There is always an idea of who is allowed and who is not allowed to take up a label. This being the jaded perception provided through stereotypes, prejudices, or just judgements based on your embodiment. The idea that someone can be a fraud within the labeled community is a different type of rejection, as you are rejected by people who are like you. Labels are constraining when it’s hard to identify how you feel in relation to other peoples experiences, especially as you are not sure if you feel the same way, or if you are going to continue feeling that way. Labels are an added on identity that we as a society associate with people, when a label becomes such a defining piece of you, it limits the way in which you feel you can move within that label. 

The idea of being grounded and being you is something I’ve always found difficult to process, this being the split of mind and body in a sense. Growing up my body meant everything and nothing to me, I never liked it and I never noticed its existence aside from what it was able to do for me until people started to notice only that about me. In a world that values mind over body it’s hard to conceptualize that sometimes. It feels like the world only values your mind when your body is normal, the standard, or desirable, this in many ways translates to my experience of fatphobia.

The wealth gap in America is currently more than the wealth gap observed in France during the French Revolution. This being problematic and telling how history historically repeats itself if the lesson is not learned the first time. As money is a deciding factor of what people are willing to endure at work, this is pertinent when discussing the physical and emotional labor associated with minimum wage jobs. Within 1770s France, the French people were upset as they were starving and the french elites were afforded the luxury of food, water, and other riches. This is not far off from today as the American lower class is forced to work multiple jobs, not afforded safe drinking water (Flint Michigan), and is susceptible to food insecurity. Within the hours that individuals put in, they are forced to work in a capitalistic society that nickles and dimes the fuck out of their workers. 

Arguably the most well know women in the world showed up to the MET Gala this past week in an all black outfit with nothing but her hair exposed. This being the complete opposite of what society was expecting to see Ms. Kardashian in. As we discuss embodiment, Kim’s attire speaks volumes to this concept, as she is the face of female sexuality in American cluture. Embodiment: The expectations and constraints on how society sees an individuals body. In Kim’s case this expectation differs based upon her fame.