A prejudice disguised as a concern for health, fatphobia can come from a comment that seems innocent, but it can also be an offense and even the social and professional exclusion of those who are overweight, situations that leave marks and need to be fought.
Model Rúbia Ponik, for example, stated that she was always a chubby child and teenager. Already the commercial manager Rosana Alves began to gain weight after pregnancy.
In the midst of so much pressure, businesswoman Renata Poskus decided to create a model day to value the beauty of each woman.
“My mother, for example, wanted to go to a graduation and couldn’t because she couldn’t find party clothes in her size… There were jokes, offenses that fat women close to me passed on”, said Renata.
“What gives me the most pleasure is seeing a woman who is feeling unhappy with her own body go through a transformation and come out of there feeling beautiful.”
Combating Fatphobia
Fatphobia is present not only in offenses, but in details, such as public transport or the unprepared work environment to accommodate fat people.
The doctor and activist of the Gorde Movement, Ale Mujica, says that the idea of the movement is to be collective, to think about rights related to health, accessibility, spaces, public transport and employability.
Fighting fatphobia is putting aside comments and attitudes that can hurt someone. Among them, avoiding identifying a person by their physical shape, not associating someone who is fat with a failure for not having lost weight, and avoiding terms such as “cute” or “biggest”.
Eliana Chican has always had a hard time finding clothes for her ex-husband and her son, both in size and style. For that reason, she decided to set up her own plus size store.
Understanding that all bodies have their beauty and that no one needs to be held hostage to standards is the way to move towards a more plural society.
“I am the rúbia today, weighing 95 kg, happy, who thinks she is beautiful, who dresses well, who puts on makeup not for others, but for me… This self-love that I have ends up transcending, people realize this and even end up finding myself beautiful too, which I never thought would happen”, concluded Rúbia.
Reference: CNN Brasil
