Fear, distrust and hatred of the body are patriarchal values. Degradation of the flesh is a cornerstone of patriarchal thought. The psychological pathologizing of fatness and semi-starvation-triggered appetite are newcomers in the body-fearing litany of mental illness within patriarchy, a nice distraction from the dangers of patriarchal corporatehood, like pesticides and plastic residues which lead to cancers.
We have known for many years that the starving body will behave in a consistent and so predictable fashion. We have known for decades that the supposed psychological reasons for eating disorders and for fatness can be better explained by looking at the body�s physiology. And we have seen all along this timeframe that the body makes sense, the body can be trusted, there is nothing to be gained by analyzing one�s motives for eating, nor by denying one�s hungers. There is no effect from dieting except weight gain; it does not work to make people thinner. Fat people are not thin people who eat more, and fat people who are forced to eat less actually tend to become even fatter!
We have a gift that we can celebrate as we will. Our bodies are trustworthy, wise and dependable. I cannot and I would not force this gift of information upon another, but neither do I appreciate being silenced by the tired old arguments of patriarchy. I don�t have a great deal of patience, nor do I feel like being kind and gentle in my approach. And I know I honor my sisters by not soft-pedaling and sugar-coating my words.
We do not need to fear our hungers or our bodies; some bodies were designed to be fat, and fat by itself poses no health threat whatsoever. It is quite possible to be �obese� and physically healthy, just as it is possible to be thin and unhealthy. We have the gift of the ability to trust our bodies, to believe in their messages of hunger, to believe in their innate wisdoms and their intentions of survival. Those messages that tell us that fatness is somehow �wrong� are patriarchal. Those messages that tell us that we can escape the stigma for fatness if we only change our wicked ways simply serve to perpetuate fat oppression. They do not heal us or encourage us or help us in any way.