So I found this old sign which had blown into my yard and decided to re-purpose it.
Okay no… no I didn’t. I saw it on the side of the road and decided to steal it *ahem* take it down as a protest to hate speech. But to be fair, it wasn’t just any ol’ weight loss ad; it was a weight loss ad for children. No, just… no.I’m not exactly surprised, but I am seriously disturbed by weight-loss advertisers turning their sights on children. The obesity epidemic scaremongers keep crying “but think of the children!” and the diet industry is obliging.
The parents who fall for these ads are not bad parents per se. They just want the best for their kids. They want them to be happy and healthy, and they have been fed the line that weight loss is the only way to achieve it. If you repeat a lie often enough, you start to believe it.
This is what’s happened to us in regards to diet culture: lie, rinse, repeat… and repeat and repeat and repeat until you’re making 60 billion dollars a year and everyone properly hates themselves enough to want your products. But the people hating themselves include children, not that the diet industry seems to care. It’s practically rubbing its hands together, seeing green.
So I parked down the street a couple of blocks and walked down the highway to take it down. I’m not sure if what I did constitutes vandalism, theft, or both, but I couldn’t let this slide.
Despite being an outspoken activist on many topics, this was actually quite anxiety-inducing. Not least because I’m a fat woman with bright pink hair walking away with a diet sign (currently blue, though I don’t think that makes me any less noticeable). Conspicuous much?
Even worse, while I was trying to do this without anyone noticing, I hit a wrong button on my key chain which set off my car alarm. Since I had never had my alarm go off, I wasn’t quite sure how to shut it up, so I spent way too long hitting buttons trying to turn my alarm off while drawing plenty of attention to myself.
I managed to get the sign in my trunk and drive off without being arrested and thrown in jail for life (that happens, right?). By the time I got home I decided that I would repaint the sign and put it back out. I had a hard time coming up with a phrase that was short enough to fit on the sign, but in honor of the holiday season (read: diet and body hate season) I decided on “Give the Gift of No Diets.”
I spray painted the sign black with white letters using a spray paint for plastic to ensure it would stay on properly. Then I found myself a busy intersection (at the turn to shopping centers; perfect placement for the holidays) and stuck it in!
Yes, this caused a good bit of anxiety too. Who’s looking at me? What are they thinking? Fatty with an anti-diet sign? Yeah, eat up fatty. Of course you don’t want to diet, etc., etc. I just tried not to look up, and reminded myself that those thoughts are exactly the ones that we’re trying to change.
And into the ground! Immediately I had some calls agreeing with me and some shouts of thanks! No mean or hateful comments (though I don’t know how long the sign will stay up or if someone else will decide to steal it). And better yet: I have photo and video evidence of my crime (and yes, it is indeed warm enough in NC to be wearing a T shirt).
Happy Holidays everyone! Stay away from those diet scams and make your New Years’ resolution to just love yourself even more!
No comments:
Post a Comment