If you’ve ever used the phrase “tightening your belt” to reference cutting down on expenses in order to save money, a professional fat activist named Virgie Tovar has decreed that your words are now proscribed. Nod in reflexive agreement.
— Fats posting Ls (@FatsPostingLs) January 31, 2023
Via Forbes:
Phrases like “trim the fat” or “tighten the belt” are… fatphobic and unacceptably ubiquitous.
this doesn’t mean that we can’t have autonomy and awareness, but maybe a middle-ground could be something he calls “intuitive spending.” Instead of shame-spiraling over doing the “wrong” or “right” thing financially, we can ask ourselves, “How does it feel to spend like this? How does it feel in my body?Read Related Also: Mia Tindall, nine, matches her mother Zara in pink tones as they visit Cheltenham racecourse
It’s nearly impossible to logically work through what Virgie’s laying down here. It’s a very postmodern take on financial management. Virgie stretches the financial-to-weight-management analogy like a pair of stretchy pants on a booming waistline.
Imagine writing exclusively about “fat acceptance” as your career — ‘Plus Sizes Need To Stop Being An Afterthought’ Says Latinx-Owned Outdoor Brand Alpine Parrot, Meet An Artist & Founder Who Creates Body Diverse Candles, etc.
The problem with people like Virgie is that they seem to somehow subscribe subconsciously to the notion that if they could just police language more effectively, then all of their negative emotions associated with their obesity would disappear. This same criticism applies across all forms of grievance politics.
They understand intuitively, of course, that the actual optimal solution would be to eat responsibly and move regularly. But they lack the self-control or motivation to achieve that, so they seek redemption through fruitless attempts to control the outside world. And when she receives praise from her insular in-group on Tumblr or whatever, she is only incentivized to continue her social engineering crusade.
