In this next special issue from the Inquisitive Eater, our contributors dive into the meat of their best and worst experiences with dieting and diet culture. As writers, we are naturally vulnerable, constantly opening our minds and our hearts to new ideas, new inspirations, new muses. One of the most vulnerable topics a writer can tackle is their relationship with food.
As much as we adore all things food-related—and trust us, we do—dieting and diet culture hold too big a weight in our society to go unnoticed, undiscussed, especially in the age of advanced technology, when social media takes your biggest insecurities and puts them right in front of you on a tiny screen, and commenters viciously debate whether this person is too thin, or that person is too fat. Diet culture is an inescapable feat in the twenty-first century; if you haven’t encountered the consequences of being shamed for your weight, your size, or your eating habits, you probably know someone who has.
This topic is especially prevalent so early into a new year—the beginning of January is often riddled with resolutions to eat better, go to the gym, lose weight, and any myriad of other list items that contribute to any given person looking as society would deem them to. Often, these resolutions are abandoned with months, even weeks, because they are made solely out of self-hatred, not out of a genuine desire and hope for an improved well-being. The editors of Inquisitive Eater have shared in these feelings, too, and as creatives, one of our only outlets is to let our work do the talking, and hope, just maybe, that the right people are listening.
Thankfully, we aren’t alone in speaking up. Body positivity is a growing movement supported by TikTokers, plus-sized models, and a myriad of other influential people in pop culture—even as recently as the famous Barbie monologue people just can’t get enough of. We see this issue as an opportunity to add our thoughts—the thoughts of our editors and of our contributors—into the ongoing conversation about diet culture, but we hope and believe the conversation will not end here.
If nothing else, the Inquisitive Eater is a place where you, too, can share your story about your relationship to food—be it good or bad. This issue is a special highlight on the importance of those stories, one that will scratch the surface of the topic, and we hope you leave it inspired and secure—in your stories, in your bodies, and in your diets.
Best,
Brianna Lopez and the editors of the Inquisitive Eater
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