Plus or minus – Style – Kommersant

“Kommersant Style” understands what is good about the new Disney cartoon and why Taylor Swift was wrong in her latest video.

Last week, Taylor Swift released a new video for the song “Anti-Hero”. Immediately after the publication, users on social networks began to accuse the singer of fatphobia – discrimination against people who are obese and have problems with being overweight. Supporters of body positivity felt that a fragment of the video, where the artist condemns herself for being overweight, could injure some viewers. Eating disorder specialist and body positivity blogger Shira Rosenbluth tweeted that the clip “reaffirmed that looking like us is everyone’s worst nightmare.”

Harmful word

In the music video, the performer stands on the scales and sees the inscription “Fat” (“fat” from English) instead of numbers. Her alter ego stands nearby and looks accusingly. In her defense, the singer said that in the past she suffered from an eating disorder and almost brought herself to exhaustion, and the new video is the personification of her “terrible scripts and obsessive thoughts.” Nevertheless, a few days later the video was edited, removing the inscription “Fat” on the scales.

Users criticizing the singer wrote that Swift has no idea what real problems people with overweight face. For example, as bodypositive blogger Ekaterina (@ekaterinaxiii) writes on her Instagram, “Shrink as much as possible so as not to take up much space. In public transport and airplanes, hold the other hand with one hand, hugging you, so that, God forbid, interfere with someone.

A persistent stereotype has formed in society that overweight people do not have enough willpower to lose weight. This is not true. Currently, enough evidence has been accumulated that the nature of obesity is complex.

One of the most important evidence was the consensus of an international group of specialists in 2020, including Russia. Their announcement to stop stigmatizing obesity resonated in large part because of the juxtaposition of scientific evidence with misconceptions in society. For example, the causes of obesity include genetic, epigenetic, nutritional, behavioral, endocrine and other factors. Diets, sports, stomach reduction surgery are simplistic ideas about how you can lose weight. In her Body Neutral Zone Telegram channel, clinical psychologist Yulia Lapina gives various examples: “Sometimes weight gain is due to stress in important areas of life (illness, moving, divorce, financial difficulties, etc.) there is no other way for a person to cope with life (and of all the self-destructive patterns, it is overeating that poses no threat to society, but it is these people who are under enormous social pressure, and other patterns, for example, dangerous driving, alcohol, drugs, are sometimes also romanticized).

According to the latest data, scientists propose to consider obesity as a chronic disease that requires a clear policy that prohibits discrimination based on weight in the legislation of different countries, as well as updated treatment and diagnostic protocols in medical institutions. To begin with, respect and empathy are needed. Margarita Arzumanyan, dietitian, gastroenterologist and author of the Telegram channel “Daughter, what did you eat”? writes that “to successfully treat obesity, you need to treat the patient like a human being – without prejudice, without prejudice, without stigmatization, respecting his feelings. It is important to focus on improving health outcomes and quality of life. And not just weight loss.

back side

Finally, the opposite example of Taylor Swift’s video is the release of the Disney short film “Reflection” with a plus-size heroine. Ballerina Bianca tries to overcome body dysmorphia and self-doubt. The short film garnered a lot of positive feedback, such as “I needed this cartoon at 16 before I quit ballet because I couldn’t be the fattest girl in the class anymore” or “this is an important message to the younger generation who may be struggling with self-acceptance “.

Daria Bogomolova