“Do we really want to live in a society where people are denied their basic humanity if they don’t subscribe to some arbitrary form of acceptable?” (p. 2, ll. 31-32) This is one of many questions raised by Kelli Jean Drinkwater, a woman who is a self-proclaimed “confident, fat woman” (p. 1, ll. 10-11). The speech held in May 2016 confronts how and why fat people are met with multiple preconceptions about how and why they are fat on an every day basis, and that these prejudiced assumptions must stop to instead give way to a more positive and empowering message of sizeless and shapeless self-love. She confronts the popular and prevalent opinion that being fat is shameful and even argues that today’s fatshaming is a result of systematic oppression
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Although talks about body image and self-love often can be rather complex, simply because they are topics controlled by both sensitivity and various taboos, Kelli Jean Drinkwater omits those notions and begins her speech by simply diving head first into this difficult and highly delicate topic. From the very first sentence of the speech, she fully acknowledges the power of the one word around which the following twelve minutes will entirely revolve, the word fat. She then continues on to grasp these taboos even more head-on as she factually states “I’m not sure if any of you have noticed, but I am fat (…) Let’s not sugarcoat it. I am the capital F-A-T kind of fat” (p.1, ll. 4-7). The entire opening part of the speech brings up multiple stereotypical assumptions and prejudiced beliefs about fat people – or, more specifically, fat women. By confronting these right off the bat, the power immediately lies with her. Once she has confronted each of those common and generalizing assumptions, she ultimately denies anyone the chance of using those same stereotypical assumptions against her or anyone that may look like her. “Hmm, black would have been so much more …show more content…
To smoke cigarettes? To do drugs? Have these three things ever benefited our bodies in any way at all? No. Absolutely not. Do we still continue our use of these harmful substances, fully aware of the consequences they may have for our bodies and – in certain cases – potentially even our lives? Yes. Absolutely. They have the power to potentially kill us. We all know this. We are fully aware of the health risks. Yet alcohol remains present at nearly every event or social gathering for adults over the age of 18 (or possibly even earlier). Smoking, although we are now starting to learn the full effects, is even on the rise amongst younger generations in some parts of the world. And drugs, whose power to change both you and your life (or to completely rid you of it at once), has been proven time and time again. Are these three not in fact cases of actually knowing exactly what is best for your body and acting entirely against it? Promoting health and self-love is undoubtedly a universally good thing. You can, however, argue, that the “fat pride movement” is in fact promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. And, although their intentions may be good, perhaps it is not actually as fantastic as it may appear. Drinkwater’s message of positive empowerment might create an important opinion and voice for an otherwise overlooked group of people who do not feel good enough or worthy
Although talks about body image and self-love often can be rather complex, simply because they are topics controlled by both sensitivity and various taboos, Kelli Jean Drinkwater omits those notions and begins her speech by simply diving head first into this difficult and highly delicate topic. From the very first sentence of the speech, she fully acknowledges the power of the one word around which the following twelve minutes will entirely revolve, the word fat. She then continues on to grasp these taboos even more head-on as she factually states “I’m not sure if any of you have noticed, but I am fat (…) Let’s not sugarcoat it. I am the capital F-A-T kind of fat” (p.1, ll. 4-7). The entire opening part of the speech brings up multiple stereotypical assumptions and prejudiced beliefs about fat people – or, more specifically, fat women. By confronting these right off the bat, the power immediately lies with her. Once she has confronted each of those common and generalizing assumptions, she ultimately denies anyone the chance of using those same stereotypical assumptions against her or anyone that may look like her. “Hmm, black would have been so much more …show more content…
To smoke cigarettes? To do drugs? Have these three things ever benefited our bodies in any way at all? No. Absolutely not. Do we still continue our use of these harmful substances, fully aware of the consequences they may have for our bodies and – in certain cases – potentially even our lives? Yes. Absolutely. They have the power to potentially kill us. We all know this. We are fully aware of the health risks. Yet alcohol remains present at nearly every event or social gathering for adults over the age of 18 (or possibly even earlier). Smoking, although we are now starting to learn the full effects, is even on the rise amongst younger generations in some parts of the world. And drugs, whose power to change both you and your life (or to completely rid you of it at once), has been proven time and time again. Are these three not in fact cases of actually knowing exactly what is best for your body and acting entirely against it? Promoting health and self-love is undoubtedly a universally good thing. You can, however, argue, that the “fat pride movement” is in fact promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. And, although their intentions may be good, perhaps it is not actually as fantastic as it may appear. Drinkwater’s message of positive empowerment might create an important opinion and voice for an otherwise overlooked group of people who do not feel good enough or worthy