Fat Phobia: The Real Elephant In The Room

Living on the other side of what is considered normal by a good part of society has a very high toll. Additional difficulties and barriers that arise above all from the social plane; the one that we all feed on, but from which some only collect poisoned water. A basic element, disguised as sustenance, that only produces frustration, pain and distortion of identity. Fat phobia is one of the phenomena that has arisen in front of people who do not have a Low Body Mass Index (BMI).

Fat, fat, has other concepts, modules or nodes associated with little or nothing positive. Intuitions or presuppositions born of the interest of those who are only looking for a market to enrich themselves. Companies looking for the other to fill their pockets or simply to feel better in comparison.

Prejudices and origin of gordofobia

Many people and on many occasions – we can perfectly be one of them because that is what they teach us – when they see someone with a BMI higher than what is considered advisable, they also see – they anticipate – a dissatisfied person. They make this assumption without knowing it. They assume or assume that it is. On the other hand, we also often make the mistake of assuming that you lack willpower: enough to not eat certain foods or go to the gym.

This look, so self-centered, is reinforced by the reinforcement it entails. Seeing or positioning ourselves in this vision gives us a very positive image of ourselves: we do have willpower, if we take care of ourselves … and that is why we have a lower BMI. We assume that the other does not like his body and that, if he does not want to change it, it is because his will is too brittle and his spirit too weak in the face of the temptation of junk food.

It is much easier to assume this line of thought than the one that the other is like this because he wants to – we would then have to question whether all those sacrifices we make are to achieve something that we really want too. In addition, it is much easier to assume that they cannot change, in the event that this was their wish, for a matter of will; This thought fuels the idea that we control our body and that by doing “things right” we will never be fat. However, the reality is so different …

On the other hand, the reaction that many obese people cause when they present themselves is one of compassion and sorrow. Similar to that experienced by those who share a disease with others. Instead of saying ” Nice to meet you “, on many occasions we would come out, perhaps in a more natural way, ” I’m sorry “, ” cheer up ” or ” you can “. Introduce him to that acquaintance that we all have and who in his day managed to get rid of many kilos of himself and also not be a victim of a rebound effect.

When fat phobia hurts us

Fat phobia, within phobias, is especially limiting. It supposes the rejection or the battle with something of our own, with a part of us with which we will not be able to stop living; Trying to do so would cause us harm, doing so would mean ceasing to live. However, there are not a few who try to follow this path: they dissociate or ignore their body, like one who tries not to pay attention to the well-known charlatan who counts little or nothing of interest, no matter how much he talks.

Along the way, the price they pay is very high. They isolate themselves from body signals, pain makes them become alert later – with the consequences that this phenomenon can have on a medical level – they associate everything unpleasant that comes from their body with obesity. Beginning and end of everything.

On the other hand, many of the obese people with gordofobia give up enjoying very pleasant activities, such as sports, a day at the pool or a long shower. It is no longer that someone sees them, it is that they want to stop seeing themselves, cover a body that they cannot support … and less in nudity.

They stop living in the company of their body, in symbiosis with it and turn their life into a scenario that always has that battle in the background. Often a fight inspired by an adopted desire and implanted censure, punished with a critical finger that is seldom conjugated with compassion, understanding, and caring.