Unfortunately Not a Real Pony

The fact of the matter is that if you live to old age, you're likely to get fat, likely to get ugly (by societal definitions of ugly), very likely to become disabled, and guaranteed to become old.

But there are multiple generations of people who, having been fed a long stream of bigotry and "health" product advertising and so so much propaganda, believe that if THEY eat the right diet and do the right fitness regimen and buy the right products, THEY will maintain their mid-twenties body for sixty years.

And because they're convinced they will never be on the recieving end of that bigotry, they don't fight against it - they join in because they've been brainwashed into thinking it's a ~choice~ to "let yourself go" and therefore it's okay to hate people (hatred feels better than self-loathing) - and by the time they get to the point where they admit they need it (if they ever do), it's too late and no one will listen to them.

The doctor? Made zero comments? On my weight? And told me? To eat less dairy? For my high cholesterol?

The sizeism I experience is one part "how dare you eat in a way that makes you happy and make me, someone in constant misery from starving myself, feel bad about my self-destructive choice", one part "but you, person who has negative interest in dating me, ought to put in more effort to make yourself maximally hot to me", and one part "I like to pretend that I have x-ray health vision and also I'm an armchair doctor".

You spend five years recovering from disordered eating and exercise and FINALLY learn to be okay with your body, nourish it, take care of it, to look at yourself in the mirror without wanting to claw your face off.

And all people can focus on is that you're now a great big thirty year old fatty instead of the svelte (and suicidally miserable) teen you used to be.

Stores are like: One size fits all*!

*Some exclusions may apply. "All" does not include fat people, extremely skinny people, people two or more inches taller or shorter than average, people with bodies that do not perfectly conform to the gender binary, disabled people who use assistive devices, amputees, and more. See associate for shaming.

I don't "look" strong - that is, my (impressive, IMO) muscles are hidden under a supportive layer of fat.

More specifically, I look like someone who does physical activity, rather than someone who bodybuilds for the aesthetic.

Which means that people whose idea of "strong person" comes from action movies are shocked that I'm actually quite strong.

...okay, Robert Baratheon's "you got fat" is said as an insult, but... fat was considered attractive (because people assumed fat = plenty of food = rich) in Medieval/Renaissance England?

My parents: "Being fat is TERRIBLE and you will HATE YOUR BODY so you need to STARVE YOURSELF to avoid it!"

Me: "Holy crap, when I move around all of my fat jiggles together! This is AMAZING!"

Have I mentioned recently how glad I am that my body waited until after I was safely away from my parents to destroy my joints and gain weight?

Because I would not be able to handle their commentary on all the things I'm doing "wrong" to be like this.