhere. I highly recommend Kate's book, co-authored with Marianne Kirby, another great writer and blogger fighting the good fight against fatphobia, _Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quite Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body_. Hard to believe it was published way back in 2009. Still a radical publication by any measure. And to add another name: Melissa McEwan, owner of the blog Shakesville, who wrote about fatphobia and its intersections with racism, sexism, and ableism many times over the years the blog was active. (Unfortunately and horrifyingly, she's no longer publishing online because her health was compromised after years of online abuse and threats to her life and that of her family.)
Please understand that I am not trying to troll - I really would like genuine replies and dialogue. I love and value this community and that's why I feel comfortable asking hard questions here.
"I don’t judge anyone who’s bigger, but, you know, there are real health considerations!" We should not be judging anyone on their size, and I agree that it's harmful to use that as a way to try and get someone else to lose weight. I experienced the fatphobia in the medical world and know how awful it is and how much junk science is out there and how so much of what we are told about health isn't scientific at all. I know what it is like to have improved my health while I was still obese so I know that weight isn't everything.
That said, we cannot ignore the real fact that some people have real health considerations that improve or even go away with dietary changes and weight loss. I know my story is rare - I not only fall into the 5% success rate of weight loss stories, but I have managed to greatly improve my chronic health issues (with some even going into remission). I am also aware these changes won't last forever - my pain will likely increase in time - but it's made it possible for me to live a better life now, and that is a victory worth celebrating.
(To give a direct example of how weight loss improved my health: I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and as a result have a tendency to dislocate body parts. Losing weight caused a dramatic decrease of pressure on my hips, knees, and ankles, which not only caused fewer subluxations and sprains but also gave me the ability to start working out to strengthen my muscles so that I dislocate even less. How dietary changes improved my health: reducing sugar and starches dramatically reduced my inflammation in my joints and therefore the amount of pain I feel on a daily basis. Losing weight as a result of these changes also decreased pressure on them.)
I guess my attitude on all of this is that we can't come out and say it's a complete failure to want to try to lose weight for health benefits, because it can and does happen. I don't fully criticize Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 step programs because they only works for 5% of people, because for the 5% it did work for, it was life changing and that matters and it's important to not invalidate their journeys. There are problematic aspects to 12 step programs (like the idea that only their way works) but we have to acknowledge that they do help a lot of people.
Really excellent interview, thank you for the intro to Ragen's newsletter! The post about vaccine needle lengths is fascinating, alongside the point that "the healthcare system often fails to accommodate us in everything from chairs in the waiting room, to gowns, to MRIs, beds, durable medical equipment and more"
I really liked her take on privilege and trolls. Especially this: "if I cancel a talk due to death threats, I can expect death threats every time I plan to take the stage. It’s unlikely that they will follow through, but it is a possibility. I thought long and hard about it, and decided that it’s ultimately worth the risk to do this work."
I find it fascinating I’ve never heard of Ragen until now. I also find it remarkable as a man how much I relate to issues commonly attributed to women & body dysmorphia. As a matter of fact, my current therapist is one who usually sees patients who struggle with disordered eating. And they were almost exclusively women. I didn’t set out to find a specific therapist this way, I just liked her bio & needed immediate help through a crisis (not related to weight).
I’ve lost 130 lbs & I'm healthier, but I’ve become disenchanted with the compliments I get. The attributes I receive about me being more confident, how I’m different, and that people see me as someone who can be a leader where all attributes I had when I was 330 lbs and at 42% bodyfat. Why being 200 lbs @ 24% shows this is unsettling. Why did it have to take such radical weight loss to be perceived as a strong confident person?
I can’t even explain on here how being a black man growing up shaped these observations & how I basically adapted to accept people’s projections on who I was supposed to be based upon my outwardly appearance. Being large and tall I could never express anger - lest I bring upon myself the label of big angry black man. So I had to be Mr. Velvet Teddy Bear. I’m so grateful for this newsletter & people like Ragen who take the time out to remind me that what I learned was nonsense & I don’t need to frame or own other people’s expectations anymore.
Thank you for this excellent interview. I found Chastain’s advice on trolling to be particularly brilliant and useful: why are we asked to center the troll? He is, after all, the one being cruel and abusive. How much more sensible and healthy to focus instead on our own needs and goals.
As for the discussion of fat phobia in healthcare, I find it depressing that so many doctors and nurses—who otherwise rightly follow and implement information from scientific research—will ignore or reject the mountain of evidence that dieting doesn’t work, and that some people will naturally become fat no matter what they do. And that goes even more so for our culture.
But then, I grew up in a family where my mom and brother were fat, and my dad and I were thin. We ate the exact same food, and if anything my brother exercised much more than I did. It just seems so obvious to me that fat and thin have more to do with inborn traits than with ingested food. Let us hope that writers like Chastain will make this fact obvious to everyone.
Ragen Chastain is a terrific writer as well as incredibly powerful advocate against fatphobia. I appreciate her work so very much. I also appreciate how she credits others—like Black women who've written about the intersections between racism and fatphobia and other writers like Kate Harding, whose blog Shapely Prose was a milestone in fat-positive writing and advocacy, not to mention a place that built community among people questioning diet culture, exploring Health At Every Size (before that was even a well-known term), and generally pushing back against sizism everywhere. I highly recommend Kate's book, co-authored with Marianne Kirby, another great writer and blogger fighting the good fight against fatphobia, _Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quite Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body_. Hard to believe it was published way back in 2009. Still a radical publication by any measure. And to add another name: Melissa McEwan, owner of the blog Shakesville, who wrote about fatphobia and its intersections with racism, sexism, and ableism many times over the years the blog was active. (Unfortunately and horrifyingly, she's no longer publishing online because her health was compromised after years of online abuse and threats to her life and that of her family.)
Please understand that I am not trying to troll - I really would like genuine replies and dialogue. I love and value this community and that's why I feel comfortable asking hard questions here.
"I don’t judge anyone who’s bigger, but, you know, there are real health considerations!" We should not be judging anyone on their size, and I agree that it's harmful to use that as a way to try and get someone else to lose weight. I experienced the fatphobia in the medical world and know how awful it is and how much junk science is out there and how so much of what we are told about health isn't scientific at all. I know what it is like to have improved my health while I was still obese so I know that weight isn't everything.
That said, we cannot ignore the real fact that some people have real health considerations that improve or even go away with dietary changes and weight loss. I know my story is rare - I not only fall into the 5% success rate of weight loss stories, but I have managed to greatly improve my chronic health issues (with some even going into remission). I am also aware these changes won't last forever - my pain will likely increase in time - but it's made it possible for me to live a better life now, and that is a victory worth celebrating.
(To give a direct example of how weight loss improved my health: I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and as a result have a tendency to dislocate body parts. Losing weight caused a dramatic decrease of pressure on my hips, knees, and ankles, which not only caused fewer subluxations and sprains but also gave me the ability to start working out to strengthen my muscles so that I dislocate even less. How dietary changes improved my health: reducing sugar and starches dramatically reduced my inflammation in my joints and therefore the amount of pain I feel on a daily basis. Losing weight as a result of these changes also decreased pressure on them.)
I guess my attitude on all of this is that we can't come out and say it's a complete failure to want to try to lose weight for health benefits, because it can and does happen. I don't fully criticize Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 step programs because they only works for 5% of people, because for the 5% it did work for, it was life changing and that matters and it's important to not invalidate their journeys. There are problematic aspects to 12 step programs (like the idea that only their way works) but we have to acknowledge that they do help a lot of people.
Really excellent interview, thank you for the intro to Ragen's newsletter! The post about vaccine needle lengths is fascinating, alongside the point that "the healthcare system often fails to accommodate us in everything from chairs in the waiting room, to gowns, to MRIs, beds, durable medical equipment and more"
I really liked her take on privilege and trolls. Especially this: "if I cancel a talk due to death threats, I can expect death threats every time I plan to take the stage. It’s unlikely that they will follow through, but it is a possibility. I thought long and hard about it, and decided that it’s ultimately worth the risk to do this work."
I find it fascinating I’ve never heard of Ragen until now. I also find it remarkable as a man how much I relate to issues commonly attributed to women & body dysmorphia. As a matter of fact, my current therapist is one who usually sees patients who struggle with disordered eating. And they were almost exclusively women. I didn’t set out to find a specific therapist this way, I just liked her bio & needed immediate help through a crisis (not related to weight).
I’ve lost 130 lbs & I'm healthier, but I’ve become disenchanted with the compliments I get. The attributes I receive about me being more confident, how I’m different, and that people see me as someone who can be a leader where all attributes I had when I was 330 lbs and at 42% bodyfat. Why being 200 lbs @ 24% shows this is unsettling. Why did it have to take such radical weight loss to be perceived as a strong confident person?
I can’t even explain on here how being a black man growing up shaped these observations & how I basically adapted to accept people’s projections on who I was supposed to be based upon my outwardly appearance. Being large and tall I could never express anger - lest I bring upon myself the label of big angry black man. So I had to be Mr. Velvet Teddy Bear. I’m so grateful for this newsletter & people like Ragen who take the time out to remind me that what I learned was nonsense & I don’t need to frame or own other people’s expectations anymore.
Thank you for this excellent interview. I found Chastain’s advice on trolling to be particularly brilliant and useful: why are we asked to center the troll? He is, after all, the one being cruel and abusive. How much more sensible and healthy to focus instead on our own needs and goals.
As for the discussion of fat phobia in healthcare, I find it depressing that so many doctors and nurses—who otherwise rightly follow and implement information from scientific research—will ignore or reject the mountain of evidence that dieting doesn’t work, and that some people will naturally become fat no matter what they do. And that goes even more so for our culture.
But then, I grew up in a family where my mom and brother were fat, and my dad and I were thin. We ate the exact same food, and if anything my brother exercised much more than I did. It just seems so obvious to me that fat and thin have more to do with inborn traits than with ingested food. Let us hope that writers like Chastain will make this fact obvious to everyone.
Excellent article