Every Single Diet (Even When You Don’t Use That Word) is About These 15 Awful Things.
When I was a kid (the 80s and 90s), dieting was en vogue. Intentional weight loss. Getting skinny. Finally losing the fat. Stopping the insanity. Hallelujah! There was no shame in it. If you were on a diet, you said so in public, proudly, and you made sure to use that d-word. Diet! Such a cute sound, sweet even, right? But powerful. Efficient as a razor. It carried a cascade of cultural messages and you could let them all loose just by uttering two syllables: I have enough sense to be unhappy with who I currently am (chubby, fat, plump, etc.).. I’m normal with a normal disdain for un-skinniness. I’m a real, classic girl doing real, classic girl things — (here I hear the song, love me, love me, say that you love me). I have goals and dreams and I’m going to make them all come true with my willpower, with my perseverance. I plan to be a success. To have a boyfriend, to wear the right clothes, to be in control of my life.
Back then, diet was a beloved word, really, and the start of something fabulously new — this time it was going to work.
Now, to diet has fallen out of favor. We don’t say the d-word much. It’s no longer chic — it feels uncool and punitive. So, instead of “dieting,” we make “lifestyle changes.” We make an effort to “take care of ourselves.” It’s really “not…
