Vanessa Marin (therapist/content creator) reacts to comments by Clay from Love Is Blind, condemning his fat-phobic entitlement while shifting to a nuanced therapeutic point: partners should focus on changes in a loved one’s relationship with their body (how they feel and behave), not on size/appearance. She offers example language to check in supportively: frame it as concern for their relationship with their body and ask how you can support a happier, loving relationship with their body.
Yeah, but what if I do get, like.
I'll tell you. I'm like, ad get in that motherfucking joke.
You would not talk to me like that.
I would say if you. If you were out of shape, I would tell you.
That way, though, you.
You will be determined to go. If I said it that way.
Clay is getting dragged all over social media for those comments, and that's understandable. What he said was gross, entitled, misogynistic, fat phobic. But I want to talk about something a little more nuanced. What do you do if you see your partner's relationship with their body changing? Notice I said their relationship with their body, not the size or shape of their body. Bodies are meant to change, and your partner doesn't owe you their body looking the same way, especially not over the course of a lifetime. But what if you notice that their relationship with their body is changing? Like, let's say they used to have a really joyful movement practice, but they haven't been doing it. Or they're eating a lot of foods that they know are going to upset their stomach. This doesn't have anything to do with weight. It's. It could be just as likely that your partner is restricting their food or over exercising and actually losing unhealthy amounts of weight. So if that's the case, I do think it's appropriate to say something in those kinds of situations. Here's how I would say it. As someone who loves you and spends a lot of time with you, it seems to me like your relationship with your body is changing. But I just wanted to check in with you and see if there's anything I can do to support you in having a happy and loving relationship with your body. Phrasing it like that makes it clear to your partner that you're not talking about their weight or the way their body looks, but rather how they feel about their body.