No, I'm not thinking of the curse word.
Or the disgraceful word used for gay men by bigots.
I am thinking of the word that we hear every day. We hear it used by friends and family, by educated people, by compassionate people, and by people who are simply just used to saying it.
The word is fat. And this blog post is all about calling us out on the use of the word (and more specifically on using it as a judgment).
That girl is a fat _____. He is so fat he ___ ___ ______.
I recently saw a photo on Facebook posted by someone I know to be loving and compassionate. The photo was of an overweight person and came from a website of "funny" pictures. The text was nothing to laugh about. I was totally bummed to see the photo, especially knowing the person who posted it.
Our words affect people. Our words hurt people.
I don't ever want anything I say to hurt my voice for the voiceless. People stop listening when the same person speaking about animal rights or human rights also makes fun of or judges people.
And the bottom line for me is that I never want to be a person who puts others down or belittles another person. Ever. I want to be the person who embraces each persons humanness and light.
Now that you have read this, be on the lookout. Do you hear it as much as I do?
Thanks for reading!
I'll admit, I've caught myself a couple of times saying less than kind things and then I feel like the lowest of the low afterwards. You're right -- we constantly have to make sure we're actually being compassionate to everyone. :) Beautifully put.
ReplyDeleteWell said. I appreciate your life giving awareness. Far too many people are ignorant of the dis-ease created by deprecating words. Thank you for reminding me to be vigilant of the world around me.
ReplyDeleteBeing someone who has fought morbid obesity for 20 years (bit was not fat in high school), I appreciate this post. I just had gastric surgery and it has already changed my life for the better, but it's sad that in the end this was the only real help I could gdt. And I basicallly had to become a cripple to get approved for surgery. This country has additional issues in that they want to find one magic bullet to cure obesity. Just like cancer, there are many different forms and causes of obesity. Until that is recognized, we will continue to have problems.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I'm ashamed to admit that I have been mean and cruel in the past.....but I always seemed to justify it by saying; " It's o.k. because I'm a big girl too...." Yeah, right. Not OK.
ReplyDeleteI hear it a lot, but I also hear so many other nasty words carelessly throw around that maybe too many of us become immune to its power to harm.
Great post! I love reading your blog! :D
Your blog is so wonderful! Another great post. That F word is so horrible. I noticed how often I used it about myself and how negative it is.
ReplyDeleteSince I became vegan I started paying more attention to my own words and phrases about things...compassionate thinking leads to compassionate action.
You guys are the best! :)