I don’t often find myself in disagreement with left leaning political activists. On anything from safeguarding women, to increased security for the disadvantaged, to LGBTQ rights, they are generally preaching my same gospel. However, there’s oddly one issue which – despite their plight for equality – some don’t seem to get. I was surprised at the number of liberal, intelligent tweeters who took umbrage with the latest Cosmopolitan cover featuring plus-sized model, the gorgeous Tess Holliday.
Their argument? The celebration and adoration of a seemingly obese body may encourage other obese individuals to abandon their diets, giving them permission to remain ‘unhealthy’. Young readers may even regard Tess Holliday’s larger aesthetic as a physical goal, they warn. They, the tweeters, can’t see much difference between the latest Cosmo cover and images in fashion magazines that glorify dangerously anorexic models.
*clears throat* None of these arguments are valid, of course. Before I get started on why such predictions and comparisons are totally bogus, I’d like to make a plea for the sake of humanity.
PLEASE CAN WE STOP BEING SO HORRIBLE TO EVERYONE ALL THE EFFING TIME?
How about, instead of immediately pre-empting all the potentially scary things that may/probably won’t happen (because god forbid one person gets fat), why not celebrate the wholly positive and inspiring reality of seeing a body shape on the cover of a shiny magazine that resembles the many, not the (starving hungry) few. Why not rejoice at the thought of the eyes of millions of teenage girls; sprinkled with hope and anticipation that maybe, a day will come when they won’t look in the mirror and see all the things that scare them most in the world staring back at them. If she is beautiful, then perhaps one day, one person might think that I am beautiful too.
Unfortunately, we live in a country in whereby much of the population form opinions based on breakfast television rants and therefore, the loudest voices tend to be the nastiest. Most troubling is that such vitriolic, prejudiced hate speech is apparently acceptable, as long as it is vaguely related to ‘protecting’ our health. But here’s the thing, both science and sociology have illustrated time and time again that making someone feel shit about themselves doesn’t make for good health outcomes. In fact, it makes people more sick.
Studies have consistently shown the physical and mental health impact of fat-shaming and fat stigma to be significant, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic conditions and other chronic illnesses – independent of body weight. Not to mention the huge implications for mental health; increased incidences of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other psychological illnesses are associated with those who fall victim to body shaming and have a negative body image. In a study of 2,436 people, extreme obesity was associated with 21 times greater risk of suicidal behavior and 12 times greater risk of suicide attempts We also know that frightening, shaming or guilt-tripping people into losing weight only makes them feel more helpless about improving their health and – to put it simply – eat even more.
On the contrary, when individuals are showered with kindness, acceptance and positivity, they are more likely to engage in health-promoting behaviours than when they feel as though the whole world and its mother is pointing, laughing and calling them fat. Strange, huh? As far as I know, the scientific literature outlining the dangers of body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety and long-term mental health conditions is very much established. Actual evidence shows that hating your body – and being instructed to do so – is bad for your health. I’m yet to see a study showing a sudden spike in obesity, curiously correlated with the one month of the year that an editor decided to put a fat girl on the front of a magazine.
“PEOPLE DON’T BECOME OBESE BY FOLLOWING PLUS-SIZED MODEL ON INSTAGRAM”
Despite what the body-facists tell you, people do not become obese by following a plus sized model on instagram and admiring their physique. The roots of the so-called obesity crisis did not grow out of posters of obese singers/actors/models plastered on the walls of sycophantic children. I mean, if only it really were that simple. As Professor Gareth Leng, Professor of experimental physiology and obesity researcher at Edinburgh University told me: “People think that obesity happens when people are shovelling burger after burger into their mouths, but that’s not true at all. The reasons why people are obese and overweight are so complex and multi-factorial. The amount of excess calories it takes for people to become obese, overtime, is actually very little.
“The issue is that people’s genetics are not programmed to protect their weight as well as others. For these people, it is incredibly hard to lose weight.”
Not that they should have to of course. Does anyone have a pop at Kate Moss for smoking like a chimney all her life? There’s more chance we’ll frame a picture of her, fag-in-hand, and hang it in our bathroom, than condemn her for ‘glorifying’ a habit that makes her 15 times more likely to die. Do we tut-tut everytime Naomi Campbell graces the cover of Vogue, appalled at the celebration of her alleged decade-long reliance on cocaine and alcohol? No, because she is thin and beautiful and this – to most – means ‘healthy’.
Just like all of us, Tess Holliday may or may not be healthy. But to be considering such a question when faced with this landmark magazine cover is to be missing the point of the image entirely. Some young women who pick up this month’s issue of Cosmo will be healthy. Others will not. Either way, it’s irrelevant. This month’s issue of Cosmo is not offering a health elixir; nor does it promise to starve disease and prolong your life. And thank goodness for that – it’s a magazine for crying out loud. What it does do, however, is offer an important cultural frame of reference as per the here and now; providing young women guidance about where they belong in the world and what they may be able to achieve. In a modern age when young people are so racked with self-doubt and disgust they’re literally ripping their own skin apart, Cosmo’s power is not to be taken lightly. So, for one month, they have delivered their young readers an almighty sigh of relief. Tess’ picture does not read, ‘it’s great to be fat’. Instead, it reads, ‘it’s great to be you.’ And that cover-line could very well be life-saving.