How Diet Culture Steals Our Power
To begin with, it’s good to have an understanding of what “diet culture” actually is.
I like Christy Harrison’s definition which you can read here, though to summarize:
Diet culture is a set of beliefs held by the popular culture that…
worships thinness
equates health and moral virtue to one’s body size
elevates (or demotes) one’s social status based on appearance
demonizes certain ways of eating
oppresses individuals in proportion to how far away they are from the cultural body “ideal”
There are many ways these aspects show up in our society, here are a few examples:
Laying heaps of praise and positive comments on people who have lost weight
Remaining silent when people gain weight
“Before” and “after” pictures
The vast majority of actors, models, and social media influencers whose bodies look like the “ideal”
Products and advertisements intended to bring one closer to the body “ideal”
TV shows like The Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover
Memes on social media that make fun of weight gain or people in larger bodies
Fat jokes and hashtags like #MarALardAss weaponized against opponents
Demonizing food language like “sinfully delicious”, “decadent” or “guilty pleasure”
Elevating food language like “clean”, “good” and “guilt-free”
Assuming one’s health-status based on their body size
Assuming one’s personal character based on their body size
Bullying, abusive, or punishing behaviour towards fat people
Dismissing symptoms, shaming, or altogether refusing adequate healthcare treatment to individuals based on body size
Growing up in diet culture, all of this seems normal. We likely are not even aware of it - it just is.
And yet - our cultural way of viewing and treating food and bodies is actually very disempowering. It hurts us. But it may not seem that way on the surface, and here’s why…
We feel empowered when we’re climbing or at the top of a social hierarchy.
Our culture is constructed based on a hierarchy. This hierarchy gives power to those at the top, with little regard for those below. It’s a structure that says “some people matter more than others”.
It’s a structure that teaches us that to get to the top we need to work hard, put in the effort, and we’ll be rewarded. And in order to do that, we need to treat other people as the competition, or even as the enemy getting in the way of what we want (or need) to survive.
When we really look at this structure - it’s cruel. It’s dismissive. It’s inhumane. It’s unconscious.
This structure was built on a collection of ideas and beliefs (not reality). It was formed overtime by those who at the time, held all the power - white, male, christian, cis-gendered, heterosexual, able-bodied people. They made the rules, they set the laws, and from these ideas and beliefs, a culture was formed.
Diet culture is a result of this hierarchical structure.
The “ideal” body we see in our culture, was formed from this old set of false beliefs. From ignorant ideas that some people are not as valuable as others based on how they look or what they believe. The subsequent institutions and professions and bodies of knowledge that exist, were also created through this lens - a racist, sexist, classist, ableist, lens.
The idea that a thin body is healthier than a fat body? Racist and sexist. Read The Bizarre and Racist History of the BMI.
The idea that thinness is more beautiful, that certain features are considered more “attractive”, or that some people are more desirable than others? Racist, sexist, and classist. Read Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings.
This hierarchical structure of our culture - takes away our power.
How powerful can we truly be if we have to shape-shift ourselves in order to be considered “worthy”? Noting that for some people, no amount of shape-shifting can ever get them there.
How powerful can we be if we have to deny our inner desires, yearnings, ambitions, morals or ethics in order to make it to the top?
How powerful can we really be if we are denying our hunger, constantly scrutinizing our bodies, worrying about every pound and wrinkle?
And how powerful can we really be if we’re taught to question our value and worth, and disregard our intuition and deeper knowing, in favour of someone else’s “expert” opinion?
Answer? Not very powerful.
When we have a hierarchical structure, our own power is diminished. It has to be, in order for those at the top to gain and hold onto power.
So knowing all this, the question remains - how do we take our power back?
This is THE question of our time.
If we go in the direction of taking power away from those who have it only to shift “who” has the power, we remain locked into this hierarchical structure that continues on.
For me, in my own personal reflections and working on the individual level - I say that we need to discover our power within.
This is a more spiritual approach, and the one I personally choose to follow. This approach simply involves me questioning all the judgments, beliefs, and opinions that I have come to hold about myself and others. It’s a process that puts me face-to-face with my inner pain so that I can heal it and move through it.
When I do that, I notice that what remains is a deeper grounding and understanding of who I am and my inherent worth. That I am able to be more open-hearted towards others as I see their inherent value and worth. From this place of openness, my decisions and actions can come not from a place of being “better than”, but from a place of inclusion and connection.
I see this as life’s work, a life’s practice. I believe that the more of us who embark on this inner work, can end up creating a new culture, - one that empowers, honours, and respects all individuals, not just a few.
And finally, to bring it back to accepting our bodies and loving ourselves, which is the core of my work - once the false ideas and beliefs we hold are questioned and fade away, we are left realizing the truth of who we are - worthy, valuable, and lovable - just as we are.
If you would like support in reclaiming your power back from diet culture, my 8-week one-on-one coaching program can help. Click here for more information.