It’s a dog whistle for “thin enough.” People who have had it with body image nonsense hear the judgment, while anyone else can say, “What’s wrong with health?” Nothing’s wrong with health. But that’s not what we’re talking about.
This phrase can be rehabilitated! Notably in contexts that explicitly acknowledge that:
- one person’s healthy weight range may differ by hundreds of pounds from another person’s;
- one’s healthy weight range may change over time;
- that this healthy weight range may even be AESTHETICALLY UNAPPEALING to lots of people;
- and that mental and emotional health are at least as important as blood pressure (or whatever else) and require (once again) different things for different people.
People make rational decisions for themselves. This cannot be stressed enough.
Reblogging not only because I beat dead horses, but because this is all awesome stuff.
Once again, this.