The justified...

Whilst reading this on BStu's blog today I was struck by this;

I caught the Sara Rue commercial for Weight Watchers recently and one of her reasons for needing to lose weight was not having pants she could feel comfortable.

I don't know if I'm just feeling a bit squiffy in the head but this little aside has really made me think; even though losing weight is supposed to be an overwhelming and intrinsic good. It is actually framed as needing an excuse to justify it.

Why would Ms. Rue-or anyone else- need to justify something that is supposed to speak for itself as a good thing to do? Anymore than she'd need to justify falling in love or an act of kindness?

She wouldn't say, 'I had to fall in love with my current squeeze because my heart/life/body felt uncomfortable without, or I had to be kind because my shoes hurt.

Looking at that quote again, it's as if she's saying she would continue to just be, if it wasn't for x (her clothing issues).

What it feels like is I'm finally hearing this aspect of weight loss spiel differently. I'm hearing excusing and the justifying, that was always there, but my ear wasn't quite attuned to, filtered out by old assumptions.

In general this is how it is framed, 'I'd continue to let myself be, if it wasn't for something catastrophic, painful, humiliating, uncomfortable'. It's not just, I've lost weight. And everyone just understands, that's just good, and that good, begets good and that justifies itself, positively.

Talk about hiding in plain sight.

Ironically, I've been more aware of this kind of necessity of negativity when it is less obvious such as the previous furore about dieters v (or not) FA.

I see this is usually hidden by if you don't have a reason to be thin you won't put forth the effort et al.

Fine.

But we are told that obesiteh is a veil of tears, physical, emotional, mental. On one response to a blog, someone stated that if fat people say they feel 'half dead' as opposed to be in actual mortal threat; they are half dead, and that should be respected as they are actually half dead.

We are told that some people are either so sensitive, or that's just the way their body is, that an extra 5lbs is weighing them down and making it difficult for them to get out of bed and perform their duties to the standard they would want.

So it should require no explanation for someone to wish to lose 5 or 500lbs. So why do it?

It is the constant need to disseminate the obesity persona-actually persona seems wrong, it's more than a persona. It reminds me more of the bad voodoo thing of persuading people to adopt an identity a mentality that then gives the persuader a powerful hook into the persuaded; that they can build on and invoke at their leisure.

It is turning your own mind against you and there is this awareness of it amongst those who deal in this. Perhaps it's more the desire to lose weight, via the means available, leads one down this course as an inevitability.

It is such a shame both that it has come to this and that we continue to feel this is acceptable.