LGBTAitp - Part Thirteen

[cycoris]

Heliomance, you look nice.

Frozen_Feet, the problem with underweight=unhealthy, normal=healthy, and overweight=unhealthy is that it's very often flat out not true. While BMI can be said to represent a trend in a very large group of people, even that has some pretty significant criticisms, including the fact that "overweight" people tend to live longer (source). BMI also doesn't take into account any kind of variation in lifestyle or body type, many don't even have age as a variable. Especially when it comes to determining whether an individual is healthy or not, I'd say BMI is a very, very loose indicator at best. And some of what we've been taught is "healthy" or "unhealthy" may not be quite so much.

Now, as for a little rant, partially in response to Thufir:

I substituted "sexy" for "healthy" because both are applicable. I think we're led to believe that the two are interchangeable, things that look good are good, and vice versa. On top of this, our ideas of what's healthy and good are very often flawed, be it through ignorance or deliberate misinformation.

But there's also a very strong idea that anybody who isn't healthy (often as defined by society, regardless of whether/how it impacts that person's well-being) is not and cannot be sexy, sexual, or have sex.

For instance, as shown in the last few pages, anyone who is perceived to be or have been anorexic is seen as undesirable, reinforcing the idea that people have a duty or responsibility to adhere to some external standard of health and well-being, and that being unhealthy in any way is terrible not so much for the person whose health is being impacted, but for the people exposed to them.

And to tie it back in with what the thread's ostensibly about (you know, other than my butt, though thanks! )...

I think the whole "external standards of health and well-being" thing has a huge impact on how people who are trans are perceived, and the level/types of medical/psych care available, due to the prevalence of the idea that there is an external standard of health (which almost certainly includes being cis, or having the "right" combination or arrangement of parts), rather than focussing on the needs and feelings of each individual.

EDIT: To clarify, my comment about being tall and bony was both facetious and directly a comment on the BMI.

And to Serps (again!), why do people have a moral obligation to be healthy? Especially when it's "healthy as defined by current society/popular thought", but also just in general. Why do you think it's wrong or undesirable for someone to decide that rebellion or being comfortable or convenience/affordability or even simply not caring is more important to them than some facet of their health?