Fat-Shaming May Curb Obesity?

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  • Ramberta
    Ramberta Posts: 1,312 Member
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    OP, I have been fat-shamed in some form or another since age 8. It started with my mother sitting me down and telling me that if I continued eating the way I did, I was asking to develop Type II Diabetes, which she herself had just been diagnosed with. (And she was also very overweight.) It continued through school, with examples such as a boy poking me in my leg with a pencil and saying sarcastically, "nice thighs", and a crowd of boys walking behind me in the hall saying "look at that fat b!tch."

    NONE of that shaming inspired me to become thinner. In fact, as many others have said, it only made me want to eat more, because what was the point in trying to do anything else? A depressed mind doesn't think logically. Plus, even though my mother made attempts at getting us to eat healthy (and even took me to three different nutritionists as a child, who all told me basically the same thing), she herself struggled with binge eating and choosing bad foods over good ones more often than not. I am not BLAMING my mother for how I am, before anyone jumps on that-- I am merely pointing out that if fat-shaming worked, I would have lost this weight years ago. But it doesn't. The decision to lose weight-- just like any other major decision a person faces-- is up to THEM, and them ALONE. No one can force your hand, and fat-shaming is a poor way to try and do that!
  • imthejenjen
    imthejenjen Posts: 265 Member
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    When I first joined this site, oct 2012, i didnt see as many rude, ignorant comments. i took 2 months off and im back and im just amazed at how immature and disgustingly rude people are. It literally makes me sick to my damn stomach.

    Did your parents not teach you people ANYTHING? Did you not get spankings when spankings were okay back in the day? Many of you should have.
  • Ramberta
    Ramberta Posts: 1,312 Member
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    When I first joined this site, oct 2012, i didnt see as many rude, ignorant comments. i took 2 months off and im back and im just amazed at how immature and disgustingly rude people are. It literally makes me sick to my damn stomach.

    Did your parents not teach you people ANYTHING? Did you not get spankings when spankings were okay back in the day? Many of you should have.

    I agree. The forums used to be a far more pleasant place in 2011, which was when I first joined.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    but a 99% tax on all those over 12% BF... two things will occur, the will lose weight themselves, or they will be so heavily taxed they will not be able to eat those loose weight that way...no excuse to be fat its a personal choice a poor one that that. being fat is like being a drug addict you choose the lift style if you dont like the way your treated change yourself not others.

    I really, really hope you are exaggerating both the tax and BF% figures for effect! Or do you envisage a future where only Calvin Klein models (men) and professional body builders (women) are allowed any of their wages? :laugh:
  • ImmaZombie
    ImmaZombie Posts: 84
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    Ridiculous. Like people need to be bullied and made feel like outcasts from society even more than they already do. Yeah it may reverse the obesity trend but it'll be replaced by the anorexia and bulemia trends!

    Or suicide trends.....
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
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    There's plenty of fat-shaming going on. If it's supposed to curb obesity, I don't think it's working.
  • Misseena
    Misseena Posts: 55 Member
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    Shaming people (as a general matter and not for anything specific) seems unnecessarily cruel. Thus, arguing that we should shame people for a "good" reason just seems like an excuse to be unnecessarily cruel to other people.

    Even if you can argue that something is for the greater good (which I don't really believe applies here), do you really want to be the one pulling the emotional trigger? For me, the answer is 100% NO! It might be juvenile, but I was taught to treat others the way I would want to be treated.
  • squindles
    squindles Posts: 350 Member
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    [/quote]
    Perhaps, though I never noticed a lack of food. There was much less fast food, but we had Little Debbie and homemade cookies and cakes and ice cream and chips and a lot of other junk food.

    I believe the difference was the amount we sat. We didn't have video games and cable TV. Sitting in the house was no fun back then. We had 3 fuzzy TV channels and parents in the house. so, we went outside and played with our friends because inside was boring. Most households were still one income so kids were home after school and in the summer, instead of in a structured day care. We roamed the woods and rode our bikes. We were too busy to just sit in front of the TV and eat.
    [/quote]

    ^^^ THIS ^^^
  • jennbarrette
    jennbarrette Posts: 409 Member
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    this - "Instead of shaming people, social efforts should focus on forcing food manufacturers and marketers to stop creating what’s been termed an “obesogenic environment.”
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
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    Did anyone else actually read the paper?

    He didn't actually suggest we arm school kids with sticks and send them out to taunt the "fatties"...
  • Spetro83
    Spetro83 Posts: 2 Member
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    Don't they realize that people are already generally rude to obese people, or does Tyra have to put that fat suit on again? Nothing breaks your heart like watching a model in a fat suit try to lift her own luggage into a taxi as men casually stroll by.

    Trust me, people don't need to be encouraged to shame fat people. They figured it out a long time ago.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    Fat-shaming is what's ALREADY happening, and it hasn't been working.
  • chocl8girl
    chocl8girl Posts: 1,968 Member
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    wtf.gif

    tumblr_m8rxckxM6W1r9rdxs.gif

    tumblr_meawt3srtc1rfduvxo1_500.gif
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
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    for those of you who didn't read the article because you were so outraged, the entire thing is pretty much criticism of this guy's idea. everyone seems to pretty much hate it.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
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    I obviously don't think it's right to point at somebody in a grocery store, and yell "Fattie!" at them.

    This article instead points out that between the convenient bad food choices which are thrown in our faces day in and day out, without proper education on what a real healthy meal looks like, people WILL get fat. Bottom line - that's the problem we are facing.

    You can't tell me that there's no correlation between the availability of super sized fries and people's waist lines. Portions are getting larger, while our activity levels are decreasing. This is why 2/3rds of Americans are overweight - THERE IS A PROBLEM.

    I don't think you are doing anybody any harm by telling them the truth. Sometimes it hurts, but it's also necessary.
  • mary_bossard
    mary_bossard Posts: 7
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    I'm not even reading it. I can just imagine. It is putting blame in the individual and no one else is taking any blame. Look at the high processed foods that grow up eating. What about people on welfare who can only afford cans of soup, kraft dinner, etc. I think as a society we should all be looking to curb obesity. People gain weight for all kinds of reasons: depression, child birth, medications, poor diet, physical limitations. I am not trying to make excuses for people, but shaming is not a good way to go about anything. Encouragement and support? Sure. People need to feel self-determined and motivated. People need to want this change for themselves, not because they are bullied into it.

    You're not trying to make excuses for people but that's all you did, foods don't jump in ones mouth, nor does any one type of food make you fat. The chronic over consumption of calories makes you fat, who is in control of that? You are

    People find themselves in the situation they are in for all knids of reasons. If you were taught to eat and live a certain way it can be hard to unchange that behaviour. If all you can afford is cheap processed foods, you have 5 kids to raise, and no money or time for the gym etc it can be hard. When people are just trying to survive and get through the day, it can be hard. I just don't think we should be putting these people down more. I also do not think we should be putting all the blame on the individual. If obesity is such an issue why are there more fastfood places than healthy restaurants? Why are vegtables so expensive but for 1.29 you can feed 2 people with a box of kraft dinner? What about medications that cause weight gain? What about women who give birth and then due to all kinds of reason (money, depression, time) have a really hard time getting back on track?

    People don't just wake up and decide to be obese.

    But clearly you woke up and decided to be ignorant.

    Ah yes excuse after excuse, overeating makes you fat. ZOMG, fast food or processed foods, do they make you fat if you are in a deficit or at maintenance? Eggs, milk, cheese, ground beef, whole chickens, fresh veg is cheap, people are just too lazy to cook stuff, once again it's on the individual and you are are the ignorant one if you thing all these external factors are forcing food down their throats and making people fat


    I'd to address the socio-economic theme that's recurring in this thread.

    Working in medicine has made me VERY jaded as to how "the system" is used & abused; but I've learned some hows & whys of factors that play into the mix.

    In economically depressed areas, ( the projects, wrong side of the tracks,the hood or whatever you want to call it) its a bit difficult to whip up say, grilled chicken breast & steamed broccoli for the kiddos when the nearest place to shop is the corner liquor store.

    Access to "normal" grocery stores is more difficult in these areas, literally. (Yes, there papers, studies, etc., on the subject)
    The further away that one has to travel in order to get to a store to where they can buy the foods you mention is not an excuse, it's a fact. Im certainly not trying to explain/excuse obesity or the food choices that are made; only trying to shed a bit of awareness on the the subject.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
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    Mary_bossard, that makes me so sad. As much as I hate the obesity epidemic, I hate seeing children who aren't given the best start in life or a proper chance even more. :(
  • G30Grrl
    G30Grrl Posts: 377 Member
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    oh ya lets bully people into loosing weight.. that will solve everything... I mean look at how good it works in schools.
    This^^^

    And BTW, fat-shame me, and you just might find yourself with a black eye. Or two, if I'm having a bad day.
  • aekimz23
    aekimz23 Posts: 112 Member
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    Bullying does not make for good motivation. Why, instead of saying, "Hmm, we should SHAME fat people into losing weight," wouldn't he say, "We should show admiration and appreciation for those who have lost and are losing a significant amount of weight?" Personally, I'm inspired everyday by the success stories board here on MFP. I'm not motivated by seeing someone throw a twinkie at a fat person who's making an effort to jog outside.
  • cksoto
    cksoto Posts: 50 Member
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    Yes because clearly I wouldn't hear you lumbering towards me and I couldn't just walk away at a quickened pace with you wheezing and trying to catch up


    Out of this whole topic, I found this the most offensive. Seriously? I mean the whole conversation/argument showed what a jerk this guy is, but his last statement..wow.

    My opinion, shaming is not the way to go. Most people that are obese have underlying emotional and mental abuse attributed to thier predicament, me included. When I was a young teenager, I was maybe 20-30 pounds overweight, however because of the bullying/shaming I recieved in highschool and because bullying and shaming was also part of my home life from my sister and brothers I became withdrawn and found a friend in food. It was the one thing I took comfort in.

    Now fast forward to me as an obese adult. I have been obese for the better half of my 30's, I'm now thirty seven, because of those scars from childhood and even adulthood from coworkers, I find it hard not to get out of that mentality that I'm not worthy enough to have a better life outside of being that little fat girl that grew up to be that big fat woman.

    Six years ago I lost 120 pounds putting me at my lowest weight since highschool. Weighing 180 pounds, took me out of the obese category and put me into the overweight category, and I was determined to get to my goal weight, but with another failed chance at getting pregnant (infertility issues) I let my world crumble back in on me. It is so easy to backslide and start believing those things that you were told since you were a lil kid. The shaming and bullying stays with you. And if you are not strong enough you start believing all that cruel stuff and drown in it.

    I'm trying to lose weight again, and I'm going to. Not because shaming or bullying has made me stronger, but because I refuse to believe that I'm not worthy of something more, something better..something healthier. I don't need to be told that I'm a fattie, I just need to be told that I'm worthy.

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