The knights in shining armor don’t want us. There are no knights in shining armor waiting to whisk us off into the sunset so we can live happily ever after. No more judgment.įor once, people would look at me because I was beautiful…instead of looking at me and thinking, she’d be beautiful if she lost weight.īut desiring something like that is pointless…because those kinds of wishes don’t come true for girls like me. If I could wish for anything in the world…after world peace, curing poverty, and getting rid of racist and homophobic assholes… We know exactly what that mirror is reflecting.Įvery tear we’ve secretly shed in frustration and sadness.Įvery diet we’ve tried, but ultimately failed at.Įvery expectation we’ll never measure up to. Maybe fat people just want to be accepted…flaws and all.Īnd maybe, just maybe-people should stop judging us.īecause every fat person will tell you…no one judges us harder than we judge ourselves. While the other half are wondering how long we’ll last before we give up and head for the nearest McDonald’s. Maybe going to the gym gives fat people an anxiety attack and causes them to give up before they even start…because half the people there are looking at us like we’re a fish out of water. Maybe fat people don’t want to go on a new fad diet or have surgery. Their mind is firing off thoughts like, ‘If she’s so unhappy, she should do something about it.’ Or- ‘If she would stop being lazy and work out and eat right, she’d lose the weight.’ And my new favorite, ‘She should try the new keto diet or get that lap band surgery.’ No one likes when the fat girl talks about how miserable she is or how upset it makes her to be made fun of.īecause deep down…the attractive, slim people are judging you for putting yourself in the position you’re in. For example: “negative Nancy” and “Debbie downer.It’s a silent battle and the screaming demon I stuff down and keep to myself…because no one likes a Negative Nancy or a Debbie Downer. Phrases that align negative attributes with women. These are common phrases that associate negative attributes with women.An example of this would be a male colleague calling a female colleague “dear” or “sweetheart,” or telling a woman who’s getting fired up about something to “calm down,” implying that passion and strong convictions are irrational in women when they likely wouldn’t be perceived that way in a man. Patronizing language (typically directed toward women). This is the use of language that patronizes and belittles female contributions.Language that presumes inherently masculine or feminine characteristics. This is language that makes assumptions about certain characteristics being inherently masculine or feminine, perpetuating the idea that women are (or should be) emotionally driven and community-focused while men are strong, competent, and competitive.This has the effect of subtly minimizing women’s contribution to society throughout history on a collective subconscious level.
For example, the phrase “when man discovered fire” brings to mind an image of a male. Research shows that when we use “mankind,” “manmade,” or simply “man” to refer a group of people (that is meant to also include women), we naturally picture men rather than women. The centering of men as the prototypical person. This looks like words and phrases that center men as the normal or prototypical human.For example: “male nurse,” “female CEO,” “working mother,” “chairman,” “businessman.” Assumptions of "normal" gender roles. These are words and phrases that express assumptions about what “normal” gender roles should be (known as “false generics” in linguistics).Sexist or gender-biased language in the English language can fall into several categories: