Maybe accepting that diets don’t work is too much for you right now. It can be a difficult thing, especially if you’ve never been critical of compulsory diet culture before or if you’ve been invested in the promises that diets always make. So let’s talk about body autonomy.

Body autonomy is the idea, quite simply, that your body belongs to you, that you have the right to make decisions about your body. Sometimes it is called body integrity. We talk about body autonomy when we talk about ending sexual violence and when we talk about abortion rights.

One of the key aspects of body autonomy is being able to make choices without coercion or fear. Compulsory diet culture violates this aspect of body autonomy.

If you want to diet, I am not going to agree that it’s a good idea. But I will not dispute your right to it. Compulsory diet culture though? Refuses to offer the same respect in return because it is founded on fat hate. Compulsory diet culture denies body autonomy.

When I say the world is hostile to fat bodies, I mean it is hostile in some big ways: harassment, medical cruelty, job issues, regular everyday bullying... Fat hate punishes people for fatness and it just gets more complicated when you deal with multiple axes of oppression.

In this context, no one gets body autonomy. No one gets to make a choice about their body free of coercion or fear. Fat hate and compulsory diet culture absolutely coerce us, leverage and trade on us being afraid.

Whether or not you believe that diets don’t work, it is in everyone’s best interest to support body autonomy and work on dismantling compulsory diet culture. This is a big systemic thing! So what can we as individuals do?

Stop performing diets in public. If you are a person who is dieting, stop talking about your diet in public. Give people who don’t diet some relief from the constant barrage of pressure to participate in diet practice. Help make the spaces you’re in more comfortable for everyone.

Maybe you think that doesn’t sound fair. Dieting has become a big social thing, after all. Consider what else you could learn about people if you weren’t bonding over body loathing!

The lack of body autonomy in our culture hurts everyone. Until we dismantle compulsory diet culture, whether you diet or not, you are not making choices free of coercion or fear.

Yeah, I know this is a little philosophical - but body autonomy is an important concept! Your body is yours. My body is mine. I don’t want to compel you to do any particular thing with your body - I just want the same respect to be extended in return. So let’s work on that!