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Thin Privilege or Lifestyle Consequences
tbright1965
Posts: 852 Member
in Debate Club
Warning, at times there are about 30 f-bombs a minute, so NSFW.
Came across this guy in the Peloton ad controversy.
Wondered what others thought about this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqAQhq22HpY
Came across this guy in the Peloton ad controversy.
Wondered what others thought about this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqAQhq22HpY 7
Replies
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I'll apologize in advance as this is being written in a bit of a stream of consciousness style. I'm writing it as a watch the video (and pausing when need be). I'll also be upfront and say that this person was jarring to me from the word go and that might color some of what I'm going to write. And no, it's not the swearing that I'm displeased by.
First, I'm really unimpressed by this person's assumption that the psychologist whose post he's dissecting must have some sort of ulterior motive. His not believing that she was writing in good faith when she mentioned that a. she was reporting things anecdotally and b. that these are just the opinions of she and some of her colleagues. Really really unimpressed. Exceedingly unimpressed. It's as if medical and/or mental health professionals who have PhDs can't have opinions that are seperate from their practice/the practice they're working in.
It seems like this person (the guy who is talking) is taking a pretty myopic view. I'd be interested if he had actually read/listened to narratives of people who feel like they are dealing with discrimination on the basis of being overweight or spoken with them 1:1 and actually listened to them with an open mind and the assumption that he has something to learn from their experiences.
I think the doctor bit is really frustrating because as much as we, myself included, say "seek a second opinion", that's not actually always possible for people for a whole host of reasons. Location, transportation, health insurance limitations, etc. I think the "stop being a child" bit is a somewhat ironic given that it sounds like he's having his own tantrum that he needs the world to see (why else would he have posted it on Youtube?), but I digress.
Airplanes - we know that airliners are cramming more and more people into planes as a way to make more money. This isn't really disputable. Given that, in some cases this isn't a "you've outgrown the airplane". That said, I do get annoyed when people encroach into my space in places like airplanes and concert halls - that isn't just an overweight issue - see man spreading.
[cue me changing the speed to 1.25 because this person annoys me but apparently I'm a masochist]
I think his rant about medical equipment is especially short sighted because this, in some cases (or perhaps even quite a lot of cases), is a life or death issue. To me it's actually very different than most of the other things that have been discussed. I'm of the opinion that medical care is a basic human right and that right shouldn't be taken away because someone is overweight or obese.
The food bit is neither here nor there. I don't think people get judged by bringing what some people would consider healthy foods to something like a dinner party or a potluck, but some people will get annoyed. That, to me, is different than being judged for say, ordering a large salad and a very large order of dirty fries after an obscenely difficult workout (not my meal yesterday, but I did eat some of the remnants of said fries that my friend ordered and the person who brought out the food definitely thought that she was ordering for more than one person).
I'm glad that he at least admits that privilege exists. I seriously wasn't expecting that bit.
An overarching thing that is frustrating to me about this is that he doesn't seem to realize that even if someone has made the decision and taken action to lose weight, that that's a process. That someone who is 5' 8" going from 300lbs to 150lbs isn't going to lose half of their bodyweight overnight and that for the majority of the time that that person is losing weight they will, at the very least, be overweight and most of the time they'll be obese. You (general you) can get pissed off all you want about people not taking responsibility and thus facing the consequences, but they're going to "face the consequences" even when they do take responsibility and are in the process of losing enough weight to be of a "healthy weight" (put in quotes becuase there are a lot of things that are related to being physically healthy).
I also think we have to look at what caused someone to gain a bunch of weight. How much of that was self medicating for various reasons (though let's not pretend mental health issues don't have a massive stigma around them)? If there's an 19 year old who is obese, how much of that weight was gained when they were a child and had far less control over this? Between their own cognitive limitations, the fact that they weren't buying their own food, how much or little ability they had to be active (even if they wanted to be), etc. I'm personally significantly more apt to blame myself for my own being overweight than my 19 year old neighbor for a lot of reasons. I was in my 20s when I started gaining weight, I didn't/don't eat to selfthe weight was seemingly gained very slowly. Mind you the heaviest I've been was 250lbs (I'm in the 180s right now - I'm 5' 8") and I have never felt judged on the basis of weight.
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And now I'm going to stop procrastinating and get back to homework, but first I'm going to delete that video from my youtube history becuase I don't actually need or want Youtube to suggest any of his videos to me.14 -
Anyone want to TL;DR the video for me?19
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Disclaimer: I like Alan Roberts and EDDF.It's as if medical and/or mental health professionals who have PhDs can't have opinions that are seperate from their practice/the practice they're working in.
I have to disagree with you on this one. I have a PhD (in chemistry) and am paid to render professional opinions. People make decisions and deploy assets based on my conclusions. I know how important facts are and how damaging unsubstantiated opinion can be.
When you are in a position where you are paid for your professional opinion (which doctors/mental health professionals definitely are too) you can't deal in anecdotal reports, they lower your credibility. Do I have opinions on things? Sure, but if I don't have the facts behind me I don't say them out loud. Even if the doctor he references was writing in good faith, she's lowering her credibility.
17 -
Disclaimer: I like Alan Roberts and EDDF.It's as if medical and/or mental health professionals who have PhDs can't have opinions that are seperate from their practice/the practice they're working in.
I have to disagree with you on this one. I have a PhD (in chemistry) and am paid to render professional opinions. People make decisions and deploy assets based on my conclusions. I know how important facts are and how damaging unsubstantiated opinion can be.
When you are in a position where you are paid for your professional opinion (which doctors/mental health professionals definitely are too) you can't deal in anecdotal reports, they lower your credibility. Do I have opinions on things? Sure, but if I don't have the facts behind me I don't say them out loud. Even if the doctor he references was writing in good faith, she's lowering her credibility.
I can see where you're coming from as someone who will likely end up getting a PhD in linguistics, who has multiple friends and colleagues (in and outside of academia) with PhDs, and who knows quite a lot of people who are mental health care professionals.
I think, however, that it's important to realize that there are plenty of successful and respected academics who talk about things related to their field on social media platforms without using empirical data. That might not be the case in your field mind you, but it's not a universal.
Would your thoughts be different if this was a type of discrimination that has more discourse? So say a sociologist shared anecdotes about racism that their students had faced? Would that make that person less credible? If so how?4 -
Anyone want to TL;DR the video for me?
TL;DR:
Person finds a twitter post by a psychologist about various ways people think they're discriminated against on the basis of being obese. Said person gets very grumpy in an impressively and seemingly unnecessarily intense way about this and goes on an 11 minute rant about why this person is not right and why people who are obese are facing the consequences of their weight. This is all peppered with an impressively large amount of profanity (it's almost comical) and was said in a tone that I can only associate with (cisgender) men who think that the only way in which to motivate people/get their point across is to speak in a very aggressive manner.
Said person also tries to justify their viewpoint by relaying that they were once overweight.
That was not my best work with regards to TL;DR summaries. They're much more fun to write when there are at least two people to summarize. There didn't seem to actually be any attempt at a dialogue or any sort of attempt at understanding where people may be coming from in this and I don't think that the person who made the video was wanting a dialogue. edit: was not wanting a dialogue with people who hold differing opinions.19 -
Anyone want to TL;DR the video for me?
Sorry. I gave up about one minute in, before he said anything substantive, because his tone was so hostile and he basically said that his view was that if anyone disagreed with what he was going to say, they were overly sensitive folks with too many "fi-fis," which I assume is the new "feels." I've got better things to do with my life than spend 11 minutes listening to someone who is clearly closed-minded, not interested in actually persuading anyone who doesn't already agree with him, and starts at about "11" on the rage-rant dial.14 -
Anyone want to TL;DR the video for me?
TL;DR:
Person finds a twitter post by a psychologist about various ways people think they're discriminated against on the basis of being obese. Said person gets very grumpy in an impressively and seemingly unnecessarily intense way about this and goes on an 11 minute rant about why this person is not right and why people who are obese are facing the consequences of their weight. This is all peppered with an impressively large amount of profanity (it's almost comical) and was said in a tone that I can only associate with (cisgender) men who think that the only way in which to motivate people/get their point across is to speak in a very aggressive manner.
Said person also tries to justify their viewpoint by relaying that they were once overweight.
That was not my best work with regards to TL;DR summaries. They're much more fun to write when there are at least two people to summarize. There didn't seem to actually be any attempt at a dialogue or any sort of attempt at understanding where people may be coming from in this and I don't think that the person who made the video was wanting a dialogue. edit: was not wanting a dialogue with people who hold differing opinions.
Thanks for wasting 11 minutes of your life on "fitness bro yells about lazy fat people" so I didn't have to. I kind of had a feeling that was what it was going to be about. Hard pass. It doesn't make him motivational. Just a *kitten*. I am sure that he has a company selling all sorts of fitness programs and coaching is just coincidental and not at all biasing his opinions on it.4 -
I'll apologize in advance as this is being written in a bit of a stream of consciousness style. I'm writing it as a watch the video (and pausing when need be). I'll also be upfront and say that this person was jarring to me from the word go and that might color some of what I'm going to write. And no, it's not the swearing that I'm displeased by.
[/quote]
No worries
First, I'm really unimpressed by this person's assumption that the psychologist whose post he's dissecting must have some sort of ulterior motive. His not believing that she was writing in good faith when she mentioned that a. she was reporting things anecdotally and b. that these are just the opinions of she and some of her colleagues. Really really unimpressed. Exceedingly unimpressed. It's as if medical and/or mental health professionals who have PhDs can't have opinions that are seperate from their practice/the practice they're working in.
Fair point. Having an opinion is one thing. Having people base their life choices on it is quite another.
Maybe the fair criticism is of those who might take this opinion and run with it because it matches up with their pre-conceived notions? I.E. I'm fat and the world is against me, skinny people have privilege. Change the world to match up with my views.
It seems like this person (the guy who is talking) is taking a pretty myopic view. I'd be interested if he had actually read/listened to narratives of people who feel like they are dealing with discrimination on the basis of being overweight or spoken with them 1:1 and actually listened to them with an open mind and the assumption that he has something to learn from their experiences.
So just like all of us. I don't know much about him. The handful of videos I watched (at 1.25x as it saves me time) seemed to be critical of a number of people. Those who tout cleanses, celebrity fitness people like Jillian Michaels (who, amazingly I noticed on TV last night touting the latest iteration of Soda Stream) and some guy named "V Shred" who was showing us how to squat. So it seems his shtick is poking fun at many in the fitness universe.
Given the discussions here and the "woo" we see, he will not have a shortage of subject for his rants.
I think the doctor bit is really frustrating because as much as we, myself included, say "seek a second opinion", that's not actually always possible for people for a whole host of reasons. Location, transportation, health insurance limitations, etc. I think the "stop being a child" bit is a somewhat ironic given that it sounds like he's having his own tantrum that he needs the world to see (why else would he have posted it on Youtube?), but I digress.
Yep, fine line between rant and tantrum.
Airplanes - we know that airliners are cramming more and more people into planes as a way to make more money. This isn't really disputable. Given that, in some cases this isn't a "you've outgrown the airplane". That said, I do get annoyed when people encroach into my space in places like airplanes and concert halls - that isn't just an overweight issue - see man spreading.
[cue me changing the speed to 1.25 because this person annoys me but apparently I'm a masochist]
I think his rant about medical equipment is especially short sighted because this, in some cases (or perhaps even quite a lot of cases), is a life or death issue. To me it's actually very different than most of the other things that have been discussed. I'm of the opinion that medical care is a basic human right and that right shouldn't be taken away because someone is overweight or obese.
Having the right to medical care doesn't mean the world has to bend to you. It doesn't mean others are obligated to pay or provide it on your terms. I think this is where consequences really set in. Unless you are totally helpless and you magically can never burn more calories than you consume (NASA and a few others would like to speak with you and find out how you don't follow basic chemical and physics laws...) you totally can control your weight.
No one is saying it's easy. Some may have more hurdles to navigate. But one of the things I get out of this, and he did provide the caveat that if you have some sort of real, medical issue that makes you an outlier (and that's like one in a thousand) get medical help for that, he's not talking (ok ranting) about those people here.
The food bit is neither here nor there. I don't think people get judged by bringing what some people would consider healthy foods to something like a dinner party or a potluck, but some people will get annoyed. That, to me, is different than being judged for say, ordering a large salad and a very large order of dirty fries after an obscenely difficult workout (not my meal yesterday, but I did eat some of the remnants of said fries that my friend ordered and the person who brought out the food definitely thought that she was ordering for more than one person).
I'm glad that he at least admits that privilege exists. I seriously wasn't expecting that bit.
Actually, I would have been disappointed if he left it out. It would have meant my initial impression was wrong. I see him as someone who values putting in the work. Just like others don't suffer fools, he apparently doesn't suffer slackers. He doesn't seem impressed by many who claim to be successful. Heck, he shoots his videos in a messy car or minivan.
He doesn't seem to be the type that respects someone based on some random chance such as their race or gender or where they were born. He respects someone based on them putting in the work.
So it seems totally logical to me that he would find people complaining about something he's framed as is totally controllable by the complainer as to be lazy or entitled or whatever labels he might apply.
An overarching thing that is frustrating to me about this is that he doesn't seem to realize that even if someone has made the decision and taken action to lose weight, that that's a process. That someone who is 5' 8" going from 300lbs to 150lbs isn't going to lose half of their bodyweight overnight and that for the majority of the time that that person is losing weight they will, at the very least, be overweight and most of the time they'll be obese. You (general you) can get pissed off all you want about people not taking responsibility and thus facing the consequences, but they're going to "face the consequences" even when they do take responsibility and are in the process of losing enough weight to be of a "healthy weight" (put in quotes becuase there are a lot of things that are related to being physically healthy).
That seems a leap here. Granted, we don't know where anyone is in their journey. Yet his rant is about those who claim "Thin Privilege." Doesn't really matter where you are in a weight management journey for that topic. You could be at the beginning of it, at the end of it, or not even worried about it, and your state doesn't change the validity (in his opinion) of that view. So this seems to be a non-sequitur here. Where you are in the journey doesn't follow an opinion on thin privilege.
The subject of his rant is clearly those who DO NOT take responsibility. So where someone is on a journey of responsibility doesn't matter.
I also think we have to look at what caused someone to gain a bunch of weight. How much of that was self medicating for various reasons (though let's not pretend mental health issues don't have a massive stigma around them)? If there's an 19 year old who is obese, how much of that weight was gained when they were a child and had far less control over this? Between their own cognitive limitations, the fact that they weren't buying their own food, how much or little ability they had to be active (even if they wanted to be), etc. I'm personally significantly more apt to blame myself for my own being overweight than my 19 year old neighbor for a lot of reasons. I was in my 20s when I started gaining weight, I didn't/don't eat to selfthe weight was seemingly gained very slowly. Mind you the heaviest I've been was 250lbs (I'm in the 180s right now - I'm 5' 8") and I have never felt judged on the basis of weight.
Looking at the causes may help tailor a program for someone who wants to take responsibility for their health. But if someone is unwilling to own their part, to me, it seems a pointless act.
What resonated with me is the notion that you can be a victim or a victor. Because that is how I viewed my weight loss. Snack foods at the c-store didn't attack me, and hold me down and make me eat them. I CHOSE to eat them. I CHOSE to consume ~800 calories in a few minutes consuming a pint of chocolate milk and 6 little chocolate donuts. The numbers were right there on the package. (Ironically 6 L.C.D have 420 calories, tee hee)
If I was a victim it was of my own self-destructive choices. I can choose to eat differently. It might mean more work. It might mean planning ahead and putting some fruit, maybe a granola bar and a thermos of coffee in my car to have instead of the chocolate milk and 6 L.C.D's. Now I'm having 140-150 calories instead of 800.
There is some merit in embracing the idea that you have a choice here. The victim mentality comes across as surrendering one's agency in the matter.
I'm certainly not discounting the effort needed as well as the challenges people face. I had to recognize that I'm a stress eater. If I'm stressed, I want to eat everything in site. So it takes some personal awareness that I'm feeling stressed and I need to calm down.
On the other hand, biology doesn't care. If I kept eating those 800 calorie snacks, I was going to keep gaining weight no matter how much I worked out, and my BP would keep going higher, my blood sugar would go out of control, weight would keep rising, joints would stop working, and I'd get winded tying my own shoes.
Biology really didn't care how I felt. The consequences would catch up to me.
---
And now I'm going to stop procrastinating and get back to homework, but first I'm going to delete that video from my youtube history becuase I don't actually need or want Youtube to suggest any of his videos to me.
I figure this guy works with others. It's hard to see the value in spending time trying to help someone who wants to blame everyone but themselves for the circumstances they inhabit.
I've not been known to be compassionate. Heck, I scored a ZERO on a spiritual gifts tests at church a generation ago. I'd like to think I'm a bit more compassionate today. But the needle probably hasn't moved very much, if I'm honest.
So I understand the rant. To me, it seems so simple (not easy, but simple) that this is totally controllable should one choose to do so.
It seems so few choose to do so. So it's like watching a slow motion train wreck.
To me, it's more like the Bob Newhart episode where he tells the client to knock it off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw 11 -
Other than his swearing, I kinda have to agree with him. I remember when I was overweight, I would complain about not having any nice clothes to wear, like my think sister. So one day, she was fed up with my complaining and straight out told me to do something about it. What I eat is up to me, not anyone else. If I get so fat that I can't fit into any 'regular' clothes, it's not the clothing industry's fault. They didn't shove the bucket of ice cream in my face.
This holds true for any addiction, and I do feel that a food addiction is very real.
This same sister complains to me about not having a lot of money, yet she smokes a pack of cigarettes a day at $12 and change. I showed her how much money she would have if she quite smoking, got help from her doctor to do so. She still smokes. So, when she complains about being broke, I don't say anything. Is that non-smoker privilege that I have more money than her?
Before you bash me, I was a smoker, I quit. When I was overweight, I joined WW. I lost weight, but I gained it back because I started back to my old bad habits.
I was a gambler. I managed to stop that with help from GA.
So, if you're overweight, it's no ones fault but your own.
28 -
love these 2 videos, I have played the victim a lot, not taking responsibility for my life, finally woke up, got away from toxic people, toxic jobs, lost the weight. Took responsibility for my life!18
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Clicked the video only to realize who it was. I’ve bumped into his videos before. That man is a big weirdo, he has a weird obsession with overweight people.
15 -
He's bombastic, but he's correct in his underlying position that our lives are the consequences of our behavior.
The cursing just doesn't come off as authentic though and just doesn't work - think he's attempting to mimic other motivational speakers (Gary Vaynerchuk), but it doesn't come off well.
I read him as a new evangelist - something he had a problem with and now fixed and projecting his self disgust of his former self onto others not as "evolved" as his present self. This may start out as empathetic at first, but when met with emotion over logic, results in escalation.
He's also right in the assertion "You don't fit into the world". All businesses, but restaurants and airlines especially, operate on razor thin margins and are only profitable over volume, so if you're body size doesn't fit into a seat, then you should be paying extra, or modifying your behavior so that you do fit into the world.
Of course anyone is welcome to start a business that makes space available for those who don't fit into the world. You're biggest obstacle being reality.14 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]1 -
I'll apologize in advance as this is being written in a bit of a stream of consciousness style. I'm writing it as a watch the video (and pausing when need be). I'll also be upfront and say that this person was jarring to me from the word go and that might color some of what I'm going to write. And no, it's not the swearing that I'm displeased by.
First, I'm really unimpressed by this person's assumption that the psychologist whose post he's dissecting must have some sort of ulterior motive. His not believing that she was writing in good faith when she mentioned that a. she was reporting things anecdotally and b. that these are just the opinions of she and some of her colleagues. Really really unimpressed. Exceedingly unimpressed. It's as if medical and/or mental health professionals who have PhDs can't have opinions that are seperate from their practice/the practice they're working in.
It seems like this person (the guy who is talking) is taking a pretty myopic view. I'd be interested if he had actually read/listened to narratives of people who feel like they are dealing with discrimination on the basis of being overweight or spoken with them 1:1 and actually listened to them with an open mind and the assumption that he has something to learn from their experiences.
I think the doctor bit is really frustrating because as much as we, myself included, say "seek a second opinion", that's not actually always possible for people for a whole host of reasons. Location, transportation, health insurance limitations, etc. I think the "stop being a child" bit is a somewhat ironic given that it sounds like he's having his own tantrum that he needs the world to see (why else would he have posted it on Youtube?), but I digress.
Airplanes - we know that airliners are cramming more and more people into planes as a way to make more money. This isn't really disputable. Given that, in some cases this isn't a "you've outgrown the airplane". That said, I do get annoyed when people encroach into my space in places like airplanes and concert halls - that isn't just an overweight issue - see man spreading.
[cue me changing the speed to 1.25 because this person annoys me but apparently I'm a masochist]
I think his rant about medical equipment is especially short sighted because this, in some cases (or perhaps even quite a lot of cases), is a life or death issue. To me it's actually very different than most of the other things that have been discussed. I'm of the opinion that medical care is a basic human right and that right shouldn't be taken away because someone is overweight or obese.
The food bit is neither here nor there. I don't think people get judged by bringing what some people would consider healthy foods to something like a dinner party or a potluck, but some people will get annoyed. That, to me, is different than being judged for say, ordering a large salad and a very large order of dirty fries after an obscenely difficult workout (not my meal yesterday, but I did eat some of the remnants of said fries that my friend ordered and the person who brought out the food definitely thought that she was ordering for more than one person).
I'm glad that he at least admits that privilege exists. I seriously wasn't expecting that bit.
An overarching thing that is frustrating to me about this is that he doesn't seem to realize that even if someone has made the decision and taken action to lose weight, that that's a process. That someone who is 5' 8" going from 300lbs to 150lbs isn't going to lose half of their bodyweight overnight and that for the majority of the time that that person is losing weight they will, at the very least, be overweight and most of the time they'll be obese. You (general you) can get pissed off all you want about people not taking responsibility and thus facing the consequences, but they're going to "face the consequences" even when they do take responsibility and are in the process of losing enough weight to be of a "healthy weight" (put in quotes becuase there are a lot of things that are related to being physically healthy).
I also think we have to look at what caused someone to gain a bunch of weight. How much of that was self medicating for various reasons (though let's not pretend mental health issues don't have a massive stigma around them)? If there's an 19 year old who is obese, how much of that weight was gained when they were a child and had far less control over this? Between their own cognitive limitations, the fact that they weren't buying their own food, how much or little ability they had to be active (even if they wanted to be), etc. I'm personally significantly more apt to blame myself for my own being overweight than my 19 year old neighbor for a lot of reasons. I was in my 20s when I started gaining weight, I didn't/don't eat to selfthe weight was seemingly gained very slowly. Mind you the heaviest I've been was 250lbs (I'm in the 180s right now - I'm 5' 8") and I have never felt judged on the basis of weight.
---
And now I'm going to stop procrastinating and get back to homework, but first I'm going to delete that video from my youtube history becuase I don't actually need or want Youtube to suggest any of his videos to me.
Excuse me? Man spreading? I prefer person spreading! Lol jk .... op lost me whe. They mentioned vshred.....0 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.10 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
No worries, I'm willing to occasionally take one for the team and at least I did well on the presentation that I was working on (and occasionally procrastinating on) last night.5 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact! People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!7 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact! People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
But you didn't say less people, you actually said "Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin. "
And of course that statement simply isn't true.
And yes you do sometimes see old and fat people. "Never" is also false.
Hyperbole weakens your arguments rather than strengthens.38 -
I couldn't watch this guy. Very angry and why the hell is he making a video while sitting in his car?? Weird. But...did LOVE the Bob Newhart video. Hilarious.2
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although i agree with this fella mostly, he is way too angry and emotional, its like he has unresolved baggage from his fat days, its like he actually believes in thin privilege.....you know like some closeted gay people are so strongly against gay people10
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Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org4 -
Though your choice of websites was a good one (the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is great), I am not sure how your post is relevant to the discussion. No one is denying that there are lots of obese people in the US.Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org8 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact! People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
This is a whole bunch of garbage. Yes, of course obesity is a lot higher today (which is not at all what you said in your first post, but I digress). It's a lot higher among all age groups. That there is "no fat old people" is nonsense. In fact, seniors are among the highest age group of obesity. It is 41% for adults 60 and older. So if you have seen at least 3 old people in your life, than likely you have seen an obese one.
The reasons why obesity has increased over the last 40 years is complex and due to a lot of factors. From Americans working and commuting more (and therefore having less time to cook and prepare), to the rise in high caloric restaurants, to technological conveniences reducing the amount we move and the amount of calories we burn. Absolutely none of it has to do with our society thinking "being fat is okay". People are literally bullied into suicide over their weight. This idea that we have somehow glamorized being fat is nonsense. Normal weight (and underweight) people still make up about 99.9% of representation in media. Nobody intentionally gains weight. Sure, becoming obese is usually caused by actions we take, but so what? Life isn't easy, and I would never use someone making some bad choices as a reason to be crappy to them.
You're not actually trying to "look out for others health". You are just trying to justify that you want to be crappy to fat people. That you were once fat yourself doesn't change anything. Sometimes the worst people towards obese people are those who used to be obese themselves.
It would not be that hard for us as a society to make accommodations that are small but would greatly improve the lives and well being of obese people. This idea that would take a ton of work is just as excuse we all make to stop from doing it. Heck, the implementation of the ADA actually took a ton of work. And it made things immeasurably better for a segment of society. We could do the same thing with obese people if we actually cared enough to do it.
This idea that it would be "enabling them" is just another excuse we make to not do things to help people. I've never met a single obese person who wants to be obese. Some may be more comfortable in their bodies than others, but they all know it is bad for their health and they are usually constantly trying to change. As we should all know from weight loss, losing weight and keeping it off are both hard things to do.
TD;LR If you think that things should be difficult for obese people, you're not actually doing it out of the goodness of your heart. It's not hard to show some compassion and empathy to people.
34 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact!
Of course, I said that too. That does not mean that everyone was thin. (Not being overweight is not the same thing as being thin IMO, and in any case there were also people who were overweight.) For example, here (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6001a15.htm) it says that 15% of adults in 1976-1980 were obese (so the overweight percentage was higher) and 5% of children. One of the biggest differences and most worrying differences now is that so many people are becoming obese as children.People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
I don't think anyone here has said that being obese is not a health risk or that being normal weight is all about vanity. Are you arguing against some view you used to have or trying to motivate yourself or something?
Personally, when losing weight I didn't find beating myself up to be very beneficial and I did much better when I stopped it.13 -
Though your choice of websites was a good one (the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is great), I am not sure how your post is relevant to the discussion. No one is denying that there are lots of obese people in the US.Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org
My post are relevant to what the guy on the video is talking about. I agree with him.3 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact!
Of course, I said that too. That does not mean that everyone was thin. (Not being overweight is not the same thing as being thin IMO, and in any case there were also people who were overweight.) For example, here (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6001a15.htm) it says that 15% of adults in 1976-1980 were obese (so the overweight percentage was higher) and 5% of children. One of the biggest differences and most worrying differences now is that so many people are becoming obese as children.People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
I don't think anyone here has said that being obese is not a health risk or that being normal weight is all about vanity. Are you arguing against some view you used to have or trying to motivate yourself or something?
Personally, when losing weight I didn't find beating myself up to be very beneficial and I did much better when I stopped it.
I am relating to the viedo that was posted.1 -
having read the comments on this video I have spared myself the discomfort of watching it. Trolls will troll.
My opinions:
thin privilege exists
being fat is not a moral defect or indicative of a moral defect
somewhere around here recently was an article about how the *same diet and exercise levels* today as in 1980 result in being overweight today but normal in 1980, with speculation about changes in gut bacteria as a contributing factor.
there is some correlation between obesity and poverty, perhaps partly due to thin privilege but mostly due to the fact that not having money means making due with what you can afford to eat instead of what is good for you. How many of us (whether in the weight loss or the sport conditioning clans on mfp) were on a (instant) 'ramen every night' budget in college or trade school?
In my most grouchy moments responding to people being jerks about weight, I take comfort in the fact if civilization falls and we're all reduced to water-leeching the tannic acid out of acorns before pounding them to flour to get our carb requirements (a trick of the first peoples of California), all those noxious people who stay thin on our modern calorie-rich foods will starve to death and all us fatties will be the lean and fit survivors. So there. :P13 -
Hmmm. I think that most of what he talks about i can see as being consequences not necessarily of conscious choices, but how american lifestyle is not set up to help people be healthy. But the subject of thin privileged... Yes there is something in the fact that a lot of essential services that are not set up for heavier people, but a lot of that is that the manmade world is designed to fit 90% of of the population. Very tall or very small people also have problems and are not accommodated. If you are outside of those metrics you takes your chances. If you complain about it you get push back because weight is something that most people see as within their control. At least until they have injuries or start to gain weight as they get older, lol.
What I see as actually thin privilege is something a bit different. It has more to do with how differently people treat you when they find you attractive.10 -
Though your choice of websites was a good one (the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is great), I am not sure how your post is relevant to the discussion. No one is denying that there are lots of obese people in the US.Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org
My post are relevant to what the guy on the video is talking about. I agree with him.
Relevant how? The title of the page is, "State of Childhood Obesity" - the person who made the video said nothing about children (thankfully). The information in your link (which, again, is a good one) isn't communicated by way of aggressive or charged language, isn't focused on personal blame, is heavily oriented towards public policy, discusses ways in which public policy can encourage the lowering of rates of obesity, and makes claims based on actual data and research.
Your link is only related to the video because both are talking about obesity. Otherwise they're pretty different.
edit: if anything the link you provided is about people who would be negatively affected by thin privilege, have little to no control over their weight, and shouldn't be given advice by random people on the internet (as opposed to say, their pediatrician).3 -
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