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Fat Acceptance Movement
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Oh God.
It's posts like these that remind me why I, like xzyst, prefer a more solitary approach to life.[/quote]
I don't know what xzyst is, and I'm not sure if I'm being insulted. But the "Oh God!" is telling me it leans toward the not favourable. Carry on then!
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I don't think the author is trying to promote fat-shaming I just think she's saying "let's get real" and stop trying to normalize obesity. As she points out, you wouldn't try to normalize anorexia so why this pretense with the other extreme? Both are detrimental to one's health. Furthermore, I've yet to hear of too many formerly obese people who have shed weight and become fit who are saddened by their new image or think back on their obese lifestyle with fondness, most probably with dread.
Because I was much, much happier and less stressed. When I wanted a certain food to eat, I went and got it. I didn't have to bring out my diary and do fiddling to make it fit into my day
I have to ask, why do you want to lose weight? (since you're on MFP)
- Every new venture with an objective demands some sort of sacrifice. Eg. you want to get muscular, you have to put in the time and the exercises and then eat a certain diet. You want to be an opera singer, you have to put in the time, you have to give up family outings or social events with friends for example. You have to be present and accountable for your own success. And along the way you will meet all sorts of people, people who'll tell you you're doing it wrong, people who encourage you, people who will ridicule what you're doing, people who are judgemental, people who will be guides, people trying to be helpful but piss you off, the list goes on. Ultimately, you have to follow your own path and decide who and what you are or want to be. You can't stop people from judging, it's human nature.
When the people I knew in HAES shunned me for losing weight, I left and went back to being alone knowing they were just as bad as everyone else.
Interesting. Sounds like you hang with the wrong crowd(s), whether it's FA or the Diet people or diet buddies. Sounds like you feel better when you are on your own. I would guess that it's because you are listening to yourself, and not to what you think society wants. But it also sounds like your life revolves around your weight, make your life about something else and don't bring up your weight (ever).
Tools like MFP and support groups are just there to attain an objective. You have to glean what you find important from the information that is out there. You may have been happier eating the way you wanted but you have to ask yourself did you feel comfortable in your own skin?
Regardless of how you think society sees you. Do you honestly feel good on all levels? Physically, emotionally, mentally (there's more I'm sure). Only you know. Ultimately, you're allowed to be the size you want.
The last 4 years have been about my weight because it's in the forefront of me losing it. Before this, only doctors harped about my weight and that I should lose, though they offered no advice or alternative such as WLS (which should've been something they'd push because I was so close to dying because FAT = UNHEALTHY/DEATH). What I found completely ironic (?) when dealing with HAES/FA proponents is that most of them have a slew of health problems that could've been easier to deal with by not being morbidly obese. The basic reason I lost weight was for simple vanity - I didn't want to spend the next 30 years wearing the same pair of pants (not the same style or same brand, but the same pair because finding any clothing higher than a 4X is nigh impossible in this province).
I don't feel comfortable in my own skin due to my depression. It won't matter if I look like whoever the sexiest/hawtest female is currently or the fattest woman in the world, I'll still not be comfy with me because my brain chemistry is broken. That's not something that can be fixed with support groups or therapy or medication. I do better on my own because I've learned people don't really care about me or how I feel and they certainly can't be bothered to help when asked.
Thank you for the online therapy session. Now I get to fight myself to not go ham on food.
You think too much.-2 -
Oh God.
It's posts like these that remind me why I, like xzyst, prefer a more solitary approach to life.
I don't know what xzyst is, and I'm not sure if I'm being insulted. But the "Oh God!" is telling me it leans toward the not favourable. Carry on then!
xzyst is a user on these forums. Why assume everyone is attacking you?3 -
coreyreichle wrote: »Am I the only person who was morbidly obese and didn't stress out the cost of health care? Maybe because I don't go to the doctor unless I'm actually sick and even then it's pretty desperate. Hells, I feel guilty going in for my annual swab job.
You're one of the few then. However, as age progresses, that won't continue. How long do you think knees last with double their design load?
It's that most people are arguing that fat people are costing them so much money paying for the fat person's health care which seems to be this stereotype that fat people will always have mobility issues because they're fat. I had no physical problems due to me being fat. Curious if I was the "special snowflake".
And, I also know lots of smokers who don't have lung cancer.
They almost certainly will, if they keep smoking.0 -
coreyreichle wrote: »coreyreichle wrote: »Am I the only person who was morbidly obese and didn't stress out the cost of health care? Maybe because I don't go to the doctor unless I'm actually sick and even then it's pretty desperate. Hells, I feel guilty going in for my annual swab job.
You're one of the few then. However, as age progresses, that won't continue. How long do you think knees last with double their design load?
It's that most people are arguing that fat people are costing them so much money paying for the fat person's health care which seems to be this stereotype that fat people will always have mobility issues because they're fat. I had no physical problems due to me being fat. Curious if I was the "special snowflake".
And, I also know lots of smokers who don't have lung cancer.
They almost certainly will, if they keep smoking.
Last I checked, fewer than 10% of lifelong smokers develop lung cancer (although smoking accounts for 90% of lung cancer cases in the US). So no, that is not true.
I'm anti-smoking, but don't think using stats various orgs have twisted into scare tactics is productive long-term.3 -
The fear mongering definitely helped me quit smoking. The thought of lying in a hospital bed dying of something I did to myself and could have been prevented, scared me straight!2
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Christine_72 wrote: »The fear mongering definitely helped me quit smoking. The thought of lying in a hospital bed dying of something I did to myself and could have been prevented, scared me straight!
I'm one that fear-mongering doesn't work on but I watched my husband's father deteriorate to a point where he could barely breathe any longer before he passed away and that was enough to scare me straight almost immediately. Watching him suffer was so, so heartbreaking. He did not have lung cancer but several other problems including COPD and emphysema. He was on all sorts of breathing medications and machines and had to have a tracheotomy. Seeing it on a television commercial is nothing but seeing it happen up close, in real life to a loved one is brain-exploding scary.3 -
coreyreichle wrote: »coreyreichle wrote: »Am I the only person who was morbidly obese and didn't stress out the cost of health care? Maybe because I don't go to the doctor unless I'm actually sick and even then it's pretty desperate. Hells, I feel guilty going in for my annual swab job.
You're one of the few then. However, as age progresses, that won't continue. How long do you think knees last with double their design load?
It's that most people are arguing that fat people are costing them so much money paying for the fat person's health care which seems to be this stereotype that fat people will always have mobility issues because they're fat. I had no physical problems due to me being fat. Curious if I was the "special snowflake".
And, I also know lots of smokers who don't have lung cancer.
They almost certainly will, if they keep smoking.
Last I checked, fewer than 10% of lifelong smokers develop lung cancer (although smoking accounts for 90% of lung cancer cases in the US). So no, that is not true.
I'm anti-smoking, but don't think using stats various orgs have twisted into scare tactics is productive long-term.
My father never didn't have lung cancer, but the second heart attack he had (smoking being a contributing cause) sure killed him.
Lung cancer isn't the only way to die from smoking.3 -
Packerjohn wrote: »coreyreichle wrote: »coreyreichle wrote: »Am I the only person who was morbidly obese and didn't stress out the cost of health care? Maybe because I don't go to the doctor unless I'm actually sick and even then it's pretty desperate. Hells, I feel guilty going in for my annual swab job.
You're one of the few then. However, as age progresses, that won't continue. How long do you think knees last with double their design load?
It's that most people are arguing that fat people are costing them so much money paying for the fat person's health care which seems to be this stereotype that fat people will always have mobility issues because they're fat. I had no physical problems due to me being fat. Curious if I was the "special snowflake".
And, I also know lots of smokers who don't have lung cancer.
They almost certainly will, if they keep smoking.
Last I checked, fewer than 10% of lifelong smokers develop lung cancer (although smoking accounts for 90% of lung cancer cases in the US). So no, that is not true.
I'm anti-smoking, but don't think using stats various orgs have twisted into scare tactics is productive long-term.
My father never didn't have lung cancer, but the second heart attack he had (smoking being a contributing cause) sure killed him.
Lung cancer isn't the only way to die from smoking.
True. One of my grandfathers died in his 40's from it. He had emphysema and throat cancer. He had a heart attack, but I was told it was as he was asphyxiating from a combination of effects from both. I know his youngest son (my uncle) got to stand and watch his father choke to death on his own blood.
As I said. Anti-smoking.
The problem with parroting scare-tactic stats is that the people who find out (or already knew - most smokers do because they've already been bombarded with it) dismiss everything you say after that.0 -
justrollme wrote: »This guy voices my opinion on this with a lot more eloquence than I would:
This guy was so right on. Thanks for sharing.0 -
Of course I accept people why wouldn't I accept another human being?
The question is does that person accept him/herself. That's where the issue is. And I think they can start to help themselves if they get what all of us want in life, love and acceptance.0 -
Looks like MFP didn't post what I wrote... weird
What you want to be is body+ ie loving your body even if you want to change parts about it. HAES is a dangerous and fanatical organization where they say doctors are liars conspiring against them and that morbid obesity does not have any negative health effects.7 -
DisruptedMatrix wrote: »Looks like MFP didn't post what I wrote... weird
What you want to be is body+ ie loving your body even if you want to change parts about it. HAES is a dangerous and fanatical organization where they say doctors are liars conspiring against them and that morbid obesity does not have any negative health effects.
I don't know anything about them but some would say the same about a bunch of organizations. People are smart they either will eventually figure stuff out or not, their choice.
I think individuals are still deserving of my acceptance, though maybe not organizations as a whole.1 -
If anyone here is laboring under the illusion that HAES still stands for healthy behaviors at any size, they have since dropped any pretense towards encouraging their followers to do that. I cannot find the link right now, but it was posted on Reddit.
They backed away from it after pressure saying that the rhetoric was "healthist" and "ableist".
The fat acceptance movement, when you scratch the surface and look at its leaders and what they do has gone beyond merely wanting people not to be fat shamed. Some of them actively hate thin people. They actively discourage weight loss. They use old science and twist science to back their agenda and actively seek out and recruit young, vulnerable people to join their numbers.
I find them to be loathsome and beneath contempt. The best of them are misguided. The worst of them are hateful charlatans out to make a buck.
I cannot abide fat shaming, but the fat acceptance movement isn't about that any more.
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DisruptedMatrix wrote: »Looks like MFP didn't post what I wrote... weird
What you want to be is body+ ie loving your body even if you want to change parts about it. HAES is a dangerous and fanatical organization where they say doctors are liars conspiring against them and that morbid obesity does not have any negative health effects.
I don't know anything about them but some would say the same about a bunch of organizations. People are smart they either will eventually figure stuff out or not, their choice.
I think individuals are still deserving of my acceptance, though maybe not organizations as a whole.
That's why I'm body+
some people say hate for their body fuels their weightloss. I dislike how I currently look, but I would not succeed if I were not focusing on positivety. I cannot stand people who turn there nose up at the obese. Everyone deserves acceptance. You don't know what happened in that persons life that led them to where they are, not everyone can lose weight due to medications and hormonal imbalances and health issues. It is also so much harder for abese people to get healthy. The willpower it takes for a fit person to continue their workout is different from the willpower it takes for a morbidly obese person. People seem surprised by how many calories I burn on a walk- It's because I am carrying around an extra 100lbs you don't have to deal with. Remember what it was like being pregnant? Imagine being pregnant all the time. On top of that you have to be in the right mindset to stick to it. Maybe this year isn't the year they would be able to suceed because they are too insecure... but... next year they will tell the people they've been trying to please that they will live their life for themselves, and this change will be what starts them on their journey (that was what happened with me. I tried twice before but I wasn't in the proper mindset)
For me, I used to be 98lbs. Then my mom started starving me, I saw a guy's eye get gouged out with a wine glass, and I was abused for years. Surprise! I developed negative coping habits involving food.5 -
DisruptedMatrix wrote: »DisruptedMatrix wrote: »Looks like MFP didn't post what I wrote... weird
What you want to be is body+ ie loving your body even if you want to change parts about it. HAES is a dangerous and fanatical organization where they say doctors are liars conspiring against them and that morbid obesity does not have any negative health effects.
I don't know anything about them but some would say the same about a bunch of organizations. People are smart they either will eventually figure stuff out or not, their choice.
I think individuals are still deserving of my acceptance, though maybe not organizations as a whole.
That's why I'm body+
some people say hate for their body fuels their weightloss. I dislike how I currently look, but I would not succeed if I were not focusing on positivety. I cannot stand people who turn there nose up at the obese. Everyone deserves acceptance. You don't know what happened in that persons life that led them to where they are, not everyone can lose weight due to medications and hormonal imbalances and health issues. It is also so much harder for abese people to get healthy. The willpower it takes for a fit person to continue their workout is different from the willpower it takes for a morbidly obese person. People seem surprised by how many calories I burn on a walk- It's because I am carrying around an extra 100lbs you don't have to deal with. Remember what it was like being pregnant? Imagine being pregnant all the time.
For me, I used to be 98lbs. Then my mom started starving me, I saw a guy's eye get gouged out with a wine glass, and I was abused for years. Surprise! I developed negative coping habits involving food.
Yikes I'm sorry you had to see that at any age!
Totally agree positivity toward ourselves and others is always the right choice for me anyway, although it can be hard sometimes.1 -
The fat acceptance movement has coopted the language of body positivity for its own ends, though.
Body positivity was originally aimed at people with scars, acne, disfigurements and the like. Even just liking inheriting dad's nose.
It was never meant to be about accepting a medically dangerous condition because you decided to say you like your body instead of doing something about it.
In likewise fashion, fat acceptance has coopted the language of racism, homophobia, and feminism. They have tried to assert that fatness is an issue with ties to all of these.
They want people to believe that fatness is immutable.
There is nothing wrong with loving yourself. I think loving yourself enough to care is vital to making the change necessary to lose weight.
I don't think fatness is immutable like race, sexual orientation, or having an amputated leg.4 -
Where did my post go? Did it get deleted? This is like the 5th time that I've left a thread and when I come back my post is gone.0
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »The fat acceptance movement has coopted the language of body positivity for its own ends, though.
Body positivity was originally aimed at people with scars, acne, disfigurements and the like. Even just liking inheriting dad's nose.
It was never meant to be about accepting a medically dangerous condition because you decided to say you like your body instead of doing something about it.
In likewise fashion, fat acceptance has coopted the language of racism, homophobia, and feminism. They have tried to assert that fatness is an issue with ties to all of these.
They want people to believe that fatness is immutable.
There is nothing wrong with loving yourself. I think loving yourself enough to care is vital to making the change necessary to lose weight.
I don't think fatness is immutable like race, sexual orientation, or having an amputated leg.
NO. Body+ included body type. Love yourself at 200lbs. Love yourself at 150. Even if you aren't your ideal, love yourself.0 -
DisruptedMatrix wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »The fat acceptance movement has coopted the language of body positivity for its own ends, though.
Body positivity was originally aimed at people with scars, acne, disfigurements and the like. Even just liking inheriting dad's nose.
It was never meant to be about accepting a medically dangerous condition because you decided to say you like your body instead of doing something about it.
In likewise fashion, fat acceptance has coopted the language of racism, homophobia, and feminism. They have tried to assert that fatness is an issue with ties to all of these.
They want people to believe that fatness is immutable.
There is nothing wrong with loving yourself. I think loving yourself enough to care is vital to making the change necessary to lose weight.
I don't think fatness is immutable like race, sexual orientation, or having an amputated leg.
NO. Body+ included body type. Love yourself at 200lbs. Love yourself at 150. Even if you aren't your ideal, love yourself.
Not way, way back when it first started with roots in feminist thought. It wasn't actually named yet. I'm not saying you can't love yourself.
There's a difference between loving who you are on the inside, and just accepting what you are on the oustide as unchangeable.
Body positivity was about accepting and loving that which you could not change.5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoTQ3aOEz54
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