"If you asked me what I was most passion about – as in my life’s work, my drive, my reason for being on this Earth – I would probably say “eating disorder recovery advocacy.” (Actually, I might say “chocolate mousse,” but in my world, the two go hand-in-hand.)
And doing good, honest, genuine eating disorder recovery advocacy means deep diving into more than just the DSM and yellowed, underlined, dog-eared copies of Wasted. It means dedicating myself completely to body image activism as a whole – because everything related to these two issues are interconnected; some of them, in fact, completely depend on one another.
And in order to paint a realistic picture of body image struggles as a whole, we need to understand how the colors interact, so to speak.
That is to say: If my bread-and-butter is eating disorder recovery advocacy, you better believe I’m invested in dismantling diet culture as a whole, including fat hatred.
So when Harriet Brown – who also (be still, my heart) wrote Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle with Anorexia – released her new book, Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight – And What We Can Do About It, I was itching to get my hands on it and was lucky enough to be sent an advance copy.
I read a third of the book in one sitting.
In fact, I’m struggling to write this article because I want to go finish it tonight. That is to say, read this book.
But within the first two chapters, Brown reminded me that there are so many important aspects about “obesity” research that the general public either takes for granted or ignores.
Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is this: Everything you think you know about “the obesity epidemic” is wrong. Because we’re being duped by a system that profits off of lying to us.
But instead of spending this article debunking “obesity research” (which you can find here, here, and here, for starters), I want to talk about five ways that power structures (namely, economics) weigh in on what information we’re privy to – and what never sees the light of mainstream dissemination.
1. Don’t Want to Talk About ‘Obesity?’ Good Luck Getting That Study Funded - because thin people never die from heart disease,etc.right? Actually becoming vegan is the best way to prevent those diseases.
2. You Can’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You: How the Weight-Loss Industry Legitimizes Itself
3. The Weight-Loss Industry Thrives Off of Diet Failures
4. Science Is Pretty Great, But It Sure as Hell Isn’t Unbiased
5. ‘Health’ Can’t Be Operatively Defined Because It’s Indefinable
See explanations @ Everyday Feminism