In 2022 alone, we’ve heard arguments for why math, proper grammar, monkeypox, and even Daylight Saving Time are racist. The list continues to grow in unimaginable ways, and now, TIME magazine is getting skewered for an article this week that adds one more eyebrow-raising item.
In a feature published Wednesday, TIME ran a piece based on a discussion with history professor Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a self-proclaimed “scholar, writer, teacher, and activist.”
She's out with a new book next month titled "Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession," and had a discussion about her work with TIME staff writer Olivia Waxman.
Opening the piece by questioning how exercise trends in America went from "reinforcing white supremacy to celebrating Richard Simmons," Waxman asks Petrzela to detail what surprised her the most in her research.
Petrzela explains:
It was super interesting reading the reflections of fitness enthusiasts in the early 20th century. They said we should get rid of corsets, corsets are an assault on women’s form, and that women should be lifting weights and gaining strength. At first, you feel like this is so progressive.
Then you keep reading, and they’re saying white women should start building up their strength because we need more white babies. They’re writing during an incredible amount of immigration, soon after enslaved people have been emancipated. This is totally part of a white supremacy project. So that was a real “holy crap” moment as a historian, where deep archival research really reveals the contradictions of this moment.
Twitter users couldn't help but laugh.
Honestly, I want them to keep pumping articles like this out to eviscerate every remaining shred of their credibility and perceived legitimacy.
— ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) December 28, 2022
It doesn't anger me at all. It's so goofy I consider it satire.
You have to laugh at it or you'll go mad.
— ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) December 28, 2022
Paging .@TheBabylonBee, they are stealing your content 🤣
— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) December 29, 2022
*takes off glasses, Jeff Goldblum voice* My God…. https://t.co/UIy02aSbAX
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 29, 2022
