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There's a thought leader that tons of librarians love, but all I can think of when I see them is how, at an event I attended, they talked emotionally about their weight loss as a turning point in life. Enduring that as a fat person made me feel so gross, worthless & loathsome.
Of course people's bodies are their own, as are what they decide to do with them. if someone wants a smaller body, that's their business. but when you are a featured speaker, and you choose to present your weight loss to a group of people as the event in your life that finally
let you start "living", you're saying, perhaps not explicitly, but implicitly, that a body like mine is an impediment, and that impacts me, even if that wasn't your intent. People hear that and either consciously or unconsciously think, "If that person did it, why can't this fat
person sitting next to me do it, too?" Here's the thing: bodies change, sometimes through effort and sometimes just because bodies change--over time, bc of illness, etc. Treating one type of change as a triumph and another type as a failure is incredibly dangerous and damaging.
People should be aware of this hurtful language all the time, but ESPECIALLY when you're on a stage, as a supposed expert, being PAID, speaking to a large, diverse group of people. You have a higher bar to clear and you need to do better. Don't profit off of hurting other people.
