Yvette Nicole Brown: Reframe the way we talk about bodies. We are more than the shell
Yvette Nicole Brown spoke to Yahoo for their It Figures body image series. I like It Figures because they take a different approach to body image. Like the points that Yvette brings up in her discussion. When she was diagnosed with diabetes, Yvette and her doctor looked at weight loss as part of her treatment. In 2014, she began losing weight to manage her diabetes and has been very successful in keeping her numbers normal as a result. But because she’s an actress, most people assumed her slimmer figure was for vanity. That’s the thinking that Yvette wants to change. She wants people to think about bodies in relation to health rather than shape, because that’s what’s more important.
Yvette Nicole Brown made headlines in 2014 when outlets started to cover her weight loss as she began to appear publicly in a smaller body. Despite the attention that it garnered, the actress maintains that the change was never about her appearance.
“I am not a vain person, I never have been. So my weight loss was really about health,” she tells Yahoo Life. “It was interesting when I would get on the red carpet and people would go, ‘Well, how much have you lost?’ And I would go, ‘I don’t know how much I lost. But I know my A1C numbers are amazing,'” she says, referring to numbers that measure diabetes, something Brown has openly battled. “Because that’s what it’s about.”
“I know that I’m in an industry that focuses on the waist size and pant size and whatever, but I don’t have to participate. And I’ve chosen not to participate,” Brown says. “I think that it’s important that we reframe the way we talk to people and allow people to talk to us about our bodies. We are more than the shell.”
“The greatest thing is that my diabetes numbers are good. So every time I prick my finger, and I’m normal or my diabetes is under control, it’s a win. It’s a better win than fitting into any size jeans ever could be,” she says. “It’s not about a certain number on a scale and it’s not about what someone else thinks of how you look. Because you know you’re feeling good, you know that your heart is pumping good and that your numbers are good. There’s something about health no matter your size that is just golden. Being healthy is what gives you a long life, not thin thighs.”
I really appreciate what Yvette is saying. She tweeted about weight loss compliments and how, once again, they are not always helpful. There will always be those who never understand this point because we are so brainwashed to believe thin is ideal. It’s not and what’s going on behind the loss may not be anything that person wants mentioned. My rule of thumb is to treat it like wondering if a woman is pregnant: if you don’t know, don’t ask unless she brings it up.
I appreciate Yvette’s point about knowing her A1C numbers rather than her weight. As someone who went back to the gym for reasons other than weight loss, there really is payoff when you hit those goals. I don’t know what number I am looking for on the scale and can’t afford new pants. But I went on a steep hike last weekend and not only did I not have any trouble scaling the hill, but I also wasn’t sore the next day. That’s something I could not have done this time last year. Yvette is working on the It’s Bigger Than Me campaign to eliminate the stigma surrounding obesity. She’d like people to be able to discuss it and treat it like any other condition. I agree with her, it’s not fair that we deem certain diseases acceptable for public discussion and others are relegated to backrooms and hushed tones. But that goes for the medical community as much as it does the regular public. I hope this campaign is getting doctors on board because there are a lot who do nothing but shame people battling obesity.
That part. I lost weight because I was diagnosed w/diabetes. I was literally SICK and changing everything so I could LIVE and people were like: What’s your diet tips, skinny?
I don’t know, don’t eat yourself to diabetes so you have to watch everything you eat? That’s a start. https://t.co/ZXj92ncYjy
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) May 6, 2020
Photos Credit: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon, and via Instagram
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