I recently posted about my work with the word “fat” as a label. I was trying to decide if I could apply it to myself, and I realized something today in therapy that made a lot of sense to me.
With gender, I’ve said for a long time that I’m not a man and I’m not a woman—I’m just me. I realized that the same could be said about my size. I’m not thin, I’m not fat—I don’t need a label. I’m just me. Even if I were considered by most people to be one or the other of those, that doesn’t mean I am.
Also, we certainly don’t need to divide the world into groups by size. We’re all valid and valuable, and we don’t need an “us vs them” mentality of any sort. Just like I don’t like “ladies and gentlemen”, both because it leaves people out and because it divides society unnecessarily, I don’t need to categorize people by size. That includes myself!
So glad to catch up on your always insightful additions to your blog Debbie. Thinking about you these weeks because I know the ending of the school year is filled to the brim for all educators. Always appreciate your inclusive and thoughtful writing. Wonder why the world and people are so frequently “sorted” into twos: liberal/conservative, old/young, smart/slow, male/female. Wondering why so many human things are described this way when it’s just not accurate.