I would like to talk today on something that has been on my mind recently which as you can see by the title is discrimination against overweight people. I have experienced this many times in my life and I have also been on the other side where I have judged because of how much someone weighs. I just want to first point out that EVERY single person is a living breathing child of God and they should be seen as one.
My first and most recent example of weight discrimination just happened about an hour and a half ago, I was in my Zumba class and I was dancing to a particularly intense song, which requires a lot of jumping, and my teacher turned to me (because I dance in the front) and said that if I wanted I could march instead of jumping. That surprised me so much that I looked in the mirror to see if I looked more tired than anybody else or if I was sweating profusely, I was not. I looked the same as anyone who is pushing through a challenging workout. I was pretty upset by this because I have been in this class the entire term and I haven't had to modify the moves since about day one. I may be obese but I am working very hard on becoming healthy every hour of every day. Weight does not equal ability and it most definitely does not equal disability. It amazes me that I am still being judged because of my weight. If any person who judges me by the way I look actually takes the time to get to know me, they will find out that I am just like them and that I am not just some lazy fat chick who has no goals and no self-control.
Another example that happened to me recently was on the plane home from California and I think this one has to do with looks and weight. My sister and I were sitting together on the plane and we happened to be sandwiched between lacrosse players from OSU. Of course, my sister being the talkative outgoing person that she is started up a conversation with them immediately. Loyal is good at not excluding me from conversations so she would say things like "Yeah, we go to the UO," "Our dad is the baseball coach" etc. The only problem was that the boys would ask a question that appeared to be aimed at both of us but then would only want Loyal, who is a very beautiful girl, to answer. It was hilarious to me to watch a conversation that on the surface appeared to include me, didn't give me a chance to talk at all; they were not even interested in what I had to say. Some of you may think I am exaggerating but I truly am not the boys that were in front of us wouldn't even make eye contact with me but held onto every word that my sister said. I love my sister so much and this is not anything against her because she does not discriminate because of my weight but every time I am around her and men, they only seem to care about her. I know that these boys didn't mean any harm by ignoring me and I'm sure it was intentional but it doesn't mean that I didn't notice. Just a tip for any guy who is reading this, if there are two girls sitting next to each other who may be related or friends, talk to BOTH of them. There is no way you are going to win the affection of one girl when her friend doesn't like you it is just that simple. I am not saying that you have to flirt with both of them because that is a whole different issue, but when you ask a question, wait to hear BOTH answers not just the answer form the one you think is hott.
I admit that I need to do better at not judging people based on the way that they look but I hope that because of the challenge I have with my obesity I can learn to accept people the way they are and not judge because of the way they look. You never know what the circumstances are behind someones appearance. Maybe that girl you just ignored in class is overweight because she takes anti-depressants that make her gain weight, maybe she has gone through something traumatic that has caused years of unhealthy living, or maybe she is just that way and no matter what she does she can't seem to look like what society wants. I know that some of you do not have visible imperfections and I am happy that you don't but I wonder how you would feel if every single person you come in contact with can see exactly what is wrong with you when you walk into a room. I commend every person who has lived with any physical problems because I know first hand that it is not easy to live with a imperfection that is so tangible, obvious and public.
So here is my challenge, try to go an entire day without thinking about any one's weight, including your own, and just try to think of them as children of God instead of someone with a problem. As always I love ya and I hope that my atrocious writing hasn't effected the seriousness of this topic.
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