Beth Ditto Weighs In On Fashion’s Warped Health Crusade

If there’s one word that’s become an antonym for fashion, it’s fat. For every Crystal Renn or Toccara Jones who proves that style isn’t limited to those in the single digit sizes, there’s a Julian MacDonald who declares their presence “a joke.” {Daily Mail}

In recent years, among rising obesity numbers in the US and several other countries, fashion has cloaked its fear of fat in faux concerns for the health of a nation. Beth Ditto, the plus size lead singer for The Gossip recently commented on the assumption that skinny equals healthy.

“I’m not an unhealthy person and I feel like one of the most tiring parts of being fat and being proud of it is… you do a lot of proving yourself all the time.

“It’s really interesting to me that people will look at a thin person and go, ‘That’s a healthy person’. I want to go, ‘Come open my refrigerator and look and then let’s talk about what you think is so bad’.

“To be thin and to stay really thin, sometimes… some people literally do coke all the time. Some people smoke cigarettes instead of eating. That’s crazy. But that’s ‘okay’ because you look healthier.” {Contact Music via Jezebel}

Hear, hear! For one, when did fashion magazines decide to compete with Fitness or Health? Fashion magazines are there to promote fashion, no? We can’t find a single instance of a doctor prescribing a pair of Louboutins or trip to Marc Jacobs  to treat any kind of ailment. Judging health based on appearance isn’t always easy, even for professionals. That’s why doctors conduct tests, to assess things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels that can’t be determined from a quick once over. Sure, overeating and not exercising are generally unhealthy. But a thin person with a high metabolism can be just as guilty of these unhealthy habits as an overweight person, in spite of the fact that they don’t outwardly show the effects through excess weight. They can also suffer similar health problems without ever appearing “unhealthy.” Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and all kinds of potentially deadly health problems aren’t reserved exclusively for people who are overweight.

As Ditto mentioned, there are plenty of unhealthy things like drugs and smoking that can cause a person to stay thin. Certainly, carrying a large amount of excess weight could be the result of unhealthy behaviors like poor dietary choices or lack of exercise. It doesn’t mean that the star with the coke problem is in any better shape than a heavier person because she maintains a low weight. A naturally thin person could be healthier than someone of the exact same size; among two overweight people, one could be healthy and the other unhealthy, and unless you were a medical professional, you’d never know.

Poor and good health exists at many places along the body size spectrum, but it’s really time for fashion to stop wrapping the fear of fat in fake concern for well-being.






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