Some things it is A-OK to say to your doctor:

Remember, a doctor is a person YOU pay because they know a lot about bodies in general, to help you figure out whats best for YOUR body. It is still your body, not theirs! They know about medicine but you are the expert in your body. Don’t let them act like they own you. Don’t leave if you’ve still got questions, don’t stay if you’re uncomfortable, and feel free to insist on ANY information you want. 

ask questions, advocate for yourself. Be aware!!

The Tyranny of ‘the Normal’: Why the BMI has always been a hot ton of oppressive bullshit

A few years ago I was getting a pap smear. The doctor—whom I had just met that morning—had me in those cold metal stirrups and was rooting around in my vagina when she asked, ever so casually, “so, do you know what the BMI is?”

I laughed.

As if a woman who has been fat all of her life might have never heard of the BMI.

The thing is, we all know about the BMI. It’s a simple chart that measures our height against our weight, right? The number that comes out of that equation places us into categories—underweight, normal, overweight, obese.

The BMI is supposed to be a value-neutral way to assess bodies across populations.

Except that, did you know that the BMI has never been neutral?

Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1847), a French statistician, came up with the system we know today as the Body Mass Index. But Quetelet, influenced by early 19th century astronomers (!), charted human height and weight in an effort to establish ‘normality’—not health, or anything to do with medical risk at all. Quetelet believed that by constructing “l’homme moyen,” (the ‘average man’) through his chart, one could determine at what point bodies could be identified as deviant (by the way, Quetelet was also super interested in criminology and his work influenced the super shitty and oppressive fields of phrenology and eugenics). The chart shows that variances in body size more or less fall into a bell curve.

He noted in his work that artists have long used a similar way of looking at bodies: “deviations more or less great from the mean have constituted [for artists] ugliness in body as well as vice in morals and a state of sickness with regard to the constitution”. Quetelet noted from the get-go that the BMI is not understood in neutral terms, but is instead inscribed with cultural meaning.

So, Quetelet—this genius-level polymath with zero interest in health and 100% interest in categorizing certain bodies as ‘normal’ and the rest as ‘deviant’—created this nifty chart that even he knew was not value-neutral.

Then, in the early 20th century, life insurance companies decided to adopt Quetelet’s index as an indicator of mortality. The chart was a way for them to justify charging deviants—people at either end of the bell curve—more money for insurance.

You guys, the BMI is about capitalism.

Okay so eventually the medical community caught on, and studies were conducted in order to confirm that this NOT value-neutral categorization system could at least show us that some things were true about the different categories across incredibly large populations (but not at the level of the individual).

So again, a chart that was created to measure normalcy and deviance, which was acknowledged from the beginning as not being free of bias, was adopted by one industry as a way to make money, and then another as a “neutral” predictor of health risk??

Right. Okay.

Fat studies and disability studies academics have written about the BMI—and its construction by Quetelet—at length. Disability activist and theorist Lennard Davis calls Quetelet’s index “a symbol of the tyranny of the norm”. The norm, he argues, is even far more oppressive than the ideal: whereas the ideal is understood by most to be unattainable, the norm is something to aspire to, a “hegemonic vision of what the human body should be”.

Rosemary Garland-Thomson, another disability theorist, argues that the superiority of the ‘normal’ body (white, male, able-bodied, thin, etc.) appears “natural and undisputed”.

This is important. Because of the BMI, because of work by people like Quetelet, because of the way we value bodies culturally, what we think of as normal is actually just a social construction that seems natural because it has been hammered into our heads over and over again for the last 200 years. First by artists, then by astronomy-obsessed statisticians, then by money-hungry insurance companies, and, finally, by the medical-industrial complex.

Of course, it doesn’t take all this research to know that “normal” is a fucked up oppressive concept. But it was definitely fun to see the look on the doctor’s face when, still knuckles-deep into my vagina, I told her just how much I knew about the BMI.

  (Note: information from here, here, and here.)

Food policing and fat shaming at restaurants

To start off, I’ve experienced food policing and not so subtle fat shaming at a restaurant when I was heavier. It was years ago and I still remember it. Me and my ex were at TGIF, and decided to order some mozzarella sticks to start with. Our waitress actually had the gall to say, “Do you really need that? It’s fried and so unhealthy. I don’t think you should order that”. This pissed me off to no extent. I immediately got a manager and explained to him how I didn’t come here to eat just so a server can be condescending and judgmental about my order. I told him it made me feel like she doesn’t think I have a right to eat there. The manager apologized, and I told him that the waitress can pay for mozzarella sticks, and that she will not be getting a tip, and maybe she should learn to keep her mouth shut about what people order. The manager agreed and said he would speak to her immediately. I know he spoke to the waitress because when she came back to our table, it was obvious she was pissed. 

Now, I’ve lost a lot of weight, and funnily enough I am now a server. And thanks to that server bitch from TGIF, I know exactly what not to do. I take care of my diners, and never comment on what they order except to say “Good choice” or “That’s one of my favorites. You’re going to love it!” Or, “I’ve actually never had that one. Will you let me know if it’s good?” You know, basic fucking courtesy and decency to another human being.

And what bothers me is what happens when someone who struggles with disordered eating or an eating disorder has a server who makes judgmental comments on what they’re ordering? That could seriously fuck them up even more!

So, to servers out there. Keep your fucking mouth shut on what your customers order, and be fucking grateful that they’re coming to eat at your restaurant. And to the diners, if a server fat shames, tries to make you feel bad on what you order, or food polices, GET A MANAGER IMMEDIATELY!!! And don’t leave a tip, because what that server did was unprofessional and extremely rude, and maybe they’ll rethink their judgemental attitude when they don’t get tipped.

Wayfaring (seeing an elderly male with balance and prostate problems): how many times do you get up at night?

Patient: oh it’s much better now. My son is a computer nerd and he set something up in my room so I can lay in the bed and tell Google to turn on my light and my heater!

Wayfaring: that’s great! So we don’t have to worry about you stumbling in the dark!

Patient: yeah but now if I could get Google to pee for me I’d be able to sleep a whole night.

“OK Google, go to the bathroom for me.”

While there are still some of us left- PLEASE READ ABOUT FEDEX!

So most of you may or may not know, that Johnny owns a ground shipping company that contracts through FedEx ground. So that means he owns routes down here with his business partner. That being said, THIS IS A PSA FOR EVERY ONE of my friends who doesn’t quite understand how much goes into getting a package to your front door.

1. Chewy boxes are f&$king terrible. They are HEAVY AF and always break open. ESPECIALLY the cat litter. It’s a nightmare. You can buy food and supplies cheaper- check if your store does price matching to chewy. I promise you, you can find the food cheaper.

2. If you don’t receive your package that needs a signature, it’s because you took to long to answer the door. The driver has 100+ stop most days. They really truly don’t have time to wait longer.

3. The pay is great doing this but it takes a toll on your body. If you see a driver struggling to get your 100lb+ TRAMPOLINE OR COUCH OR TREADMILL (seriously!??!? A fu&$king treadmill???)package to you- HELP THEM (if you are able). Hand trucks help but packages are awkward. And if it’s raining those wheels will sink.

4. Honestly, stop ordering giant bulky things that weigh a ton. I can’t tell you what it’s like to see people struggle at a job that doesn’t pay health insurance because they contract to smaller businesses.

5. Wintertime/crappy weather sucks for drivers. Please leave your porch lights on so they can see. And know that if a driver gets stuck on your driveway or road- ITS NOT ON PURPOSE. The trucks are heavy and WEIGHED DOWN BY YOUR IMPULSE PURCHASES, KAREN. Also, take care of you driveways- let drivers know if your driveway is bad or hazardous- leave a sign on your mailbox or something. I can tell you that drivers feel terrible when this happens.

6. MAKE SURE YOUR HOUSE IS CLEARLY MARKED AND/OR your mailbox has clear numbers. They aren’t freaking wizards people. If the driver can’t find your house he/she can’t deliver your package. I’ve seen drivers become Sherlock Holmes trying to figure out addresses.

7. LOCK UP YOUR AGGRESSIVE DOGS OR JUST YOUR DOG IN GENERAL OR POST A SIGN. I straight up watched a dog be aggressive with Johnny the other day then turn around and be incredibly sweet to me. Maybe your dog doesn’t like certain genders, maybe it doesn’t like certain smells, like the smell of the countless other dogs that the driver may encounter.

8. THE DRIVER DIDNT DAMAGE YOUR BOX- seriously, it’s cardboard and it goes through miles of crap and is handled by 100 people. most drivers will try to repair damaged boxes so they don’t have to waste precious time trying to redeliver.

9.THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE. There is a difference between FedEx express and FedEx ground. Express uses actual FedEx workers. Whereas Ground uses contractors. My husband (and his business partner) is a small business owner- they buy the trucks,pay for the fuel, the maintenance, and they hire the drivers. And they pay the drivers. The scanners they use are rented. If you threaten to sue someone because a wheel got into your yard and damaged a little grass etc. then you are threatening a small business. Not FedEx. It’s not a quick payday from a major corporation- it’s the money that pays hard workers and families. That keeps local economies growing. And know that during the holidays - your FedEx driver is probably working 12 hours a day and most of them still manage to say hello and be friendly. Most of them have great memories- they remember names and addresses and locations because it’s vital to be as efficient as possible in this job.

I cannot tell you the immensity of consumerism that I see on a daily basis when I help my husband. Your house and your package isn’t the only one in the world. Please have some patience and empathy with your FedEx driver. Please be kind ❤️

Thank you all!

Lmao 😂 THAT NOISE (@animals.hilarious)

Literally any other colour would’ve been a better choice guys.

I’d like to point out that the colour red has more positive than negative meanings.

im sorry but this reply absolutely killed me

red can mean whatever the heck you want it to mean, that is never going to change that this straight up looks like they DRAGGED A BLOODY BODY ACROSS THE FUCKING FLOOR 😂

Behind the Medic: Name game

Cranquis: Hey, what’s the name of that new cardiologist?

Colleague: Dr Hartman.

Cranquis: Ok, tha– wait.

Colleague:

Cranquis:

OK, medblr, new meme. What specialty would you have to do, if it was loosely based on your name or surname? I can’t explain mine because of anonymity, but it would unfortunately have to be orthopaedics.

I would actually be a pharmacist due to the pun on my name I get constantly.

...urology…

@dxmedstudent, the surname specialty meme is genius for the anon-heavy herd that is #medblr, and I love it.

Based on my real-life last name, I would be a psychiatrist specializing in drug and alcohol rehab.

Me, too, @cranquis ! Goooooooo Team Should’ve-Done-Addiction-Medicine!

Pediatrics.

Could someone explain this? I have no idea how people are getting “their” specialty based on their real name. Maybe try using Smith as an example?

So for instance, if your last name was Hammerstein, your destined specialty might be Orthopedics. Eyer = Ophthalmology. McCracken = Manipulative Medicine.

Proctology…😦

Based on my last name I’d probably be a urologist, since my surname has to do with mining stones.

I have no idea what mine would be, since it’s a typical 10+ letter long Greek name, the first two parts of which are derived from Turkish.

But I know of a urologist named Richard Tapper.

Oh my God. Star Trek murdered a mansplainer.