We live in a fatist culture. Whether it is magazine covers showing impossibly thin bodies, discrimination on dating websites, or people looking at me in fear as I enter the buffet line, society is bigoted towards the overweight. Even my own heart.
I’ve grown up expecting these kind of attacks from the outside world and have worked with others in the fat acceptance movement to change society and win over hearts across the world. So imagine my shock when I realized this campaign would have to start at home.
And by home I mean my body because I am typing this from my hospital bed after doctors informed me I suffered a heart attack which they say is because of the fact I am massively overweight.
My own heart hated fat people so much it tried to kill one. Me, specifically.
This isn’t just a theory- a medical professional explained to me in great detail how my heart reacted so badly to living in a fat body that it would rather suicide bomb me and die than live. He encouraged me to appease my heart by losing weight through a combination of diet and exercise.
Well I don’t negotiate with terrorists.
There is nothing wrong with being fat. You should have whatever body you are most happy with, no matter what shape or size that ends up being and we should not judge others who choose to have a body that differs from our own. If my heart wants to be taut and muscly, that is its right. But how dare it try to push its view on what the ideal body type is by trying to fucking kill me.
Despite my attempts to teach my heart about body positivity, I know longer feel safe having it in my body. Which is why I decided I will be getting a heart transplant from an overweight man who died in a car accident. The doctors told me his heart has no attempted murders on its record and has a ton of fatty tissue around its body, so I know it won’t try to fat-splain to me like my current heart did via its very personal attack on my life.
So the next time someone tells you that fat shaming isn’t a real problem and doesn’t hurt anyone, come to any emergency room in America and see all the hearts out there attacking our fat brothers and sisters for the crime of simply being a different shape and size than the norm.