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we have to raise our voices or else we’ll forget about each other. issue #1: doctor doctor, gimme the news i got a bad case of wanting to learn more about the social construct of health #catchy
The Purpose of Social Justice Work
Hi, I’m Dr. Rachel Kallem Whitman! I’m an educator, advocate, and writer who has been shacking up with bipolar disorder since 2000.
The “Dr.” is silent. The bad jokes are loud.
Reading and feeling are my two favorite things. Especially when it comes to conversations about health, mental illness, disability, fat acceptance, and how amazing my dogs are. The purpose of this sporadic newsletter is to share resources, get people talking, overwhelm you with dog photos, as well as shamelessly plug my first book, “Instability in Six Colors,” which (tentatively) will hit the shelves December 2019.
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I love my fat body and that is an act of rebellion
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to talk to, and with, an incredible audience about health, fatphobia, and sanism thanks to Inside Our Minds, a kick ass radical mental health non profit here in Pgh. I’m excited to keep the conversation going so let’s cut to the chase and cut the carbs (just kidding #cakelife)!
Health. Picture it: Thin people eating kale, wearing expensive athletic gear, going to yoga, and meeting their soulmate at a kombucha bar. Mental health. Picture it: Thin people eating kale, wearing expensive athletic gear, going to yoga, and meeting their soulmate at a kombucha bar without any psychiatric medication rattling around in their $68.00 yoga mat bag. Is this really what health is all about?
Let’s break health down:
- Health determines who we value and who we don’t.
- Health is a tool. With righteous health on our side we think it’s justifiable to judge, label, and fix people who we deem broken based on our own criteria — often without their consent.
- Health is a form of oppression.
- Health as we know it is bullshit.
Health holds a lot of meaning — it weighs heavily on all of us — and I really want to chew on this topic (I’m hilarious! And I’ll stop). As a society we need to rewrite how we define health and acknowledge that health is a social construct. Health isn’t just about what you weigh, what you eat, or what you look like, it’s complicated. And I challenge you to question how you think about health and chow down on some new ideas (I can’t help myself!) Here’s my argument:
1. Health is anchored more so in shame and morality than avoiding mortality.
2. Health is a commodity and a form of currency.
3. If you can afford to be healthy — or more importantly LOOK healthy- we value your existence.
During the workshop I shared the covers of two health magazines because they are great examples of these ideas in action. We walk by these sales pitches all of the time but we don’t typically take a critical look at what they’re selling and why it appeals to us. It might be tough to scope out the covers in depth (blinded by my sequins, I know) so I’ll sum them up — which is pretty easy to do because most health magazines follow the same formula. For men, health is about working out, making money, and having lots of heterosexual sex. For women, health is about flat abs, skin care, and flowing tresses (I dry my hair by sticking my head out the car window so I’m striking out). Basically, we tell and sell women on the idea that health and beauty are one and the same. And it is no accident that the covers feature two white people. Because damn, do we love our white people! Health, whiteness, and privilege go hand in hand and it’s such a deep part of our cultural consciousness that we think it’s logical, it feels comfortable, and we don’t question it.
Health magazines — and the construct of health overall — use racist, sexist, fatphobic, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, heteronormative, and classist ideals to tell us that our bodies are not good enough. We’re taught that being healthy should be a top priority but we’re sold messages that promote unrealistic goals. According to these health magazines in order to be a coveted cover gal/guy we need to be white, thin, able bodied, rich, heterosexual, and adhere to gender roles. Not really attainable for the majority of the population! But we’re pressured to be “healthy” because we use the construct of health to control people — especially marginalized bodies. WE tell you your body is broken and WE will fix you. WE will change you. WE will control you. Your consent doesn’t matter. You don’t get a choice. WE know what’s best. And who is “we” exactly? I think I do a great job unpacking this is in my article, “Hey Forever 21, can I trade my diet bar for a cupcake.”
Spoiler alert: It’s the patriarchy! Oppression is what it does best! Health truly is a complicated construct that is inextricably entangled with eugenics and has serious societal ramifications. Health is a tool and we need to be careful how we wield it. We need to ask ourselves who we’re really helping and who we’re hurting when we make health hard to attain and associate health with morality.
To learn more please check out the reading list below.
One of the first things we think of when we talk about health is… FAT PEOPLE! Terrible, lazy, no good fat people (And yet, I am fabulous, industrious, and valuable — all 230 pounds of me. Radical I know). Fatphobia is the dislike or hatred of fat people which is such a core part of our cultural consciousness that we feel justified spewing hatred at people we don’t even know. We just know they’re fat. When health is a virtue being fat means you have less value. And the bigger you are, the less value you have — which means we bully, abuse, and even murder fat people with the belief that health is on our side. Cue the fatphobic righteous!
An excellent and downright disgusting example of dehumanizing fat people is captured in a clip from Joe Rogan’s radio show/podcast which I’m assuming is called, “I Like to Yell and Waste Your Time! Tantrum!” Brace yourself for humanity going down the drain: “Joe Rogan on the Controversial Cosmo Cover” starring Joe “Garbage Person” Rogan and Insecure, White Hate Monger Guy #2. Unlike Rogan, Tess Holliday — the model they are referring to who is featured above- is a positive presence who fights for body acceptance and representation one sexy photo at a time. She was actually one of Time’s most influential people on the internet! Holliday refuses to apologize for her beautiful big body which results in death threats on the daily. Hey Joe… do you see any connection to your hate speech…?
I am not ashamed of my crazy ass
When we talk about health we also have to talk about mental health and mental illness. We really like compartmentalizing the brain vs. the body but it doesn’t do us any favors. It actually makes it really hard for us to respect and protect someone’s personhood when we reduce people to parts that can “break.” There are so many societal misconceptions when it comes to mental illness — or more importantly — how we treat people who are mentally ill. You’ve heard this language before — mentally ill people are dangerous, worthless, and they’re just not “one of us.” This othering isn’t just practiced by bigots, but is viciously enforced by systems of oppression that make living with a mental illness in our society sometimes more challenging than the illness itself.
The fear and hatred of all things mentally ill, including the popular practice of using mental illness as a scapegoat to explain away violent acts carried out by sane white male terrorists, is known as sanism. Examples of sanism are frequently broadcast in news narratives that misunderstand, misrepresent, and further marginalize mental illness as well as other forms of media where individuals who are mentally ill are demonized, ridiculed, and robbed of their rights.
Here’s an example: pop star Bebe Rexha’s song “I’m a Mess” features her dancing around in a sexy straight jacket with sad sorority girl makeup to match. Last time I was hospitalized there was significantly less zombie dancing and more forced medication. Times they are a changing! I wrote a post awhile back ripping this music video to shreds but somewhat recently Rexha came out as having bipolar disorder. Does this change things? I don’t know. You tell me!
Believe it or not, I don’t know everything! To learn more about fatphobia and sanism I recommend the following books and learning more about the bad ass women who wrote them:
1) “You Have the Right to Remain Fat” by Virgie Tovar
2) “Shrill” by Lindy West (which is also a Hulu series of the same name)
3) “The Collected Schizophrenias” by Esmé Weijun Wang
4) “Wishful Drinking” by Carrie Fisher
5) Oh and of course watch this Lizzo video because why wouldn’t you?
Knowledge is power:
1) Everything You Know About Obesity is Wrong
2) How I Learned to Challenge Fat Discrimination in Healthcare
3) Stigma in Practice: Barriers to Health for Fat Women
4) Get to know NAAFA
Movers and shakers on social media: Who to follow!
And here’s what’s happening in Pittsburgh (if you don’t already live here you should, Pittsburgh is the best and I don’t even like sports!):
1) Meet the people working to bring body positivity, inclusivity, and accessibility to the Pittsburgh health scene
