Last week, Weight Watchers announced that it’s planning to offer teens ages 13 to 17 free memberships this summer. Don’t be distracted by the word “free.” This is not good news for parents or kids.
When you look at my body, there is no way to escape it: I?m fat. It?s the first thing you’ll notice about me. As much as it may make you uncomfortable to admit it, it?s OK because I have finally grown the strength to not care what you or anyone else thinks. This is my reality: I?m a fat and I am proud.
But if you had asked me how I felt years ago, my answer might have been different. You see, all through my life, I’ve been taught to hate myself and be ashamed of who I am?by family, by friends and by various media sources. I never understood how much energy my fat body harnessed, nor did I realize the outright rage, disgust and emotional warfare it provoked in others. Fatphobia was not part of my lexicon. From my mid-teens on, I tried everything to obtain social currency with my body. I’d thought that if I could obtain a slender, feminine physique with a small waist, I would be wanted and desired. I thought that people would like me and I could be popular.  My body size made me angry and sad, but most of all frustrated, as I didn?t know why people reacted to me in such a negative way. This is when, at the suggestion of a parent, I joined Weight Watchers. I was still in high school.

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