Today’s Diet Culture IRL is brought to you by fatphobic doctor’s visits.
I recently went with my partner to the doctor, and the first thing to greet us in the patient room was an old-fashioned scale – you know, the metal one that looks like a weird sort of torture device, and right next to that, a giant poster of the BMI (or Body Mass Index) chart with advice to “just lose weight today” by a certain amount. Which I won’t even go into, because that “certain amount” is BS, and the fact that I even had to look at that chart is BS.
Like any person who has given up on dieting for good, I did the only thing I could think of while we were waiting for the doctor to show up. I decided to Google “Why the BMI is trash.”
As a fat person, I have been oppressed by a mathematical equation that was never intended to be, and is not in any way, an actual measure of health. The BMI is racist and bullshit, and a ton of folks have spelled out why that is online. To name a few:
- Top 10 Reasons Why the BMI is Bogus (NPR)
- Debunking the BMI (Center for Body Trust)
- The BMI is Bullshit on (everydayfeminism.com)
- Why BMI is a flawed measure of body fat, explained by an eloquent 14-year-old (Vox)
- A new study just totally debunked the BMI scale as a measure of health (Hello Giggles)
- There’s a Dangerous Racial Bias in the Body Mass Index (Newsweek)
- The Body Mass Index on Maintenance Phase
I will note, some of these articles may make mention of numbers, so if you’re in a healing space, take care of yourself when sorting through some of these.
All of this to say, it feels like a constant uphill battle just to get preventative care. Knowing when I call to make a doctor’s appointment, I have to advocate for myself, knowing when I go, I will have to deal with fatphobic BS, constantly being told I need to shrink myself to survive. It’s honestly exhausting, and when I do all these things, like advocating and speaking out, I remind myself I could maybe be helping someone else by bringing these triggering subjects up. I realized after going with my partner to the doctor that I haven’t been in years. It’s so easy for me to push it off, because I know when I go it’s like running uphill with every question and request.
I always think about getting some sort of pep talk before I go to the doctor and after I am done seeing the doctor. One of my dear friends Rachel and I kind of have this unspoken pact that we can always call and talk to each other with visits, and honestly, just knowing someone else is there and cares makes all the difference.
I am proud to say I finally made a preventative care appointment after years of not going, and while I am terrified of all the things that will come up and come up for me, knowing I have support is going to make it a whole lot easier. You, listener, deserve to be listened to and cared for when you visit the doctor, and so do I. If you haven’t seen the doctor in a while like me, I hope this can be a gentle nudge to take a visit, and know we are here for support before and after too.
Your anti-diet bestie and ally in all fat-acceptance things, Coleen.
This segment was written and recorded by Coleen Bremner. Listen to episode 303 of Find Your Food Voice for more.
