Spoiler alert: It has a lot to do with that wishful thinking that being thin will make us love and attention-worthy, and everything will just be so much easier.
First of all, what does “diet culture” even mean? Well, my friend, it can be summarized into this: Diet Culture is the way of society (meaning we as individuals and as part of social clusters) to systematically impose rules and behaviors to other members of it targeted to make our bodies look slimmer and smaller in an attempt to take the least amount of space possible.
It has become so ingrained in our daily life that it is now part of a cultural phenomenon that acts as if it is not OK to live a life without restraining our food intake. And to pushing our bodies and minds to their max when it comes to keeping them LOOKING “healthy” without any regard of what physical and mental health tag it has.
What can be done, for real?
As Caroline Dooner says in her book «The Fu*ck It Diet», “dieting doesn’t work long term”.
Binge eating, fixation in working out while weighing ourselves daily, and/or talking trash about our bodies because they are not looking the way they “should look to fit in” doesn’t work neither. Because regardless of our size and health, what we humans really want to get is to know we are worthy of love, respect, kindness, and compassion.
It is time for us to stop chasing our tails following a system that is designed to push our bodies and minds to impossible standards. Diet Culture and the beliefs that come with it it’s lucrative for so many people in a way that is completely unethical. And it’s the number one cause of we berating at ourselves for being lazy and weak while double-downing on the belief that losing weight -or even gaining it in lean muscles- is the key for everlasting happiness and the true way to become love worthy.
Now, let’s clarify how does style development have to do with all of this.
I have the privilege of working with people of different sizes, body shapes and sizes, and very different backgrounds. But one thing is worth repeating to all of them -including me:
The impossible beauty standards diet culture rubs in our faces constantly doesn’t have to be the guide and master of the way you think of yourself.
Your body is the vehicle of the so many amazing things you can feel, think and discover!
The first baby step to breaking free from the diet culture is to honor your body and treat it kindly. This means stop wondering what is wrong with it, with us when we feel the world doesn’t have any space where we can feel we truly fit in. That is the first sign of needing to start marching to the beat of a different drum.
For more about how to deal with diet culture-oriented lifestyle and fashion/beauty designed to make you feel unworthy, follow me on Instagram and check out my post and my Stories.
Like all privilege, most thin people didn’t ask for it, and can’t give it away, but they can use it to fight Diet Culture. An excellent use of thin privilege is to find out what fat people want that thin people already have, and then ask how to help. For example, when someone says, “I can’t believe that a fat person thinks that they should get to travel from point A to point B on this plane for the same price as I do,” say “Why do we get seats that accommodate us, but other people are asked to pay twice as much for the same trip? That’s not fair.” Then do things from signing petitions and getting involved in activism, to interrupting fatphobia on planes and welcoming fat people to sit next to you.
That is a fantastic take on laser-focus action to combat diet culture! Also, besides signing petitions another way to promote change in how fat folks are treated is to use our economic power to disrupt the industries that create more impact. Such as «wellness» businesses, apps and accounts promoting disordered eating or the fashion industry not catering extended sizes.