Does the age of Ozempic and MJ jabs expose what a load of bollocks the ‘Body Positivity’ and ‘Health at any Size’ movements were

[Lardychops]

I was always very clear in my own mind as a very overweight woman, that the body positivity moment was far less about inclusion and moral neutrality around body size (including when seeking healthcare, and waaayy more about trying to persuade/pressurise men into include larger/very fat women in their dating pool. It seemed to wholly focus on fat being seen as sexy (‘real men actually want meat not bones’ etc) and also included a lot of thin-shaming/highly derogatory language about men and women who have/prefer slim or smaller bodies
With the wide availability of Weight loss jabs, however, as far as I can see many of the movement’s most ardent activists and celebrity advocates appear to have done a complete U-turn and are literally unrecognisable as half (or even a third) of the person the used to be!!
From Megan Trainor proving that it wasn’t ‘all about the base’ after all, and to Lizzo who would at one point only hire plus size dancers and backing singers; to the plus size influencers Gabby Lascano and Sophie Goodman who literally built their careers reaching 1000’s of followers, on the ‘big is not only beautiful but BETTER ’ mantra -they are all literally shrinking in plain sight!!

I have lost stacks of weight on WLI’s and am no longer fat. It’s fabulous and a game changer.
I make no bones about the fact that I would crawl through a mile of shit for my weekly dose/pay double for them if I had to. Same for many of my friends. We hated being fat when we were fat and made no secret of it.

I feel that the (now very slim) previous proponents of the body positive /fat is beautiful and healthy (see also: slim, fit attractive men should date us or they are evil shits ) movement are total
hypocrites given the numbers of people that buy their music/watch their films/ consume their content follow them on SM etc etc - many of which can’t access these miracle cures for financial/health reasons etc.
The knots these women tie themselves in trying to justify their weight-loss while not looking like a total twat ( they do - just be honest love ) to satiate their larger bodied fans is utterly galling and I think exposes the whole moment for what it was.

Body positivity was essentially a movement to blur the lines of any reasonable discussion around size and its health impacts. Most likely funded and pushed by large food/dairy/sugar conglomerates who have a vested interest in keeping their customers plump and addicted for as long as possible.

I think my understanding of body positivity and 'health at any size' are a bit different to a lot of posters. I always understood 'health at any size' to mean that whatever size you are you can take steps to improve your health eg by eating veg, going for a walk, cutting out the fags etc- and that these things would be valuable even if they didn't contribute to weight loss.

You would be right as a positive campaign but that isnt what the words mean in the hands of the masses who picked it up and ran with it

I’ll be frank as someone who was on the cusp of morbid obesity after my DC were born in quick succession - about 7 stone overweight, BMI was very very close to 40. I think it just helped fat people feel better about themselves and justify their lifestyle.

I don’t think any obese person is happy and satisfied not just with the way they look but also how they feel. God did my joints hurt all of the fucking time, my knees were even creaking and I was in my early 20s. Also suffered from plantar fasciitis which was constant agony. I could barely fit in a standard sized bath and it was just super embarrassing all of the time, I barely left the house.

So yeah I think those fat ‘influencers’ felt shit about themselves but fed other fat people a lie that they were happy and felt great. You do feel momentarily nice when you eat junk, that is true but it’s like any addiction, later you feel terrible.

WLI didn’t exist when I lost the weight. I lost 7 stone in a year through sheer willpower, determination and hard work. I started running which to begin with was literally laps around my small back garden because I didn’t want anyone to see me. I’d also do workout YouTube videos.

I think the jabs have created a whole other monster now in that people are using them and not working out so their bodies lack any tone and they look skeletal.

It was always hypocritical bollocks.

There is nothing, repeat nothing, body positive about Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis or being at increased risk of strokes and high blood pressure.

I agree OP, I think it shows that a lot of those people were full of it.

I think this thread shows that a lot of people hadn't really been exposed to the body positivity movement, they think it's just about not being an asshole and healthy self-esteem, and taking a view of health that isn't only about weight but also fitness, quality of food being eaten, and so on.

But it stopped being that a while ago and had become bizarre and dangerous. I think a combination of people trying to justify their own bad health; people trying to grift by making money as influencers and being able to claim being an oppressed group; a particularly nasty element of people using their own bodies to create a kind of freakshow tiktok space in order to make money; and much of it seemed to be related to online health woo and health conspiracy theories. There was also a weird sexual element for some that seemed to attract certain fetish motivated men. People may find this all unpalatable, but it's the reality.

So basically picking up and incorporating other elements of toxic online culture. But there is really nothing like seeing a massively obese woman struggling to walk, on oxygen, claiming that her weight is not part of her serious health problems and that those who say it is are fatphobic haters who push fake medical advice - all while telling their followers that if they stop eating whatever they want or try exercise for health they too are bowing to fatphobic pressure - to realise that it is nothing to do with healthy self-esteem.

What is unfortunate to me is that I think that drugs like ozempic are going to drive some massively unhealthy behaviour in the other direction. We've already seen some of it in Hollywood, that will spread, and being rail think is likely to become a strong pressure again and associated with success and wealth.

I think you are bang on correct - many gravitate and are more than happy to play up certain things if there is cash/fanbase to be made . Let’s put it this way , there are categories in porn for ‘‘pregnant women’ - all I can say is WTF ! And what kind of woman wants to be part of that -

I’m fat and my partner is an attractive, gym going, muscular man in uniform - he just fancies curvy, soft women and always has. Plenty of people find larger bodies as attractive (or more attractive) than slimmer bodies.

I’m very body positive, and I’ve just started WLI as I’m pushing 40 and I know my chances of long term health in older age are higher if I lose some weight. But I consider myself
beautiful and worthy of respect and love at any size or shape. I love my body whether it’s fat, thin, sick, well, tired, energised etc - why wouldn’t i?