Our Sizeist Attitude Starts At Birth
Did we ever have a chance at having a healthy body image?
It all starts at birth
He was 6 lbs 13 oz.
It’s a number I’ll probably never forget.
I’ve been a mom for 9 months now and it’s understandable that at this time, it’s all about how much weight he’s gaining or not gaining. His weight, height, even his head circumference matters at this point.
We weigh him regularly.
It’s important at this stage in his life to ensure we track his weight because it can be crucial to both his physical and mental development. We track and track because we need to. But we also do something else at this stage of his (and other babies) young life — we make comments and remarks about how big, heavy, small, or skinny he his. There’s no intention behind these comments, good or bad. They just come out because sizeism is so ingrained in our culture and in our identity that it becomes a natural part of us.
Since birth, we’ve subject him to sizeism and body discrimination. Eventually we won’t need to weigh him anymore. Both he and I will grow out of that stage. What we don’t grow out of is the “need” to make the comments about their body and about other people’s body.
