The Post-weight-loss Body: Skin

(NOTE: I have a lot of complicated, possibly un-feminist, conflicting reasons for choosing to lose weight. My personal thoughts about why I lost weight are indeed interesting things to discuss, but this discussion is not about that. This is about the body I now inhabit, a body that about 3 years ago was 60 pounds heavier than it is today.)
In 2007, I was clinically obese. I am now approximately 8 pounds away from obtaining a healthy BMI rating (by the way, the BMI is not an accurate measurement of health ). I lost this weight by following the Weight Watchers eating plan and exercising regularly. I did it the “right,” a.k.a. socially accepted, way. Yet my body is still not “good enough” by popular standards. And this fact adds to the monumental amount of evidence that in this society, with this level of objectification, when we devalue women’s lives and focus instead on their bodies, “good enough” does not exist.

My stomach sags. My upper arms sag. Let’s not even talk about what this weight loss has done to my breasts. In a world where weight loss was actually an issue of health, these would be badges of honor for those who undertake this incredibly hard task. Someone with the “wings” would constantly receive compliments about how hard they must have worked, how accomplished they must feel, etc, etc.

But this is not a country that is concerned about health. This is a country that is concerned with beauty. This is a country that, as it is today, has a vested interest in keeping the hierarchies just as they are.

The answer I usually get when I talk about my post-weight-loss body to acquaintances is, “Well, you could get surgery.” And usually that is followed up with some kind of justification of plastic surgery for those who have lost weight, and a discussion about how they think Biggest Loser contestants have probably had skin removal surgery (which I would be willing to bet they have).

And this is key. We DON’T see an accurate depiction of post-weight-loss bodies. We see the perfectly taunt Biggest Loser contestants. We hear Star Jones revealing to Oprah that she got a boob job after her weight loss. We get the message that even if you put all you have into doing everything naturally possible to fit that size-2 image of perfection, you cannot reach it. Your body is there for aesthetics, you see. You need to be cut up so that the evidence of your effort isn’t there. We’ll gladly take your money in order to slim you down, carve you up, sell you that diet, that make-up, those jeans that get smaller and smaller every year.

Because as long they pretend weight loss is a “health issue” while trying to get rid of the post-weight-loss body, those at the top of the hierarchy make another dollar. So patriarchy, take a good hard look at all this skin. It’s not going anywhere.

[This is nowhere near the end of my thoughts on this issue. Coming soon: “The Post-weight-loss Body: Envy”]