#Bodypositivity Roundup: Existential Angst (Gut Check)

Originally published via Armageddon Prose Substack:

Fat Propaganda Roundup: Documenting the meatiest, juiciest cuts of “fat acceptance” propaganda from corporate and social media.

Kourtney Kardashian, new mother, apparently now a ‘body positive queen,’ per Cosmopolitan

My Midwestern Irish-Catholic grandmammy once imparted a bit of wisdom to me: never take a person seriously, she told me, who spells Kourtney with a “K” — even if some retarded zoomer staffer at Cosmopolitan assures you she has an “impressive list of talents” aside from being a TV bimbo [citation needed].

Via Cosmopolitan (emphasis added):

“Kourtney Kardashian Barker has an impressive list of talents - whether it’s as a reality tv icon, wellness entrepreneur (her brands Poosh and Lemme will live in our heads rent-free forever) or style leader.

However, following the birth of her fourth child (and first child with husband Travis Barker), Kourt has emerged with an important renewed purpose as a body positive queen. Over the past few months, she’s broadened conversations around post-partum bodies and taken the time to celebrate her own body journey following pregnancy…

Now, Kourt is back at it! On her IG Story, she reposted a relatable af meme from the official Poosh Instagram page.

Against the backdrop of a vintage, aesthetic pic of a woman standing on a pair of scales, the meme was emblazoned with curly script bearing the message; “I’ve finally reached my goal weight of Don’t Fucking Care”.

The bottom line of the meme hammered home the message, reading; “My body is the least interesting thing about me”.*

This is a message we can whole-heartedly endorse and it seems like Kourt does too! Not only did she repost the meme on her Story, she also added the word “mood” complemented by a heart hands emoji.

We love our body positive queen!”

*Her body is the least interesting thing about her, except that she and her whole grifter family built their careers on parading their bodies in front of the cameras and publishing “leaked” pornos.

It’s only a matter of time before women are posting their severed umbilical cords on social media for clout.

Human resources professional abandons soulless career for new soulless career

Via Images (emphasis added):

“Colourful, funny and open-minded — these qualities best describe Cynthia Victor (shawtysin on Instagram), a 25-year-old plus-size Sri Lankan-American content creator who currently lives in New Jersey, United States. Born in Montreal, Canada, Cynthia was only one when her parents migrated to the US where she has lived ever since.

Following a brief stint in college where she studied Human Resources and Labour Studies, Cynthia realised her passion to create social media content to empower women who looked like her — plus size, brown skinned and South Asian…

Through social media, Cynthia was able to find acceptance for who she was as a Sri Lankan-American. She could easily clear misconceptions about being stereotyped as an Indian or, more broadly, a South Asian, simply for being brown when she was equally a well-spoken Canadian living the American dream in New Jersey.

Content creation cemented Cynthia’s confidence as a plus-size, brown woman. Her love for the creative space allowed her to feel fully liberated. “The way you can just express yourself through clothing or makeup is incredible, and even if you’re a quiet person, you can be very loud in the way you express yourself,” she said.”

Cynthia’s certainly right about one thing: fat activists can be very loud… and grating.

I don’t encourage suicide for anyone, but if I did, theoretically, categorically based on occupation, human resources personnel and social media influencers would be near the top of the list, along with bankers.

#Bodypostitive cult member suffers identity crisis, reaches for Ozempic

She’s secretly wanted to lose weight all along, even while pretending to embrace her rolls — it’s just that she never wanted to work for it, and now she doesn’t believe she has to thanks to the pharmaceutical industry.

Truly inspirational human-interest story.  

Via The Star (emphasis added):

“A few weeks ago, I got served an ad for Ozempic from Felix, an online health care service. I mindlessly clicked it and went through the questionnaire to determine my eligibility for the popular drug, and as I did so I became uncomfortably aware of my subconscious excitement at the prospect of losing weight — and fast.

I cancelled the session before I could be connected with a doctor, leaving my answers saved somewhere in the ether.

Had this happened 15 years ago, I probably would’ve gone through with it. But even now, as someone who’s worked for years on my own body image, the promise of being smaller is incredibly tempting. I’m not safe from the allure of a quick fix to a body I know most people wouldn’t choose to have.”

A fellow #bodypositive cult member shares a similar harrowing tale of forced introspection when faced with a magical weight loss pill that’s going to fix her bloated BMI score.

Via The Cut (emphasis added):

“As a feminist writer and committed proponent of body positivity, I’d spent years trying to love my body at any size. And yet, here I was, agonizing over this picture…

It’s a debate I’d started thinking about in earnest last year when I shared that I had decided to go on Mounjaro, a choice I struggled with. I had told myself going on the medication was for my health. And it was, but I was also aware of, and not opposed to, the potential for weight loss…

In the months since I’ve come off the medication, I’ve been forced to reckon with how I feel about my own body and how even the most steadfast and committed proponents of size inclusivity are vulnerable to a culture of mandatory thinness**. Why is “loving yourself” at any size such a tall order? Is it because, in the words of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay, “Body positivity is all a big lie”? Because, as she continued in a Nightline interview about her decision to take Ozempic for weight loss, “It’s better not to be overweight”?”

**“Mandatory thinness”! It conjures images of the Stasi fat patrol kicking down doors at midnight when the refrigerator alarm in the war room indicates she’s up and at ‘em, doubled over in the warm glow of her kitchen appliance, going to town on a ham on rye before being dragged off in a forklift, mayonnaise smeared on her face to a government work camp.

Ben Bartee is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

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