Throughout the recent readings in this class, we learned a lot about the underrepresentation in support for disabled individuals and sick individuals. I truly want to see an impact on the support system we can provide for these individuals. They shouldn’t have to find a way around their daily living needs; they should have support groups that can give them the proper support they need.
The connection I made over these past weeks between this underrepresentation and the topic of bodies is that our generation has always been quick to judge and never accounts for those who actively struggle to lose weight. Let alone, bodies should not weigh or look a certain way. But have you ever thought that the same people making arrogant jokes about bodies have never considered that the individual could be suffering from a terminal illness or even a condition that prevents them from being able to normally lose weight? The reason I brought this up was because recently on TikTok, a popular influencer was receiving a lot of hate for losing weight so fast. She was accused of either being a part of DV or having an eating disorder. No one gave her the benefit of the doubt that she could be suffering from an illness. After she had reached her lowest, she announced to everyone that she was diagnosed with cancer. The radiation therapies, treatments, and medicine caused rapid weight loss. After the announcement, the whole internet had switched up the comments made about her. Why should someone have to physically announce or tell anyone what illness is causing changes in their body? Why are we so quick to judge? I truly hope society can change and instead be a support system, whether it’s a popular influencer or an average person.
Social media should not be a space for you to judge others, whether you know them personally or they are influencers. It does not give you the power or the right to do so. We never know if a comment left by you can emotionally affect someone’s life permanently. Always think twice before making a snarky comment.
Unruly Bodies 
I never understood why people demand to know every little detail of people’s personal lives. I think that despite social media becoming an all consuming aspect of people’s day to day lives, it’s still treated as a non consequential thing, resulting in people not really taking the comments they make seriously, even when they have a real life impact.
While I wholeheartedly agree with what you’ve said here I think your example has the potential to lead us to a dark place. Not everyone or every situation has to have an out of control cataclysmic answer that defends their behavior (in this case appearance). I think too often we resort to that line of thinking, which while I think is effective in changing behavior (unneccesary comments) it does little for our thought process. Sometimes someone can just look like that. Sure it can be an active illness or period of stress, sometimes it can be an act of choice or lack thereof. I can’t even quite graspn what I’m trying to reach, but the internet has a strange way of enabling behavior based on a weird sense of moral superiority and I think it sucks 😦
This is an incredibly important thing to understand about weight loss – it’s not always good, and it certainly isn’t always purposeful. I struggle with gastritis, and because of it, I lost 40lbs within the span of a few months. It wasn’t healthy weight loss; I physically couldn’t keep my food down. It was hell for me. But I remember my mom’s response, “At least you’re losing some weight.” Why is weight loss due to illness suddenly a good thing when the person suffering is fat? Why do people feel the need to go out of their way to comment on someone’s weight loss or gain, or their weight in general? I think weight is an incredibly personal thing. One can choose to be fat or stay fat, and sometimes they can’t have that choice, and the same goes for being thin.