These Embroidered Antidiet Messages on Instagram Are Bold and Necessary
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I love scrolling through my Instagram feed lately as I've recently started following tons of body-positive, antidiet, HAES (health at every size), and intuitive-eating accounts. It's a breath of fresh air to be bombarded with messages about eating nourishing food, accepting my body as it is, and not trying to shape it into some unrealistic size.
As a fellow crafter and artist, I immediately fell in love with so.many.somethings and her self-described "angry feminist" account. She does something which I only just heard about: craftivism (it even has its own Instagram tag!). She uses the peaceful and delicate art form of embroidery to share strong and necessary messages. These are bold and badass!
When asked what inspired her to make them, she told me, "I wanted to be able to talk about my experiences as a fat woman and how diet culture has impacted my view of my body and my self-worth. I can find it hard to confront problematic or concerning views from loved ones, colleagues, or just strangers regarding diet culture in real time." She added, "The embroideries are a way for me to speak my honest feelings without fear of repercussion or conflict. The response I have had from followers has been phenomenal. To connect with others that have had similar experiences has been the biggest gift."
She gets her ideas from everywhere: from her personal life, her loved ones' experiences, what's happening on social media, or society as a whole. "There's so much to be said about diet culture and how it's surrounding all of us," she said.
Curious to know how long each one takes? I was, too! She explained, "It really varies, but often not very long, maybe a few nights after work or a few hours on a weekend. Most of the time I am so filled with rage about a particular topic so I prioritize the message rather than the quality of the stitch."
After they're done, she hangs them all around her house as a reminder to herself. "There is something comforting in waking up in the morning and seeing a message that reminds me that I'm OK and worthy and that's what the embroideries seem to do."
Scroll through to see some of my favorite designs.
"Growing up I believed that the BMI (Body Mass Index) was a true measure of my physical health and perhaps not so consciously, my worth as a person!"
"This one goes out to all the 'progressive' (fatphobic) fashion labels that are more likely to make clothes for animals than clothes for size 18 bodies and up."
"Fat people are so often used as the punchline. See: every sitcom and movie that features characters in fat suits (New Girl, Friends, latest Avengers film, Insatiable, etc.) and most characters fat actors are made to play (unhappy, lazy, food crazed, socially inept, etc.). F*ck it all."
"This is your daily reminder to stop calling fat women brave."
"Growing up I remember if I was told that my outfit was really flattering I would feel intensely happy. Unpacking that now I can see that what I would hear in that word is 'you look smaller than what you are' meaning 'you will be loved and accepted because the smaller you is the better.' What a sh*tty thought for a young person to have in their minds. It blows my mind that this word is still used confidently in the body positive community today. F*ck Flattering - your body does not need to be altered."
"You have unconditional permission to eat every doughnut you like."
"These companies can kiss my entire arse. They do not care about us, they care about our money and use our internalized fat phobia and shame about our bodies to convince us that we need to change. Your body is perfect how it is right now as you read this."