Fat Acceptance

naomi8888

I think fat acceptance is mostly about fat people trying to make being fat the norm. That way they don't have to feel so bad about being overweight themselves.

I hope that doesn't happen because I don't want kids growing up thinking that's healthy.

somuchsolittle

I think fat acceptance is mostly about fat people trying to make being fat the norm. That way they don't have to feel so bad about being overweight themselves.

I hope that doesn't happen because I don't want kids growing up thinking that's healthy.

That's a seriously misinformed opinion.

naomi8888

I think fat acceptance is mostly about fat people trying to make being fat the norm. That way they don't have to feel so bad about being overweight themselves.

I hope that doesn't happen because I don't want kids growing up thinking that's healthy.

That's a seriously misinformed opinion.

What's your take on it?

somuchsolittle

I think fat acceptance is mostly about fat people trying to make being fat the norm. That way they don't have to feel so bad about being overweight themselves.

I hope that doesn't happen because I don't want kids growing up thinking that's healthy.

That's a seriously misinformed opinion.

What's your take on it?

That at its core its essentially like any other anti-discrimination organization. The point overall is to say that a person is more than just this one aspect of his or herself, and that they deserve to be treated equally despite this difference. It's fighting against the fact that it's way to common to assume that a person is less than because of their weight. But, I mean, there's also more to Fat Acceptance, and more representatives than just that one link. If you're so inclined, one of the other members linked to other sites with their first introduction on the concept, and that might give you a broader scope that's about more than people trying to get legislation for bigger plane seats. But looking up info on it is literally at your fingertips (I'm not trying to brush you off, I just don't think I could give you a comprehensive introduction to FA reading myself).

victoria4321

I think fat acceptance is mostly about fat people trying to make being fat the norm. That way they don't have to feel so bad about being overweight themselves.

I hope that doesn't happen because I don't want kids growing up thinking that's healthy.

That's a seriously misinformed opinion.

What's your take on it?

I think its more about fighting discrimination and bias against morbidly obese people.


I think its okay to a certain extent. I disagree with the movement when it comes to creating extra accommodations for very obese people. One example I can make up is possible job discrimination. While on one level I agree that it unfair, on the other I don't think a company should have to pay extra for one employee. So if the person would be so big they don't fit in an office chair, why should the company buy them a new chair?

I think the fat acceptance movement is to fight discrimination like this. I'd have to admit myself that I'd be guilty of making judgements if I was hiring. They might be just as qualified as the next person but personally I'd probably be judgmental towards a 400lb person. I know its unfair but its part of the persons appearance. Just like you'd get judged by your clothes and anything else on an interview, very excessive weight is also another part that distracts people from your skills.

I don't even know how you can accomplish this movement without making it seem like its okay to get to such an unhealthy weight. How do you get people to put aside their judgements about very obese people without ingraining in people that living that way is okay?

StarvingDiva

A person is more than their weight. They have thoughts, feelings, desires, and emotions just like a skinny person. To me, "fat acceptance" isn't saying being fat is healthy, or ideal, or idolized. Its accepting that the adjective "fat" isn't the sole defining characteristic of a person. Fat people deal with a lot of assumptions made about them - they're lazy, dumb, slow, low-class. You see a person, and judge them immediately, simply because of their weight. That is unfair, and dehumanizing. We all have an inner life that lives on regardless of how our exterior appears.

Fat people know they're fat. They're not blind. To me, fat acceptance is recognizing the person within the person, and treating them with the same humanity we should treat all others. Be kind, as everyone is carrying within them a struggle.

Well Said.

rawfull

I agree with your comment totally. I feel obesity is caused by people medicating themselves for the emotional pain in their lives.
Dr. Gabor Mate explains that all addictions, overeating, smoking, drinking, gambling, compulsive shopping, and drugs are simply people medicating the pain in their lives. Dopamine levels in the brain have much to do with overeating.

naomi8888

OK I thought that would just be covered under all the other general anti-discrimination laws. I agree that they should be entitled to the same as everyone else but I don't think they should be entitled to extras, ie larger seats, convenient parking, etc. After all there is (usually) a fairly easy treatment for obesity.

naomi8888

I have to disagree on one point, obesity is not like smoking at all. You don't have to smoke to live, but you have to eat. And your eating patterns, attitude towards food, and tendency toward obesity are all set when you're young when you simply have no control over it. If you're an overweight child you've got a lifetime of fighting against obesity ahead of you.

Now, regarding this movement: I'm still a fat person myself, having just dropped from an obese BMI to an overweight BMI, And having faced size discrimination myself, I fully believe that a person is not their weight.

However, I don't give much credence to the fat acceptance movement. It would be one thing if the movement, from what I know of it, was encouraging its members to work toward a healthy weight, but they're not. The message that I've heard from them is that fat people are fine just the way they are, and **** anyone who doesn't like it.

I chose not to like it.

Their movements message is "People are weak and wont be able to change/learn how to maintain their weight, so society needs to adapt to them".

Did you miss this part in the first couple of lines???

"I have to disagree on one point, obesity is not like smoking at all. You don't have to smoke to live, but you have to eat."

Yeah we all have to eat, but we can choose what and how much.

Biggipooh

I think people are not reading the site.

Its saying society should change for obese and super obese people.

Should a transit company have to build bigger buses for people that weight 300lbs plus?
Should airlines have to make seats bigger for 300lbs +

Also they are saying people cannot control themselves so regulations should be imposed to force people to accept everything

Its a crock of ****. I am not saying discriminating against fat people should be tolerated, but forcing society to accommodate them is not the way to go about it.

Its just another way to dumb down america any way you slice it. There cannot be a gap between people economically or physically so the government and special interests groups will try and close that gap by putting an upper limit on what someone can do/think.

This is a very friendly country. They like to accommodate everyone. When I first came to the US, I saw, that pretty much everything here is translated into spanish. Instead of people forcing to be integrated and learn english. I am from germany and a lot of turkish people live there but nowhere you will see translations into turkish. It's like, they don't give a sh... over there. (I don't know if thats good or bad.....) When a very obese person walks around in germany, everyone turns their heads or makes comments. This is very different over here. People have way more acceptance.

fraser112

I have to disagree on one point, obesity is not like smoking at all. You don't have to smoke to live, but you have to eat. And your eating patterns, attitude towards food, and tendency toward obesity are all set when you're young when you simply have no control over it. If you're an overweight child you've got a lifetime of fighting against obesity ahead of you.

Now, regarding this movement: I'm still a fat person myself, having just dropped from an obese BMI to an overweight BMI, And having faced size discrimination myself, I fully believe that a person is not their weight.

However, I don't give much credence to the fat acceptance movement. It would be one thing if the movement, from what I know of it, was encouraging its members to work toward a healthy weight, but they're not. The message that I've heard from them is that fat people are fine just the way they are, and **** anyone who doesn't like it.

I chose not to like it.

Their movements message is "People are weak and wont be able to change/learn how to maintain their weight, so society needs to adapt to them".

Did you miss this part in the first couple of lines???

"I have to disagree on one point, obesity is not like smoking at all. You don't have to smoke to live, but you have to eat."

Yeah we all have to eat, but we can choose what and how much.

I would say smoking is harder,

Nicotine is a real addiction

Glutony is an emotion addiction { all in the mind }

somuchsolittle

OK I thought that would just be covered under all the other general anti-discrimination laws. I agree that they should be entitled to the same as everyone else but I don't think they should be entitled to extras, ie larger seats, convenient parking, etc. After all there is (usually) a fairly easy treatment for obesity.

I see these proposals in favor of those for whom the "usual" treatment may not apply to. The fear is that FA is going to make people delight in being overweight/obese when in reality I find it hard to imagine that the average person is going to go, "oh, a bigger seat? guess i can eat that box of donuts today. let's pile it on! yippee." Or that someone's going to want to stay fat or gain just because they might have a better shot at a parking space closer to a building.

dad106

I've read the site and I think it's ridiculous.

My parents have a friend who is obese and has a whole host of health problems(hardened arteries, hammer toes, bad knees, and the list goes on) and yet she won't fix them because it costs too much money. She talks about losing weight but she can't do anything specific because her husband has to eat "real food". She can't walk more then a few steps without being winded... and when my mom and her went to an outdoor mall, they had literally drive to every store because she wasn't able to walk to them.

I just look at her and wonder.. who would want that quality of life for themselves? I know I wouldn't.. So why should we encourage this quality of life for others?

heretocount

My opinion on the Body-Acceptance (anti body-shame) is that there is a difference between accepting your body & LOVING/being comfortable with yourself.
Can someone overweight honestly say they're happy with themselves? The troubled movement, weakness of breathe, unhealthy lifestyle? I doubt it. That they're perfecting fine with not changing it?

But that is just me.

here's the thing not all people who have access body fat are out of shape when I was in my early 20's I was about 220, I am 5'8 and I was doing palaties every day, riding my bike up hill for hours, I also unloaded truck by hand and out worked most of the guy's I worked with, then went and weight lifted at the gym, I was very inshape for and not just for an overweight person, PLUS I eat healthy foods, water, milk, mineral water (nothing eles) home made ffod like chicken, fish, oat meal, eggs, salad every day with the vinigeret dressing, and five fruits a day, not servings but whole fruits, I had no medical problems, and could run a mile streight threw in about 12 min, which my skinny sister could baarly walk up the stairs with out huffing, I could run up them.

The only thing the doctars could say was unhealthy about me was that my weight reflicted a weight they said was to high, other then that I was healthy as a horse

naomi8888

I know what you mean, they hardly will gain weight for those little perks BUT I don't think they should get extras that someone at a normal weight doesn't or else it's kind of reverse discrimination.

Thesoundofwolf

Its like, it can go bad really fast- I feel.

I mean its your body, do what you want- its not like you're hurting me.

But I know what I want for my body.

Size doesn't matter, health does. There is health at all levels of 'weight'.

somuchsolittle

I know what you mean, they hardly will gain weight for those little perks BUT I don't think they should get extras that someone at a normal weight doesn't or else it's kind of reverse discrimination.

I can understand where that feeling comes from, but there's no such thing as reverse, well, any discrimination. Think about it, you're saying that a couple of accommodations in a world that is literally designed against people like this, would be discrimination against those who fit the norm? I don't think that follows. It doesn't mean everything is suddenly geared for the disadvantaged group. It doesn't automatically make it a world where average/thin people are discriminated against. They'd still be a part of the "norm'. You'd still have the same opportunities you did before. It's not taking anything away.

naomi8888

I know what you mean, they hardly will gain weight for those little perks BUT I don't think they should get extras that someone at a normal weight doesn't or else it's kind of reverse discrimination.

I can understand where that feeling comes from, but there's no such thing as reverse, well, any discrimination. Think about it, you're saying that a couple of accommodations in a world that is literally designed against people like this, would be discrimination against those who fit the norm? I don't think that follows. It doesn't mean everything is suddenly geared for the disadvantaged group. It doesn't automatically make it a world where average/thin people are discriminated against. They'd still be a part of the "norm'. You'd still have the same opportunities you did before. It's not taking anything away.

I know what you're saying but you could reverse it to say "non-fat people only get smal seats" and "non-fat people have to park further away". I'm all for not discriminating against fat people getting a job, etc where all things are equal but I don't think we need to be giving them extra perks when they are generally choosing to make themselves fat.

I also wouldn't say that smokers shouldn't be given extra breaks at work. Alcoholics and drug addicts shouldn't be getting extras either. I kind of think "choose the behaviour then choose the consequences"

victoria4321

Its like, it can go bad really fast- I feel.

I mean its your body, do what you want- its not like you're hurting me.

But I know what I want for my body.

Size doesn't matter, health does. There is health at all levels of 'weight'.

So you believe there can be health at 200+ extra pounds of body fat kind of over weight? A lot of this fat weighing the person down,surrounding the heart and other organs, putting extra stress on the body? How is there health at this level of weight?

The whole reason people are against this is someone in such poor shape becoming the norm hurts everyone. Its even worse when that person is choosing to be unhealthy. Same goes for people with other unhealthy habits such as smokers. Who do you think ends up paying when an unhealthy, by choice, person has to lose their job and be hospitalized? Who pays when this person gets so sick to the point they're on disability? I understand anyone can get sick but why increase your chances?

Also even if it didn't hurt you tax wise or financially, it should hurt you when you see other people doing unhealthy things with their body. After all they're still human. I think the whole attitude that's like "oh you can kill yourself if you want, its your body" is a bit twisted actually. Its pretty sad that as a country we let everyone get to such an unhealthy and obese place by pushing cheap food on everyone and making healthy food hard to access for many people. That should hurt everyone even if it isn't affecting you directly.

The whole fat acceptance part now is just a way to hide the real issue which is that people need a better environment that promotes health and well being.

NeverGoinBack2012

I think this is just another crock. Another way for people to lack personal accountability...removing consequences for poor choices. Really, build bigger seats? Who's going to pay for it? If you eat too much and don't move around, your body will respond with weight gain. If you do nothing to change that reality, it will continue. The result, you won't fit into furniture, bus seats, cab seats, plane seats, and ultimately, you won't like yourself very much. Why? Because you aren't being good to yourself. Being overweight is not healthy all the way around. It negatively affects your physically, emotionally, and mentally. I would say it's a spiritual condition.

I have struggled with extra weight ever since I've had children. When we put food at the center of our world, it's like worshiping a false god. Food is needed to provide fuel for our bodies. It isn't an activity, our best friend, our love, or a way to "check" out. But that's how people relate to it in this society. We do it with other false gods...drugs, alcohol, sex, what we choose for entertainment.

It's really a reflection of the direction our society is going when we "enable" people to harm themselves. People deserve love and respect. But when they want us to "approve" of their abuse of the only body they will ever have, there needs to be some consequences. Consequences, when examined honestly, are the stepping stones to change.