I know that people are curious about why I decided to start this blog now. There are lots of things that have contributed to this being the time to take action. The most significant being an incident that occurred recently in a job interview.
It really does not matter where the interview was or who was on the interview panel. Discrimination against large bodies happens time and time again.
I was told I was the frontrunner in the competition for a job. That was exciting. The first interview was a preliminary one and was conversational. It went quite well.
The next stage was presenting to a panel of folks. I spent a good amount of time preparing and went beyond what they were asking. How did my presentation go? I am not sure.
The reason I am unsure is that two of the panelists spent most of the time staring at my stomach and struggling to pay attention. The third gave me no eye contact at all during my presentation.
Is it possible that my presentation was lacking and in the end I was not the correct candidate? It is possible. Not likely though. They can't know if I was the correct candidate because they did not attend to the presentation.
After struggling to keep the incident "right sized" in my world and not internalizing the fat phobic oppression, I decided to speak my truth. I wrote them a letter. I shared my observations. I needed to.
See sitting idly without taking any action only supports the existing oppressive structures. Inaction allows business as usual and silences those of us who are being injured by phobic practices.
So I am challenging the hegemony that exists. I am telling my story here and to people when it is appropriate to share. I am making connections to previous experiences and asking people to share their own. And I am going to dig about in theory and discourse to find moments of connection and clarity.
Because things cannot continue as they are. Staying silent on this ism allows all the others to continue to grow and fester too. I want to be a part of transformation.
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