## Part 7

At the beginning of this project's launch, students voted on the subjects they would like to have lessons about. In that vote, the most requested topic was 'lichaamsomvang, vetfobie en dieetcultuur'. Because there is a lot of stigmatization surrounding this topic and everyone thinks they know what's healthy and what's right, you often see hate online for people that are bigger. With this in mind, it is no wonder that the number of children with eating disorders is increasing rapidly. Researchers believe that every 62 minutes, someone dies as a result of their eating disorder. It might be something you or someone close to you is struggling with, and therefore we're offering a trigger warning on subjects like body image and disordered eating.

Please note the following: these are not your usual lessons on how being fat is bad and unhealthy. Being fat is not something that always can be, or needs to be fixed and it is not always a simple fix with diet and exercise (you will learn more about that later). Even if you have learned/always thought that it should be criticized or avoided, the point of this part is to also show you that even in disagreement, a person should still have basic equal rights (like proper healthcare and accessible basic necessities). It is also intended to offer you some historical perspective on how we came to see fat as bad. The stigmatization of fat people has not erased their existence, because even if everyone would eat and exercise the same, there would be differences in sizes and shapes. Comments about someone's appearance, weight or habits should be reserved at the invitation of that person and between them and their doctor.

One of the privileges that we don't often talk about is thin privilege*. Just think about the following situations from the perspective of a petite or straight-sized person:

- going into a clothing store, you will find clothing in your size
- going into a clothing store, you will not have to pay more for the same item
- going into a clothing store, you will find trendy and fashionable items
- looking at the TV or in ads, you are more likely to find yourself represented
- looking at the TV or in movies and books, characters are more likely to be good/funny/attractive/important to the story (research shows this happens!)
- going into a public place like a pub, the seats will fit your body
- going into public transit, the seats will fit your body
- people are more likely to assume you are healthy
- going into a doctor's office, the conversation will be centred on finding the root of your issue before ever/even talking about your weight
- your chance of being misdiagnosed is a lot lower (research shows this happens!)
- you will not be discriminated against in the workforce based on your weight alone (research shows this happens!)
- you don't worry (as much) about eating in public for fear of staring

*these problems are enhanced when adding other factors/intersections like being of colour, disabled, queer etc.

These are all examples of how fatphobia is ingrained in our society. Fatphobia is a term that is pretty self-explanatory, but it refers to the fear of fat people or fatness itself. In a modern society where there is a lot of misinformation or one-sidedness on fatness, it is normalised to not want to have anything to do with fatness and think of it as bad. This is also where diet culture has found its origin. However, this fatphobic message hasn't always been the case and is often untrue or unnuanced, to say the least.

This topic will be split up into two. On one hand, we will discuss beauty standards and superficial features that also tie racism to fatphobia. On the other hand, we will talk about how health is measured and the science that is behind it.

Beauty Standards

Beauty standards and ideals have changed drastically over the centuries and across continents. Some examples of beauty ideals include the "heroin chic look" for women, the palest skin possible for Asian people, being fat as a sign of wealth in African countries and so on.

You're going to try and find examples yourself. Write down your answers to the following questions.

1. Research and find at least 3 different beauty ideals in history. Write down what the beauty ideal is (i.e. a small waist and a big bottom, big lips etc.). You can choose to focus on either female or male presenting bodies. If you struggle to answer this question, think of some of the most popular celebrities and beauty icons and how their appearance influences people.

2. Now write down what the context for 3 beauty ideals you have found is (i.e. is it only popular in a certain country? Who is this beauty ideal for?)

3. Now describe how those 3 beauty ideals are obtainable (=haalbaar). Who can follow this beauty ideal? Who cannot? Why?

Beauty ideals go hand in hand with a subjective opinion of what is beautiful and what is ugly. Knowing this, there are a lot of industries that play into the idea of fixing someone's problem by selling them a product or service. This explains why the beauty industry has an estimated market value of over 503 billion US dollars.

Create a table with 4 columns.

1. In column 1: think of a list of physical features that are considered imperfections, ugly or flawed. Write down as many examples as you can.

2. In column 2: after every list item from question 1, write down a product or service that promise to 'solve the problem' of the imperfection.

3. In column 3: if possible, mention the consequences or side effects of using these products and services.

4. In column 4: write down your opinion. Have any of the products or services you could find actually worked on a large scale and in the long term? Explain.

As mentioned before, there are ties between fatphobia and racism that go back to colonial times. You will learn more about this by learning about a specific woman in this task.

1. Look up information on Saartjie Baartman (or Sarah Bartmann). Take notes on what you can find about her life to write a summary. (One link to help you get started).

2. When reading about Saartjie's life, it will become clear that white women with smaller features were not pleased with the attention she was getting. How is this negative comparison still apparent today? In other words: what criticism do Black women still face?

3. Go to this website and take notes on the origin of the body-positive movement. Write down information that is new to you.

UK Health System Report

Read pages 3, 5 and 6 (numbered in the document) of this report. Answer the following questions.

1. What does the report think the effect of social media use and online advertising is?

2. What is said about specific groups of people including women, people with disabilities and transgender people?

3. What is the difference in funding between general mental health research and eating disorder research?

4. What is said about the use of BMI?

5. How effective was the Obesity Strategy?

6. How are Black children negatively impacted by the NCMP?

7. Why is it important for the adverts online and offline to be more diverse?

8. What suggestions does the report make in regard to The Online Harms Bill?

Social Media discussion

1. Go to https://www.instagram.com/p/CIQMZoTJZeb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link and watch the video. Then read the different slides and their contents. Discuss this in class.

2. Go to https://www.instagram.com/p/CPDzurcDttl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link and watch the video. Look up some background information on BMI and discuss this in class.

3. Open the PowerPoint below and discuss these items in class.

Fatphobia and dietculture.pptx

Goals Watching and Listening: 1) Ik begrijp wat mij verteld wordt, wat iemand ergens van vindt. 2) Ik begrijp de hoofdpunten van een discussie, een gesprek over muziek, acitiviteit, onveiligheid op straat, milieu. 3) Ik volg de presentatie van een klasgenoot. 4) Ik begrijp instructies van mijn docent. 5) Ik begrijp films over vertrouwde onderwerpen, documentaires en hoofdpunten.

Goals Reading: 1) Ik vind relevante informatie voor een project. 2) Ik begrijp persoonlijke gevoelens en wensen van vrienden of iets dat gebeurd is. 3) Ik begrijp instructies. 4) Ik begrijp specifieke informatie, de hoofdgedachte van een artikel, een jeugdroman of songtekst.

Goals Speaking and Conversing: 1) Ik kan iets uitleggen en redenen geven, toespraken houden over leerervaringen en gelezen teksten. 2) Ik kan verslag doen van een leerervaring, verwachting of ambitie, of een verhaal dat ik bedenk. 3) Ik breng een standpunt over en geef commentaar. 4) Ik uit gevoelens en reageer op gevoelens van een ander, geef mijn standpunt/mening/commentaar, leg een probleem uit, stel oplossingen voor en reageer op standpunten van anderen. 5) Ik geef en volg aanwijzingen en toelichtingen.

This project was made by Dženana Camić MEd, from De Nieuwste School, Tilburg, the Netherlands.