In college, as part of a course in comparative religion, I remember a discussion of the Catholic belief that during the Mass, the wafer is transformed into the body of Christ. The professor explained that the belief is really that the “accidents” of the wafer remained the same (the color, texture, taste etc. — which always made me gag, btw) but its “essence,” its essential nature, didn’t.
As an aside, that’s the difference between feminism and girlism. Feminism says focus on the essence (admirable human qualities) of a person rather than the accidents (looks, weight, religion, race etc.).
It’s the essence, not the accidents, of all of us that should be why we are respected, admired, employed, served, loved. Maybe we need to start a new human movement called “essentialists.”
This thinking was triggered by a post on Blog Sisters by Brooke Biggs, who works for Anita Roddick who founded The Body Shop and who recently went “undercover” as a “fat person.” Her story and comments are revealing, both for her humanity and how she serves the needs of her customers.
(double posted on Humans First.)