#fategories

[only-knives]

according to the medical industry, i'm morbidly obese, also known as class III obesity - the second highest stage of obesity, apparently. meanwhile, in terms of the Fat Spectrum (which is based on literal body size relative to accessibility/ableism), i'm only in the cusp between small and mid fat. above me, there are those firmly in mid fat, and then there's large fat and infinifat/super fat; there's also death fat, which is for anyone who wants to reclaim the categorization of morbidity.

i point this out because the medical industry, and society at large, has such a skewed and dehumanizing view of fat bodies. even the smallest of us are too much, and that sense of existing in wrongness and excess only gets worse the more fat you are. and i feel like straight size people have this idea that body fat is an accessory - that it can be taken on and off at will, and that fat people are simply choosing to have too much - that we're greedy and gluttonous because of it.

but in reality, body fat is a part of the human body. it comes in varying amounts in everyone, and that amount changes throughout our lives, throughout health and ability. and being part of the human body, our fat is us. by asking us to lose weight, become smaller, more palatable, you are asking us to change who we are. to literally take on a new face, because our face - the very thing most attach to our identity as a unique sign of us - is too much. can you imagine how heartbreaking that might be?

this idea of excess is similar for those who use mobility aids, and all of this a reminder that fatphobia is ableism - neither of which are ever okay or good or helpful or righteous. health and size are not indicators of morality and worth, and they certainly don't decide whether we deserve autonomy, healthcare, or access to life.

[only-knives]

Hi, I hope you don't mind this ask, I just kind of- wanted a space to verbalize some of my thoughts on my complicated feelings about my own disability. And, idk, maybe this could resonate with some other people too.

Basically, I've sort of considered myself disabled for a little while, because, well. A disability is something that impacts your ability to function and carry out tasks and activities, and my abilities to do those things is certainly impacted. But I always felt guilty for thinking of myself like that, because most of my struggles felt like they only impacted the things I did for leisure, and it felt like I was being overdramatic. Even now, it still feels weird to call myself disabled, like I'm doing something wrong.

I say all of this because it's set-up to the fact that I recently realized that I have a lot less functioning than I thought I did. I am in school, and I have good grades, which is a large part of why I was dismissing everything. But I realized that I still only take four classes, and they're all decently easy work (as in, the intellectual work I have to put into them isn't particularly high), and yet I still rarely go to a full week of classes and can't do much outside of school once I get home from a school day. I do eat regularly, but that's mostly because I'm lucky enough to still live with my very nice father who's willing to cook for me, and when he's not around, I essentially don't eat food that takes any preparation beyond "open a container".

And. It was a very strange experience to come to this realization, and instead of being saddened by it, feeling happy and lifted up. Instead of being crushed by the weight of things I couldn't do, it felt refreshing to newly recognize how surprisingly short my limits are.

Now that I think on it, I believe I know why I felt that joy. On some level, I'd already known my limits, and loathed everything they kept me from doing, but I'd never really made the mental connection that those limits were due to my disability. In addition, it felt legitimizing to my struggles to realize that there was a deeper reason than I'd thought as to why I struggle despite having an easy life. (Of course, disability isn't the only legitimate reason why someone can struggle, but it's hard to apply things you logically know to your own emotions sometimes)

So. If anyone else is still reading this, I guess what I want to say is that it's okay to be glad that you're disabled, or for your first reaction to realizing that you're disabled/more severely disabled than you'd thought to be joy. It can bring you a sense of validation to finally feel like you have a reason for struggling with things most other people seem to find easy. It isn't selfish, and it isn't just "having an excuse to be lazy" or "invading the space of real disabled people".

thank you for sharing your experience; i relate to this, too. and this kinda reminds me of how i felt about being fat. for the longest time, i felt like i was too fat, and didnt deserve to take up so much space. it lead to me having a really distorted, hateful view of my body.

but once i encountered fat liberationists, many of whom were actually bigger than me, things changed. i saw them be happy and fight back. they taught me to stop blaming myself. the fategories allowed me to see myself in relation to other fat people, instead of skinny people through BMI.

im between small-mid fat, but BMI says im morbidly obese. for a while i thought i was just comforted by the idea that i wasnt as fat as I thought i was, but that felt fatphobic to me. until i realized, it was that i realized i wasn't too much, because none of us (fat people) are. all bodies are different, and that includes size, too.

the comfort ultimately came from finally being able to look at my body and see *me* - not the skinny person i was "supposed to be." i was humanized, as who i really am. in both cases - disability and fatness - its recognizing the reality of our existence that affirms us.