Rant me a river

I don't like to write posts when I'm angry, but this time I will. It's about body shaming, which is a nasty thing and so infesting our culture that this post will most likely piss a lot of people off.

Background

I am fat.
There's no getting a-round that (see what I did there?) I am 173 cm tall (5'8" for non-metric people) and I weigh 120 kg (265 lbs). This means that I am fat. Over-weight. Obese. Rotund. Tubby.

WHATEVER.

1. My body is in great condition. At my last check-up about five months ago all levels where in the normal range, even my blood pressure. I can run up four sets of stairs without getting winded, and I have asthma. Now, imagine lugging 50 kg on your back up four staircases and not get winded.

I can swim 3 km in under 40 minutes, and this after not being a competitive swimmer since I was 13 years old. I can walk 7.2 km in under an hour. Before I moved to my parents' house this past Friday, I rode my bike back and forth to work every day, Monday through Friday.

But apparently, I am unhealthy because I'm fat. Apparently, I need more exercise and I need to loose weight to get healthy. Apparently, I am lazy.

2. I shower every day. I can't use perfume, because of my asthma, but I use a perfume free deodorant. I am always chewing sugar-free gum, because I am very conscious of my breath. 

Yet, when I go shopping, I can see the store clerks look at me in disgust. When they see me, they see a fat woman, and they assume I have bad hygiene. I have seen looks of surprise when I pass them and they scent no BO. Just soap and the almond scent of my body lotion. Yes, I know this is the case, because I am apparently just not smelly, I am deaf too. I've heard the clerks discussing their surprise at my lack of nasty smell.

3. I aced my national tests. I have an IQ of 115. My high school grade was a B+ average, even though I didn't open a single book my senior year. I can find connections and co-relations in basically any subject. I read Ancient Civilizations, astrophysics, and watch Numberphile because I think it's fun.

Yet, I have had people offer to help explain things to me for the most basic of assignments. I've had people talk to me like I'm an idiot, patronizing the hell out of me, while pointing to whatever I asked for. I've seriously had a librarian say "Are you sure? That book might be too difficult for you" when I asked for a book by Stephen Hawking. Bitch, I can read a 300 page novel in a DAY! Why would a book be too hard for me, when I specifically ask for it?

Boy and I on our wedding day.

Actual Topic

OK, I'm calm now.
The point of this post is this - Do NOT judge people before you get to know them. Body shaming helps no one. All bodies are beautiful. Skinny bodies, fat bodies, medium bodies. Tall bodies, short bodies. ALL Bodies Are Beautiful. The shape of the body does not equal health, fitness, intelligence, or hygiene, as shown by the studies linked below (Yes, I did my research).

Every time a child is born it is a miracle. The odds against life in the Universe are literary astronomical. At any moment, an asteroid can slip past Jupiter's pull and hurdle straight for Earth.
Only one in four attempts at getting pregnant is successful. Carrying a child to term is very hard on the body and miscarriage is always a possibility. Just reaching the age of one year old is a hardship in most of the animal kingdom, including humans.

To see an adult human being should be associated with awe at the stubbornness of life, not with disgust, shame, or prejudice. That human has faced the odds and survived them to encounter you, who also faced the odds and conquered them, at that moment in time. Meeting someone is just awesome!

DFTBA

Important links

BMI
Exercise is good, y'all.
Genetics
Fat warning, *legasp*
Because SCIENCE