One Fat Step For Man

waltdisneyconfessions:

“I usually feel alright with being a fat guy but when I see most Disney princes I get self-concious about my figure, even though I obviously know it’s idiotic to compare yourself to fictional characters.”

Reblogging this because I think this is very relatable and an interesting issue. It’s something I deal with on an everyday basis, the battle between what my brain and my generously sized gut is telling me.

On the one hand I am very much happy with myself; I feel good in my skin and while I don’t tend to waste that many hours kissing my own reflection, I do think I look pretty decent. However, that niggling feeling that I’m not good enough seeps through from time to time. I think partly it’s because that’s the way I grew up; I was constantly mocked by my parents and classmates for being big - which is funny, since I wasn’t even that large until later in life - and that sort of indoctrination is hard to get rid off regardless of what you know to be true. This obviously pertains to other things besides self-image, like how people who grow up in very conservative households can have problems fully dispensing with those gut reaction views on social issues later in life, despite being quite liberal-minded.


In the absolutely amazing book Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear Dan Gardner writes about this discrepancy between what we “know” and what we “feel”, using the example of “brain” versus “gut”. Sometimes the gut reaction is perfectly valid, like if you’re in a burning building and you don’t have the time to evaluate the situation so your instincts kick in and make you run out to safety. However, when it comes to modern life, we tend to need that reflex-fast decision making side of ourselves less and less. Gut reaction is basically just pure instinct and it stays with us no matter what since it is in our genes to have these fight-or-flight quick response reactions. Except instead of responding to “wow, that lion is moving towards me with alarming speed and vigour” we now respond to, from a pure Darwinian sense, pettier issues like our own reflection, or watching a Disney film.


I know that my fatness does not dictate how attractive or physically fit I am but I will always have moments when I doubt that. The key, I think, is to simple override your gut feeling and go with what you know is true rather than what you may feel. It’s not an easy battle when it has to be fought on the internal as well the external front, but it’s a war worth winning in the end. Don’t let Aladdin convince you of anything different.