Protein World Cosigns with Fat Shaming Barbie

The human body is subject to change. Throughout time and throughout lifetimes that has always been the case. Therefore it is not within the realm of consciousness to perpetuate a culture of shame towards the human body. I am motivated to write this post because I believe that it is never acceptable to belittle anyone for any reason. When people are taught to hate their bodies they inadvertently end up hating the self not just the body. The body is a vessel for the self to actualize dreams and achieve purpose. Never the other way around. 

Here's a brief history about my relationship with my body and how I have gained perspective and learned to accept the changes as they happen and act in accordance to how I feel, the resources I possess and the advice of a medical professional. I employ facts, common sense, and the sheer force of my convictions to make all decisions that involve changes to and within my body. My ultimate goal is to achieve optimum health and mind-body consciousness.   

Over the past six years I've gained about twenty-five pounds most of which was necessary as I came into my body as a woman. Growing up I had an interesting relationship with food. I wasn't a fan of most foods. I ate like a bird, little nibbles here and there. I wasn't the type of child that could be persuaded into clearing my plate. Food somehow didn't seem necessary to me. I didn't quite understand the body's relationship with the nutrients in the food I ate everyday. I was more concerned with its texture, color, and basically my overall preference. 

I was blessed to always have food to eat but I had an aversion to most foods and lacked a normal appetite. After puberty I began to put on a small amount of weight every year and I developed a serious uncontrollable appetite but there wasn't ever any significant weight gain to call home about. When I turned twenty, after a few years at college my body began changing. It was more than just the curving of my hips and arching of my back. I began retaining weight in my belly, thighs and butt. And a few years into my twenties I began retaining weight in my face. My diet had changed but not drastically enough to warrant the sudden weight gain or the speed with which I was putting on the weight. After seeing my doctor who ran a series of test, one in particular to check my hormone levels I found out the cause of the weight gain and I was also made aware of the difficulty of not only losing any weight but maintaining a healthy weight for my physical proportions. I'm five feet and four inches tall and my normal healthy weight for my body type is between 130-135lbs. I fluctuate between 138lbs and 148lbs and although losing a few pounds can sometimes feels effortless gaining those same few pounds back is just as effortless. 

Over the past year I've researched supplemental protein products to aid in my weight loss and building lean muscle. In my search I came across a brand called Protein World that claimed to be made from healthy organic ingredients, I initially loved the packaging, the colors, the way they send a personalized hand written card with every package. I thought, wow! There goes a company that understands their consumer and understands the value of the extra personal touch especially when it comes to the challenging nature of weight loss. I was sold! I felt like I had a new friend cheering me on in the bleachers. I did further research, looked at reviews and came  to the conclusion that when I had the opportunity I would purchase the Protein World Slender Blend System. It's not cheap so I waited some time and prioritized before I could even really afford it. I even followed Protein World on Twitter to see how they interacted with consumers on a daily basis. The dialogue has been respectful and encouraging until today when Twitter erupted in discussions over this Protein World ad. 

I personally have no issues whatsoever with the ad. Switch the seemingly fit blond on the ad for a yellow beach ball and most people wouldn't even look twice either. My issue is with how Protein World responded to the women who were offended by the ad. At least from a business standpoint, I don't know how smart it is to consign with fat shaming Barbie here on calling your potential consumer base fat!? 

The Protein World social media management retweeted and responded in agreement with an individual who made an unfavorable comment about "fat people". I am deeply disturbed that a company that benefits off of the societal pressures being forced down women's throats isn't even going to pretend, if only for the sake of branding, not to alienate their potential consumer base. I was stunned and also relieved that I saw this epic social media failure before I wasted my money on yet another soulless company who would dare consign that "fat" is an acceptable term to use in reference to human beings. Human beings who are already conned every single day into hating themselves. Because yeah... someone's body fat index is more important than their humanity. And yours too apparently. 

Society already shows favor toward this fabled perfect unicorn woman, who in all actuality does not even exist. Women are preyed on using our own unfounded insecurities as fuel. Being made to feel that our self worth is tied to everything that is other. Society sets these goals that generalize all women, with expectations that are impossible to achieve and have no verifiable fact to stand on. We are all different, conscious beings who are being stripped of our power daily simply by engaging the world whether through lense of technology or the media. What's disturbing is that although we live in a patriarchal society it's often women who will happily cut a check to debase other women and often times themselves. Woman are entitled to whatever they are willing to work for but two things should never be negotiable are your integrity and the force of your convictions. Kindness to ourselves and other women no matter how different we may be is also non negotiable. And let's be real here...If there's a woman out there that shits flower petals I haven't met her.