All About That Bass: Fat Acceptance and Its Place Among WLS and Healthy Life

brownblonde
on 9/15/14 12:55 pm

So have y'all heard that song "All About That Bass"?  It has such a catchy tune that I had NO inkling of an idea that it had anything to do with weight until someone told me it was all about glorifying being fat.  So I've jus****ched the video and if we go off the assumption that it is about accepting your weight, or as this person suggested, about being proud of your weight, what does that mean for us?

 

Even though I have made the decision to have surgery and now live my life behind enemy lines, masquerading as a thin person, I am ULTRA protective of my former fat self.  I don't know that I will always be thinner, and god knows I would have NEVER lost weight for good, no matter the desire, the sweat, the hatred of my body, society's dictate that I hate my body, packaged foods, telling myself no, doctors telling me no, ugly clothes--no amount of supposed "self discipline" or disincentives to being fat were ever going to change the fact that my body sucked.  It didn't work right.  I will tell you that to this day I believe my metabolism is shot, meaning that I have to eat wayyy less than everyone else just in order to maintain a semi-decent weight.  And that's with the help of WLS!  Without it, I would've needed god-like self-discipline to have eaten as little as I need to lose weight.  Combine that with the fact that I was unnaturally hungry and it always ended in failure.  I felt bad about failed diets, I felt bad that I could never shop in stores everyone else did, I felt bad that I was reminded on my weight EVERYWHERE from movie theaters, to sporting events, to classroom desks.  This was the story of my life.  Feeling bad about myself for something I could not control, no matter what I tried.  I went on my first diet at 9 years old.  I remember the disappointment of not being able to find Easter and Christmas dresses in my size, or Halloween costumes.  Of having to shop in the "husky" boys section.  

Society pushes a more and more false image of women--NO women look like the women on magazine covers, not even the women they portray, who are usually airbrushed.  Look at models, at tv shows, musicians, etc. etc. etc.  It's all about being thin.  If society's portrayal of the image of health, beauty, and everything good could have done anything for my weight, it would have.  There are PLENTY of disincentives for being fat.

So sorry, I digress big time.  

Does this song send the wrong message?  That was the point posed to me.  The point was that:  the video shows some 400lb. dude dancing around, giving off the idea that it's great to be fat, nothing wrong with it, and you can be happy and fat and unhealthy.  

I certainly don't think I'd ever be one to think I should TRY to gain weight or TRY to eat myself into full-blown food coma, I can see the desire to just be okay with myself.  Maybe being fat isn't a positive trait, I could maybe even concede that.  But why does it have to be bad?  Any worse than any other affliction people deal with?  And even if this song was supporting being fat, so what???  There are so many influences trying to make underweight look attractive.  We are bombarded by images of things we can never attain.  I think that's far more damaging.  I think there's just still a lot of ignorance out there as to what fat people face.  When people know that it's a medical issue, and not merely a behavioral issue (of the "you fat lazy slob" variety), then I think we will begin to make strives and start to work out solutions instead of blaming the victim.  

        
Kelly Jean
on 9/15/14 1:02 pm, edited 9/15/14 9:29 pm
VSG on 04/08/14

I Totaly love that song and i actually heard about it right here on OH on a post that Step did about a month or so ago!!!! Omg I love it!!! If you have seen the video it show 1 man who is quite large however the others are slightly over weight really just a bit plump or voluptuous! !! And it's really  just about wanting  all people to love themselves no matter what skin your in!!!! Small medium or large and yes x large also!! I love it !!!! :-)

♡ Kelly

  

danoielle
on 9/15/14 4:22 pm

So, my issue with the song is her reference to "skinny *****es" and "silicone barbies".  I think if you are going to write a song and claim that it's about body acceptance then it should be about accepting WHATEVER KIND OF BODY YOU HAVE!!  I felt sexy and loved myself at 340lbs and I feel the same way four months post surgery at 235lbs.  I know people who struggle to gain weight and struggle to lose.  I know very few people who are actually comfortable in their skin- fat, skinny or in-between.  I think the song is catchy and has a fun tune but I can't encourage body shaming of any kind.  I think that the best line to take away is "Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top".  I wish the rest of the song reflected that sentiment! 

Allison L.
on 9/16/14 3:15 am - Berkeley, CA

I have heard of this song, but not actually heard IT per se. I'll have to remedy that.

Acceptance really is the hardest thing. Obviously I couldn't accept my body or my health at 227 pounds and five foot zero, or I wouldn't have had this surgery. That said, it never has been or will be my place to condemn someone else for their weight and/or health -- skinny, fat or in between.

        

pattinavcohen
on 9/16/14 6:42 am
VSG on 08/13/14 with

This is my favorite song right now! I did not take away that she is shaming skinny people or glorifying heavy people. I just think that she wants people to accept themselves. She mentions PhotoShop and "silicone barbies" because those things are not real. I believe she wants people to just love themselves "from the bottom to the top."  

    
linison
on 9/17/14 12:04 am
VSG on 10/13/14 with

The song is about body acceptance.  The reference to skinny *****es is put forth as a joke, right before that magic line "every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top."  The reference to stick figure silicone barbie dolls seems to me to be more about the pressure to go through things like surgery to make yourself fit the 'ideal.'  

 

I have to say I think the song is potentially pretty empowering, as is the video.  I remember being a size 18, healthy and fit, and in love with myself and my body.  The reason I'm pursuing WLS now is because I am not healthy or fit, and no amount of dieting and exercise plans over the last two years has been able to get me back to healthy and fit.  I can't get pregnant and stay pregnant at this point in my life, and that depresses me more than anything.  I'm pursuing VSG so that I can do everything in MY power to make my body work properly to have healthy babies and healthy me.  

Okay there was my digression.  I think it's possible to be overweight and really healthy.  More power to the dancer in the video, and to people like Whitney Thore ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz0CCP8Mdj0 ).  Rock your bass.  Actually, what is that bass?  And why no treble?

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