20/03/2022
The venn diagram is a circle.
, , the thin white women “allies” of , and all have a history and a present of engaging in harmful behavior.
*They* are all examples of harmful, manipulative, and oppressive systems in action on the institutional, community, and individual level.
*But it is important to note that the “they” is also “we” and “us” and “I”*
And while I am still sorting all this out… here’s some of my reflections so far.
In talking this through with others in my community and in reflecting more personally as each new rapid response arises, it feels more and more clear that folks with more privileged identities work fast, organize, and respond when they have nothing to lose in their advocacy efforts.
Many multi-privileged folks in the HAES community have already divested from AND. There is little professional risk in not being a member or in speaking out against the harmful actions of the organization.
The response to ANDs anti-fat guidelines was rapid and coordinated. As it should be.
The response to IAEDP has been different. Many still feel like the best approach to addressing the racisim, anti-fat bias, and transphobia within the organization is change from within. This belief remains strong despite a long history that shows that approach fails with IAEDP and other similar organizations.
Speaking out against one of the two dominant professional organizations in the eating disorder care community that gatekeeps the professional certification that “gives authority” within eating disorder care is a risk. It’s also a financial risk to throw away all the money folks have spent ($8k or more) on the certification by either stopping the pursuit of it or by not renewing it.
There has been no ground swell of coordinated efforts to push back on IAEDP across the HAES or ED community. People are not ready to accept this risk. It’s too much to lose and our allyship does not extend to that degree of personal risk. This is not as it should be.
The response of multi-privileged folks in HAES and ED communities to reports of harm from Lindo Bacon has been… interesting. It has felt like a mixture of responses to AND and IAEDP.
People acknowledge the harm and recognize the unacceptable behavior and most are sharing that out loud. But the response was still one of surprise and little to no organizing to support the call for accountability more tangibly. Folks were waiting to be told what to do or choosing to be quite as opposed to vocal.
Part of this waiting seems like it is because we missed the parts of the message that reminded us that this is bigger than Lindo. We preferred to separate ourselves and our own pattern of harm from the pattern of Lindo. Not ready to take the risk of seeing Lindo’s actions in us and coming to terms with how this is ultimately not just a Lindo problem, but an us problem - a community problem that requires community action and change. People are not ready to accept the risk of being wrong, of doing harm, and of staying in the work and in community to make amends and do better. This is not as it should be.
But “they” are “we” and “us” and “I”.
We can’t address the harms of individuals, of communities, and of institutions without also addressing the harms of us and of I.
We have to do this work together and we have to do this work at all levels (individual, community, institutional). We have to stay in this and in community and not distance ourselves. We have to be accountable to our role in this and engage in actions to repair and change.
and thought me this.msrd and .rd taught me this
and taught me this.
And I’m still learning this. I always will be.
What are you learning? How are you acting? How are you engaging your community towards change?
