Sled Racer Uses Her Dogs To Show How Absurd Body Judgment Is

Sled dogs as body-positive icons? Here for it

Remember Blair Braverman, the woman who races in the Iditarod and wrote hilarious, viral Twitter bios for all her dogs to introduce them to the world ahead of a big race? She’s back at it on Twitter and has written another viral thread, this time using sled dogs to perfectly illustrate why body positivity is so dang important no matter what your body looks like or how it works.

“Y’all, having sled dogs has been so good for my body image. And not because mushing is a joy-filled, physical outdoor activity, although that’s true. It’s actually something much simpler than that,” she writes.

“I grew up learning that all bodies are different. Okay, yeah, that’s true. Whatever. All bodies are different. I get it.”

She’s right. All bodies are different, and that’s an easy thing for people to repeat back, but without really understanding or internalizing what that means. Because when you think about it, yes, we all know that all bodies are different. But that doesn’t stop us from thinking some bodies are better, whether that be the thin ones, the athletic ones, or the able ones. That’s where Blair’s sled dogs come in.

Blair’s experience with all her different dogs helped her to finally internalize that message. Here, this is what she means.

She explains how all of the different dogs have different needs for their different bodies. They’re all still great sled dogs who do similar jobs, but they have different advantages and struggles because of their different bodies and that’s just how it works.

This point is illustrated with a photo of Blair’s dog Grinch, who, you may remember from her dog bio thread, “has a significant overbite and his limbs are fitted together like off-brand LEGOs.” That’s his body. It’s very different from any other dog’s, but he’s still a great sled dog. Are you starting to get the point here?

This part is important. Blair and her team don’t love the dogs any more or less because they have different bodies. We shouldn’t love someone any more or less because of their body’s differences.

They are what they are. They’re all different. They’re all valuable. They’re all equally worthy of love.

They’re all magnificent.

Excuse me a minute, there’s just something in my eye. OK, no there’s not. This thread has me downright teary-eyed because for some reason, it’s so much easier to understand the concept of body positivity when we’re talking about dogs than it is when we’re talking about people. Why is that?

It’s time to accept that all people have different bodies, to stop acting like some bodies are better or worse than others, and to see that all bodies just are. They are, and they’re different, and that’s fine.