The holidays are often hard on our bodies. They can bring how we look, our shape, what we eat and how we move under extra scrutiny, both internally and externally. Grandpa George serves up a big hug and a comment on your weight after not seeing you for a year on Christmas. Or there’s the work colleague who skips lunch to ‘save room’ for the holiday party that night. Or we’ve all likely made a comment about deciding to be ‘bad’ when we reach for a second slice of pie. Body and diet talk is the sea we swim in. It’s impossible to escape and we’ve come to accept it as normal, true, expected, deserved and at times well-meaning. And yet it is actually none of those things. Our bodies, what we eat, how we celebrate, our health–are all deeply personal things, that have no cookie cutter fit and no matter what are always enough.
In May, we launched the inaugural Every BODY Belongs in Bozeman initiative to bring awareness to the importance of having a body inclusive community. We believe that every body deserves respect, care and nourishment–no matter what–and that we all need this reminder even more at the holidays. We also know we’re all looking for tools and tangible ways we can build a society where EVERY body belongs.
We’ve created the Every BODY Belongs Holiday Pledge to help you support your body and others this holiday season. This pledge is for anyone–individuals, families, friends, book clubs, business owners, teammates. It is for everyone. It can be just for you or you can share it far and wide. Maybe you have a family member that you expect to be pretty triggering and this might be a tool you can share with them in advance. Use this however it fits for you.
We invite you to join us for the Every BODY Belongs Holiday Pledge. This holiday season (and always):
- I won’t comment on others’ bodies or my own, in positive or negative ways, even when it feels well intentioned or complimentary.
- I won’t comment on others’ food choices or my own, in positive or negative ways.
- I won’t talk about my diet, lifestyle change or any other food or body changes I’m personally making or recommend those to others.
- I commit to self compassion towards my body, my food choices and the body and food choices of others.
- I commit to respecting all bodies no matter what.
This might seem like an easy thing, but it’s actually pretty hard. Remember all you can do is your best and that you’re on a journey of relearning. This is radical work. Diet culture and fatphobia are everywhere. But know that every time you skip talking about your friend’s weight loss or you choose not to describe yourself disparagingly for enjoying a festive meal, you’re helping to change how we show up for all bodies in our culture.
Building a world that truly cares for and respects all bodies will help us all, but it’s especially important to those whose bodies experience the least amount of privilege. As Lindo Bacon says, “When some bodies are held up as examples of what not to look like and who not to be, all of us suffer. It creates a culture of judgment and rejection, which leads to a world of hurt and shame.”
