tw: classism

Hey! I thought I would just point out something I don’t really see addressed on this blog which is the classism around the idea of working out. Telling someone to “just work out and they’ll lose some weight” kind of centres around the idea that this person can afford workout equipment or a gym membership. I know it might not sound expensive, but for someone who is trying to save every bit of money they make? It can add up.

This idea also assumes that people can afford to give up enough time to work out. Saying that someone should “just work out”, even if it’s something relatively inexpensive like running for thirty minutes a day, assumes that someone is able to dedicate that time to working out. Obviously exercising is a good idea regardless of weight and taking time out to do that is a good idea, but telling someone who is overweight to do this completely ignores the fact that they might not have the time. A college student working a job and studying just to pass their classes or a single parent with two kids and a full time job probably doesn’t have a whole lot of time to dedicate to looking “thin”. Funny how the concern for the amount of time someone dedicates to working out is almost non existent when the person is thin or if a thin individual says they simply don’t have the time, that’s the end of the conversation.