Is Thinness Really Ideal?

Can simply being thin really make you healthier? Here's why there society's thin ideal might not be so ideal.

    It is very well known that thinness is glorified and promoted in today's societies as the pinnacle of health. In the media, it is shown as advertisements for detox teas that act as laxatives or the way that many social media influencers edit their bodies to be smaller. These seem like relatively normal things to anyone on the internet, but why is it heavily encouraged? 

Many people would say that being thin means you are healthy because you have less fat, and are less likely to get conditions related to "fatness".  This particular idea is harmful and simply perpetuates a diet culture. We must eradicate the notion that thinness always equates to healthiness to rid the world of body shaming. 

In an article by Oz Garcia, Being Thin Isn't The Same As Being Healthy, Garcia states how she has had clients who appear to be thin, fit, and ideal but have internal health issues that are normally associated with overweight people. While talking about a thin client who was diagnosed with diabetes, Garcia's client stated that "... she had never really had to think about exercising or eating healthy, that she had always been lucky to have such a great metabolism." 

In this case here, the aforementioned client had not properly taken care of their health but was still shocked to see that they had diabetes. If we look at someone overweight having these same habits, they would be scrutinized and told that they're "promoting obesity" or that "they're going to die soon". 

Now, how would thin people not be promoting unhealthy lifestyles? That's simple! Since they're more desirable to society. In Sharlene Hesse-Biber's book, Am I Thin Enough Yet? : The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity, she speaks upon the concerningly common experience of women in college having eating problems or eating disorders. 

Take the mention of Janet in this text as an example of how this college prioritized their acceptances of cheerleaders by a number on a scale rather than skill by the women. Are they serious? Hesse-Biber took note that, "All female applicants had to line up and get weighed, and if they were over the 115-pound limit, they were rejected without a chance to show their skills."

"Janet had been starving for days, hoping to make the weight cut, but had failed."

People who support and agree with the thin ideal often make the argument that thin people are simply just healthier, and being overweight is bad because of health risks such as heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. To this, I say, bullshit! While I can agree that unhealthy diets can lead to health problems, thin people are not exempt from these problems. 

If we think about the use of BMI (Body Mass Index), many people use it as a measure of health from the label that comes from it. Whether you're "underweight", "ideal", "overweight", or "obese", there will be an automatic response that comes from these labels. 

What if I told you that BMI measurements might not be as reliable as they seem? In an article by K.J Rothman, BMI-related errors in the measurement of obesity, Rothman brings attention to the problems with using this as a measure of body fat. Rothman states, "It does not, for example, take age, sex, bone structure, fat distribution, or muscle mass into consideration. For these reasons and others, BMI can misrepresent the quantity it is used to measure."

This may seem like some technical mumbo jumbo, so I'll explain a personal story of mine to paint the picture that thinness is not always healthy. 

A few years ago, I had been underweight to the point of constantly being tired, having hair fall out, and fainting from anemia. Despite this, no one ever seemed to question my health or if I was even okay. When talking about this with several doctors, there was one common response. 

"Why would you want to gain weight? A lot of people wish they could look like you.”

Every time those words echoed in my head, I would be defeated to the point of accepting my failing health because "I had nothing to complain about." After years of constantly feeling ill, I managed to ask a personal friend of mine, Faye, to help me gain weight steadily and safely. Faye was constantly eating healthy and went to the gym several days a week. I have to mention one thing though; Faye didn't look like she did these things. She was stocky and much bigger than me. You might ask, "Why does that matter?" In my eyes, it didn't but according to a vile man in the gym, it did.

"You don't belong here fatty."

After all of this, it should become clear how society's thin ideal brings about issues of misinformation and body shaming. As people, we should be encouraging healthy diets and exercise; not a body type. Take the time to reflect and think about how you may have contributed to these ideas. Have you fallen victim to this standard? Have you participated in shaming based on size alone? Now is the time to help contribute against the act of body shaming and propose the notion that body size does not always equate to healthiness or unhealthiness.