The road to claiming body liberation
Let’s reshape how we think about bodies, weight, and worthiness
Hello! This week we’re talking about body image.
Lots of people ask me, “Why do so many people develop disordered eating?” I think we should instead be asking, “How is it possible that anyone escapes disordered eating?” After all, body shame and restrictive eating are baked into our culture.
By kindergarten, most kids are already showing a strong anti-fat bias. This unconscious bias drives body shame and disordered eating patterns.
We can only shift our unconscious beliefs by dragging them out into the light, observing them, and challenging them with our adult minds.
Why are so many of us trapped in weight cycling and disordered eating patterns? In part because we learned early that there’s such a thing as “good” bodies and “bad” bodies.
It’s a false belief, but it’s a powerful engine that drives so many of us to despair. Liberation is possible when we unpack our unconscious beliefs about weight and free ourselves from the falsehoods we learned in childhood.
Social media is a mixed bag, but I was reminded of the good it’s brought to my healing journey when Instagram served up a video clip from Kate Yeager, who wrote and performed a beautiful song called “Fat.” Her sweet voice contrasts with lyrics that tell the story of living in our body-toxic culture. You can watch her sing it on YouTube.
Here are some thoughts using Kate Yeager’s lyrics to help us reshape how we think about bodies, weight, and worthiness.
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