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September 17th, 2019: How I got kicked out of a sports team for standing up for acceptance for body diversity (By Alena Thiem)
I like riding a racing bike. I love the feeling of the wind in my face, blowing away all annoying thoughts, while my legs are spinning away one kilometre after other. Sometimes I ride by myself, sometimes with friends, sometimes with larger groups.
This year I planned something special: For a big road bike race I applied for an all women’s team, sponsored by a big sporting goods producer, organized by the sponsoring brand’s ambassador that aims to empower female riders. 20 women planned to ride the 100 km track together as one train – meaning one group – with an average speed of 30 km/h. If one bikes regularly, that is doable – from time to time one can stroll along in the wind shade of the others, in addition there’s the adrenalin, which gives an extra push.
I transferred the racing fee to cover the organisation of mutual practice rides and the team clothes, and looked forward towards the upcoming weeks.
At bike races accidents can happen quickly, since the speed is high and you have to concentrate strongly to be able to evade negligences of the riders surrounding you to avoid falling yourself. Surely, most of you have seen pictures of collisions at big races like the Tour De France. Thus, as a team we planned to definitely stick together and watch out for each other. When the riders in the front would make an announcement, the following riders would have to quickly act accordingly and follow suit. We planned on practicing this in our freshly cobbled together team. Safety of all our riders was supposed to be a priority. I liked the approach of finishing the 100 km together, considerately with stronger riders pulling weaker ones along and weaker riders being sure of the support of stronger ones.
The participants, whom I met during the practice rides turned out to be a colourful mix of women, some having been riding together for some time and others being new to the group – like me. There were tall and short women, a high-school-graduate and women above 40, very wiry bodies as well as round bodies. From my perspective, it was just the usual diversity. Yes, as in any sport there is the cliché of the slim and young female bike racer. And as in any other sport, “slim” doesn’t always equate “fast” (or “extraordinarily good”) and the reality of mass sports does in fact look differently. Actually, this applies to elite sports as well: Take a look at the prominent example of the fabulous Serena Williams, who has consistently faced body shaming but who remains the best tennis player of all time.
For us to be recognizable as a team, we were supposed to receive team clothing by the sports goods manufacturer. Everyone who has done team sports knows how team attire strengthens the inner connection of the team’s members as well. You are a group and yes, groups establish by including some and excluding others.
The other day we were notified that our team clothing would now be ready for all of us to try on – it would be available in three sizes. I was confused. Three sizes? Our team definitely covered a need for more size variety, according to my perception. In addition, I had noticed the co-organizer with a slimmer figure than mine was already wearing the largest size available. In our team’s group chat I asked, whether other sizes could be made available if needed, since I was assuming the largest size offered might be too tight for me and the sizing could be problematic for other team members as well. I received the response, the fabric of the garment was very stretchy and for one bigger team member there were already steps being made to find an alternative.
Alternatives to team clothing are not team clothing. One looks similar, but different from the outside. It feels weird to be the one an alternative has to be found for. It nourishes the feeling that one’s body is wrong. And squishing one’s body into clothing that feels too tight doesn’t exactly strengthen self-esteem.
I argued with strong words. I didn’t find it acceptable for a team – which is being sponsored by a sports goods manufacturer (and let’s be honest, for a team advertising for this company during a big race) and for which everyone could apply as long as she believed to be able to ride the race – not being presented with a suitable size variety. For somebody who isn’t politically active, my wording may have sound harsh and demanding. And I know, it’s very annoying to have to deal with unfairness. Especially, when you are not affected yourself and it appears to be “somebody else’s personal problem”. But this is where the fallacy is occurring: It is everyone’s problem when unfairness exists. It is everyone’s problem, when people get disadvantaged, due to whatever characteristics. And it is our common task to establish a society without discrimination.
Some women in the group chat supported the organizers, since they were making a big effort to find alternatives for the riders with big or round bodies – some wrote to me and showed their solidarity – many kept silent.
The big-built cyclist, for whom alternative clothing was already being organized, wrote me a personal message in which she thanked me and agreed with me. Then the sentence: “I don’t complain about things like this anymore, because I know, if only I kicked myself in the butt more, I wouldn’t have this problem.” These words made me incredibly sad. There is this woman taking part in 100 km bike races, who is able to ride the distance at 30 km/h average (at least), while still believing she isn’t active enough. Still believing she needs to change her body. Why does she think that way? Because we are confronted on a daily basis with the demand to fit the narrow ideals that apply for beauty and fitness. But not every body’s ideal state is a German size 36 (UK size 8, US size 6). We are all different.
I don’t want for people to live their lives with the constant feeling of something being wrong about them. That’s why I’m committed to AnyBody Deutschland (the German chapter of Endangered Bodies), to help create more acceptance. And I am convinced claims sometimes have to be put into strong wording and have to be voiced loudly to be heard. Maybe the clothing issue will be handled differently next year in the collaboration with the sponsoring company.
I did try on the clothing that day. I could squeeze my body into the shorts and the jersey – but to me fitted bike attire looks and feels differently. I would have preferred the clothing to an “alternative” during the race anyway, because I really wanted to be seen as part of the team – a very human wish, I believe. Beside the rider described above, I’ve known at least one other team member for whom an alternative would have to be searched for – or who agrees to wear too tight clothing (that is, in case she shares my feeling of how bike garments should fit, of course).
I am not going to take part in the race, though. The organizer kicked me out of the team for causing a disturbance. She told me that in a racing situation I might be a safety risk and that she felt she couldn’t rely on me to act out announcements from the front of the train. The decision was made solely based on the discussion – the organizer had no idea of how I acted as a rider within a group, since she hadn’t been able to join our previous practice rides. The organizer made clear this was her personal decision and didn’t have anything to do with the sponsoring company, for which she acts as an ambassador to empower female racing bike riders. The choice of the pre-ordering of the team clothing in a limited size variety was made by her. The sponsor usually offers its regular bike garments in six different sizes.
I am a little sad. I would have liked to ride the race with this group and I had been looking forward to it. Sometimes it is tough to bear the consequences when one speaks up about an issue. On the other hand, I honestly have to say that a team which kicks me out due to the above described reasons is not the right team for me – or the organizer is not the right team leader for me.
My fee was back in my bank account the following day. I am going to treat myself to some nice, well-fitting bike clothing.
August 27th, 2019: WW, Leave Them Kids Alone (By Vicky Chetley, Deirdre Cowman and Alena Thiem)
A few days ago, news outlets reported on „WW“ – formerly known as the diet industry giant Weight Watchers, now operating underneath the wellness sugar coating of „wellness that works“, but still being a diet company – and its release of a diet app targeted at children as young as 8 years old. The app called „Kurbo“ separates food into categories of „good“ and „bad“ and is supposed to help its users make healthy choices.
What the app and the whole idea it’s based on ignore, just like every other weight-loss diet, is the fact that your own body can tell you what nourishment it needs. It also feeds the assumption that only slim bodies are good bodies and that thin equals healthy, while fat equals unhealthy. This is a dangerous and erroneous message to promote to children.
Society teaches our children early on that different bodies are not something to be celebrated, let alone accepted. Instead, we are conditioned to believe that we have to work constantly to fit the mould of the slim ideal. We teach our children that bodies, especially female bodies, are under permanent construction, never reaching the goal of perfection. One studyshowed that children as young as three already have a negative perception of big and fat bodies, associating fat with characteristics like „mean“, “stupid” and „lazy“.
We do not need to raise our children to be slim. We do not need to raise them thinking their value depends on a number on a scale or a clothing tag. We need to raise them to trust their bodies and to not be afraid of feeling body confident. We need to raise them to be kind and respectful of their surroundings and themselves.
A diet app runs completely counter to these aims.
Endangered Bodies supports the campaign to take down the Kurbo app. If you share our point of view, please sign one (or more!) of six petitions that have been set up to ask WW to take the app down. This one is growing by the minute and currently has collected over 93,000 signatures.
To summarise, here are ten reasons why the Kurbo app is harmful, which is outlined in another petition we support:
- Targets vulnerable children between the ages of 8-17
- Tracking food intake and exercise normalizes an obsession with food and weight
- Promotes the idea that food is either good or bad with their “stop light” approach
- Promotes the idea that confidence is dependent on body size and/or weight
- Promotes using weight as the sole indicator of health
- No medical clearance needed for kids to sign up
- Weight loss coaches are not required to have a degree in evidence-based dietetics
- Targets children that are prepubescent and going through puberty where kids between 11 and 14 gain on average between 30 to 40 pounds and can gain 30 pounds or more in one year
- Promotes the idea that parents happiness/proudness is derived from accomplishments around weight
- Uses before and after photos
Join us in speaking out against this harmful app and the flawed reasoning behind it. Children do not need to learn weight stigma and internalise the idea that their bodies need to be fixed.
April 16th, 2015: The Effect of Negative Body Talk in Social Media (By Alena Thiem)
Our global campaign #FatIsNotAFeeling in which we asked Facebook to remove the ‘I feel fat’ emoticon has raised many interesting questions and issues among our followers and critics. One of these issues is the effect of negative body talk – or, as in many cases: fat talk – in society in general and in social media specifically.
In a culture that aims to teach us to feel uncomfortable in our own bodies by selling products which are supposed to ‘help’ overcome this state of disease, expressing dissatisfaction with one’s own appearance is quite common. This can land anywhere, from the shape of the nose, the structure of the hair, the size and shape of the body, the shade of skin color or the depth of the navel: No part of our bodies is safe of its owner’s criticism. The media, beauty and diet industries have ‘educated‘ us incessantly: women’s bodies, young women’s bodies are a problem waiting to be fixed.
Negative body talk is a social normality – but is it also norming our social life? Scientific studies have been examining the social effect of negative body talk for decades using a variety of approaches:
In a 1994 published survey among female middle school students, anthropologists Mimi Nichter and Nancy Vuckovic found that fat talk was being used productively to fit in and achieve conformity. Girls, who didn’t like their bodies or appearance and openly pointed out their own dissatisfaction within the group, were conceived as more likeable by their fellow class mates, than the girls who stuck out by expressing comfort with the way they look. This perception was supported by psychologist Denise Martz’s et al research among college students, published in 2007. Engaging in fat talk was being used as an ice breaker to start and take part in a conversation among female strangers making contact in a new environment. Martz and her fellow researchers pointed out that while the purpose of the use of fat talk seemed to be positive (i.e. making new friends), the psychological effect was quite concerning. Two years later, Martz and her fellow researchers examined the effect of negative body talk in direct comparison to the effect of positive body talk. They discovered that a woman was considered more likeable to outside observers when she talked positively about her looks in a group conversation. At the same time, the outside observers agreed that the woman was perceived as more likeable by other group members when she conformed to the group’s opinion on body image, though especially when the group shared a positive body image.
Although the focuses of these three studies vary, one main discovery is being shared: In a society where fat talk is common, those who participate are considered to be more likeable. Most of us strive to be part of groups and communities, most of us want to be accepted professionally or emotionally. This is the vicious circle we from Endangered Bodies and many more body positive activists are eager to break.
But how vicious is it really? How does negative body talk affect the person talking and/or listening? Is it maybe just something ‚everybody does‘ – and that’s it? Unfortunately no, this is not how the psychological mind works, as studies prove. It is most likely that a woman who hears people criticizing their own bodies joins the conversation. And the more body hatred is happening in her social circle, the further her own levels of body dissatisfaction and guilt increase. Fat talk is dangerous. It can be a trigger for people who are in the process of recovering from an eating disorder to „forget“ methods they have learnt recently regarding a more positive body image and fall back into self-destructive patterns. And it creates a toxic social environment in which people develop body dissatisfaction, body hatred and eating disorders. But fat talk does even more harm than nourishing the negative associations a person has towards her own body. It also supports and feeds a general feeling of ’not being good enough‘ and thus increases the risk of mental health problems such as depressions.
Therefore, fat talk is specifically targeted in prevention and recovery programs to reduce dissatisfaction and therefore potentially prevent eating disorders. In addition, health campaigns in general as well as interpersonal strategies can be very effective in contributing to a culture that accepts and embraces bodies in all shapes and sizes and doesn’t discriminate against skin color, gender/sex, age and disabilities.
The means of communication have been broadened and enhanced continuously since the beginning of humans interacting with each other. Today, social media cannot be perceived anymore as ‚something the young folks have fun with when they don’t want to go outside and meet real people’. Social media is a, if not: the place, where real people meet and talk. It is a place where communication happens and this communication is just as real as a conversation two people sitting across from each other at a table in a nice café are having. Social media is a part of our culture and society.We have to understand that it truly and ‘for real’ matters what is going on on Facebook and how we talk about ourselves and to each other there. It matters and its effect on society and individuals cannot be denied. Thus, we appreciate the social medias’ efforts of taking responsibility in the specific issue of negative body talk. Be it Instagram to ban harmful hashtags such as #thinspo (thinspo = thin + inspiration) or Facebook to delete the ‘I feel fat’ emoji.
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