Origins of Weight Stigma #5: The diet industry

ByLindley Ashline

Why do people hate and fear fat bodies?

Weight stigma — also known as fatphobia, fatmisia, anti-fatness and fat hatred — ties into threads of power and profit going back centuries. Let’s look at one of the factors: The diet industry.

Worth $72 billion in 2020, the diet industry is one of the obvious culprits in this list. They still haven’t figured out how to make fat people thin; it’s a scam. I’ve talked quite a bit about the diet industry and its ramifications; heading to bodyliberationphotos.com and searching for “diet industry” will give you more of my thoughts.

Read more about the origins of fatphobia at bit.ly/originsoffatphobia.

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I believe that people in large bodies deserve the same rights and dignity as every other human. In my weekly newsletter the Body Liberation Guide, we dive deeper into body image, power, oppression, the beauty of fat bodies, what health looks like at every size, and what you can do personally to help end weight stigma.

[Image description: A teal square with a chat bubble graphic and the words “The diet industry.” Lindley’s logo is at the bottom.]

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Lindley Ashline

Hi there! I'm Lindley. I create artwork that celebrates the unique beauty of bodies that fall outside conventional "beauty" standards at Body Liberation Photography. I'm also the creator of Body Liberation Stock and the Body Love Shop, a curated central resource for body-friendly artwork and products. Find all my work here at bodyliberationphotos.com.

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