Who Looks "Active"?
A photo essay about assumptions
Pop quiz: Which person in the photo below is the most active?
What about in this photo?
What about this photo of a hula hoop class? Who is most active?
Or this photo of crowds at a theme park. Who is the most active person?
It’s a trick question. You don’t know, and neither do I.
No one can tell someone’s level of physical activity by looking at them because being active isn’t a look, it is a behavior.
I got all of the above photos by searching for ‘diverse group of people'. But what results come up when I search for photos of ‘active people?’
Thin people playing sports.
Thin people doing yoga
Thin people running on a beach
Thin people jumping at sunset (why??)
Do you see the issue? All of these images of “active people” are thin, white, able-bodied and mostly young. And yet! We know that being active is a behavior, not a type of person. It’s literally the meaning of the word. Here it is in the Oxford English Dictionary:
Active: “A way or style of life: characterized by outward action”
Here are some more photos of active people, being, you know, active:
Ice skating
Hiking
Rock climbing
Teaching exercise classes
I had to go looking for each one of those photos, and I only knew where to find them because I’ve intentionally curated a social media feed of fat* people like me who love being physically active.
Being active is a human impulse, and yet the visibility for fat athletes and exercise enthusiasts is limited. We know there are a lot of barriers that keep fat people from feeling confident about being active, like clothing sizing, the fitness industry’s obsession with high intensity and fears of experiencing hate in person. I’ve written about those, but there’s more to the story, especially when it comes to the lack of images online showing people in fat bodies being active. I’ve got another article brewing about that question in particular, so stay tuned!
Until next time, consider this your invitation to be active in the body that you are in. Because the world needs your energy, your movement and your joy!
*I use fat as a neutral description, like short or tall.
Such a simple but valuable exploration of how ingrained diet culture/fitness culture is in so many people.