Fuck Your Body Policing

Friends, I was minding my own business getting lunch at work today when an acquaintance who works at the cafeteria made some unbidden rude comments about my dietary choices. Why did this happen? Because I am an unrepentant fat person who had the gall to choose to eat macaroni and cheese for lunch. So this person decided to "concern troll" me about my dietary choices.

Image of a fat woman's giving the finger with the words "Fuck Your Body Policing."

Because I am feeling more angry than articulate, I'm linking to an article with 11 Reasons Your 'Concern' For Fat People's Health Isn't Helping Anyone.

Friends, my diet is my own business. Put simply, if I want to sit around eating doughnuts all day that is between me, my doctor, and the good people at my local doughnut shop. I do not need to justify my diet to anybody. The size of my body does not suddenly make my dietary choices someone else's business. 

If I were a thin person, would this acquaintance have gone out of his way to criticize my diet and imply that I was unhealthy because of it? Of course not! He only felt he had the right to do so because of all the bullshit we're taught about fat people (which he has clearly bought into). 

I can assure you that pretty much every fat person over the age of about seven knows that being fat is undesirable in our society and that you are supposed to exercise and eat "healthy" food and lose weight if you are fat. I know I'm fat and I know that mac and cheese is a calorie-dense food. I also know that I'm expected to hate my body and want lose weight. But you know what? I'm not doing that. My body is awesome and I'm focusing on keeping myself as healthy as possible. Part of that is stepping off the horrid dieting merry-go-round that was taxing my emotional and mental health.

Here's the thing: Let's say I subsist entirely on junk food. That STILL wouldn't be anyone else's business. As long as what I eat is not hurting you, you have exactly no say in my dietary choices. When I start eating meat and buying my food from incredibly far away places and from farms that spray the world with toxic chemicals you can criticize me. Hell, if you're vegan feel free to criticize me for eating dairy (and then help me strategize since I'm thinking of making the switch). But unless you are critiquing the labor impact, animal rights impact, political impact, or environmental impact of our food choices your opinion is worthless to me.

If this dude cares so much about what I put in my body he can advocate for more vegetarian options at the cafeteria. The vegetarian main dishes today were pizza, macaroni and cheese, and grilled cheese. How about something sustainable made with vegetables and no processed ingredients? 

Friends, what do you do for self-care in times like this? And also - do you have any fabulous retorts I should store up for next time this happens to me?