Profiling.
It’s a nasty term today. Racial profiling. Sexual
profiling. Religious Profiling. It’s all about prejudging someone. The Duck
Dynasty brothers have been the victims of what they term ‘facial profiling’.
Just this month, Jase Robertson, a man with a net worth of $10 million dollars,
was escorted out of the Trump Plaza Hotel by a security guard who mistook him
for a homeless man. Because he wears a beard.
Profiling, prejudging, jumping to conclusions
because of someone’s appearance happens to all of us at least once in our
lives. It has happened to me a lot. It happens to a lot of women a lot. We’re
incapable of competing with airbrushed Hollywood icons and spend our lives
hearing and reading in the faces of others that we don’t measure up and it’s
all our fault.
Though all of us have weaknesses, some people assume
that because I carry my personal struggle around in plain sight via excess
pounds that I am ignorant of what to do about my size. I am not. They assume I
overeat. I do not. They assume I am unfamiliar with exercise. I am not.
I have read more books on nutrition and diet options
than people who are addicted to housewife porn. I can pronounce glucagon, can
describe a medium chain fatty acid, have strong opinions about the safety and
questions regarding HCG, and know that ketosis is a risk when you follow an
Atkins plan. I have counted Weight Watcher points, gone cold turkey from sugar
and wheat and caffeine and still kept my mind, and am not addicted to either
alcohol or Starbucks, no matter what anyone says about me. I have never smoked
or taken illegal drugs.
I am overweight. I struggle with it. I am
embarrassed by it. But I do not require the advice or opinion of anyone who has
never been in my shoes, nor will I offer unsolicited advice to others when I
have not walked in theirs. Not unless
their name is Doctor and I’ve paid them for that opinion.
I’m smarter than I look, better read than some
think, invested in my health, and tired of being profiled for my size.
I’m fat. I’m
not stupid. And I will conquer this eventually. But just for the record,
shaming people so they will try again to fit our profile preference is never
effective, regardless of the motives we insist are behind our words of ‘concern.’
You have your struggle, I have mine. Can we change
the subject now?
Well said, Eula. I sure appreciate your transparency. That takes a lot of courage! You are SO right that we all have struggles! Love you friend!!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, well I got profiled today. It's always painful, but until I realized the person used fear and shame to try to fix me - counsel me without a license - I didn't know what to do about it. Then I remembered I know how to write. I hope they know how to read. ;) Thanks, Kim.
DeleteI was with you until the part where you claim not to be addicted to Starbucks. And then I got confused! LOL Seriously, good post!
ReplyDeleteHey, I can stop Starbucks any time I want. ;) Thanks, Liz.
DeleteWell said. It took me years and a diagnosis of an actual medical issue and I still gain weight very easily and struggle to lose it no matter how hard I work (and I work very hard at it). It sucks when people judge based on a quick look. But anyone who prejudges you is missing out. Because what they don't realize is that you are truly fabulous, even if I suspect that you are a little addicted to Starbucks. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe hard part is when people offer their advice without being asked, usually under the guise of being 'concerned' for you. It's always better to listen to people and not try to fix them. That's a lesson I'm still learning myself.
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