Fat shaming in the media

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  • ekahnicole
    ekahnicole Posts: 216 Member
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    Some of these are in bad taste. Who has time to get offended though, pfft. I have better things to do with my time xD (Like post here..?)

    I would like to see a billboard or something that shows like 1500-2000 calories worth of fruit, veggies, lean meat, etc compared to 1500-2000 calories of fast food.

    For people that love to eat, seeing the difference might make an impact (since you can eat a lot more) and it would promote making healthy choices in a POSITIVE way.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I'm always frustrated to hear arguments like "Well, thin people get shamed too! So fat shaming is okay!"

    Can we all just agree that shaming people into being healthy (no matter what their size) is mean and counterproductive? I don't know that all the ads in the link are shaming, but if we all just worried more about ourselves and what we are/aren't putting into our own bodies, and got some reasonable amount of exercise, and quit worrying about what everyone else is doing we'd be a lot happier. Health is not necessarily linked to size -- we all anecdotally know some very healthy but heavy people, and some very unhealthy thin people. Health is about doing good to your body. That's it.

    It's not fun to be on the receiving end of shame, period. So let's all just focus on ourselves, and get over it.

    (And if the media would stop being so sensationalist, that would help a whole lot too)

    So do you think the shaming of smokers was counterproductive?
  • TheWiseCat
    TheWiseCat Posts: 297
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    Alright, so you quoted the huffington post which is as laughable as they come and for the most part a bunch of websites made by crazy people pushing their agendas. Props to the credible new sources you chose.

    Secondly, SOME of what the sites say is true, however, it's taken out of context. I again emphasize the same thing I originally said which is that you don't understand PETA's mission. PETA's mission isn't to save every animal on the street and put it in a home - that's the ASPCA's mission. Try doing some credible research into their mission. You may not fully support it. I disagree with aspects of it, but they have big ambitions and are quite successful. That's why it is beneficial to have both the SPCA and PETA - they have different missions and focus on different elements accordingly. You may not wish to put your donations there and you may say "well this could be done different", but that doesn't change that their presence has had huge positive effects on society, animals and other organizations like the SPCA.
  • TheWiseCat
    TheWiseCat Posts: 297
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    I'm always frustrated to hear arguments like "Well, thin people get shamed too! So fat shaming is okay!"

    Can we all just agree that shaming people into being healthy (no matter what their size) is mean and counterproductive? I don't know that all the ads in the link are shaming, but if we all just worried more about ourselves and what we are/aren't putting into our own bodies, and got some reasonable amount of exercise, and quit worrying about what everyone else is doing we'd be a lot happier. Health is not necessarily linked to size -- we all anecdotally know some very healthy but heavy people, and some very unhealthy thin people. Health is about doing good to your body. That's it.

    It's not fun to be on the receiving end of shame, period. So let's all just focus on ourselves, and get over it.

    (And if the media would stop being so sensationalist, that would help a whole lot too)

    So do you think the shaming of smokers was counterproductive?

    Maybe we should have a fat tax?
  • Jackson4590
    Jackson4590 Posts: 145 Member
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    The oatmeal one was perfect. She shouldn't take it down. Facts are facts, but someone might have been offended by a fact? No wonder we are such a fat country. Hell, if everything had calories on it we'd all eat better. Ever notice you eat less pizza at a work meeting than when you order one at home?

    The Peta body scanner was was pretty good, too.
  • LuHox
    LuHox Posts: 136
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    Nice buffer. I'm in a better mood now.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    This is a hard one. On one hand, I don't approve of bullying, or cruelty. One the other hand, I think coddling people when they are doing something wrong can have a very negative effect as well by not addressing the problem. I guess being factual would be the ideal way to go, mainly medically.

    ie, obesity can lead a much higher risk of developing x,y,z etc. and obesity can be combated through a,b,c etc.

    Information and education, not shaming or coddling.
  • butterfli7o
    butterfli7o Posts: 1,319 Member
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    1 - I despise Ashley Madison
    2 - I despise PETA
    3 - I thought the oatmeal one was funny, not offensive.
  • 1stday13
    1stday13 Posts: 433 Member
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    It's not anything new, I don't know where you've been..


    The bagel/oatmeal picture - I saw nothing wrong with it. What I did see wrong with was the caption that said "the last thing we want while walking down the street is to be shamed for our breakfast choices." Um, seriously? Oh yeah. I forgot, everyone wants to be coddled. Better to bury our heads in the sand rather than know how many calories are in what we are consuming. (Although, I love bagels and everyone should eat them)

    The tired of being fat & ugly pic - That's been going around the internet. It's funny. Sorry, not sorry.

    The scale bus stop - You don't have to sit on it... And this may sound bad, but maybe if people were standing a little more, it'd be a move in the right direction. Just saying.


    The PETA pic -" Another one of PETA's misleading ads. According to their ad, being thin, fit, and sexy is the only way to love your body, and the only way to be thin, fit, and sexy is to go vegan. Essentially, what they're saying is that everyone else should be ashamed of their bodies." Um, PETA has an agenda and it's not worrying about fat people. Of course they're saying everyone else should be ashamed of their bodies, everyone else is eating tasty meat and they're against that.


    All of the other ones, yeah they're "offensive" if I let billboards and ads offend me.

    shtf.gif

    What is your obsession with feces, noob? :tongue:
    LMAO!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I would like to see a billboard or something that shows like 1500-2000 calories worth of fruit, veggies, lean meat, etc compared to 1500-2000 calories of fast food.

    For people that love to eat, seeing the difference might make an impact (since you can eat a lot more) and it would promote making healthy choices in a POSITIVE way.

    Imagine that - constructive billboards!
  • joeylu
    joeylu Posts: 208 Member
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    hmmmmm I guess i'm just one of the uneducated
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    I would like to see a billboard or something that shows like 1500-2000 calories worth of fruit, veggies, lean meat, etc compared to 1500-2000 calories of fast food.

    For people that love to eat, seeing the difference might make an impact (since you can eat a lot more) and it would promote making healthy choices in a POSITIVE way.

    Imagine that - constructive billboards!


    That would be awesome! We should do a kickstarter!
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    I'm always frustrated to hear arguments like "Well, thin people get shamed too! So fat shaming is okay!"

    Can we all just agree that shaming people into being healthy (no matter what their size) is mean and counterproductive? I don't know that all the ads in the link are shaming, but if we all just worried more about ourselves and what we are/aren't putting into our own bodies, and got some reasonable amount of exercise, and quit worrying about what everyone else is doing we'd be a lot happier. Health is not necessarily linked to size -- we all anecdotally know some very healthy but heavy people, and some very unhealthy thin people. Health is about doing good to your body. That's it.

    It's not fun to be on the receiving end of shame, period. So let's all just focus on ourselves, and get over it.

    (And if the media would stop being so sensationalist, that would help a whole lot too)

    So do you think the shaming of smokers was counterproductive?

    Smokers were never really shamed. I remember when they had to start putting the warning labels on cigarettes and it started being illegal in more and more places. It stopped being seen as sexy so much.

    Maybe they are shamed now...I don't know because I quit way back. What's really helped, though, is the proliferation of smoking cessation programs. The patch helped me much more than any amount of "smokers stink" would have.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
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    Alright, so you quoted the huffington post which is as laughable as they come and for the most part a bunch of websites made by crazy people pushing their agendas. Props to the credible new sources you chose.

    Secondly, SOME of what the sites say is true, however, it's taken out of context. I again emphasize the same thing I originally said which is that you don't understand PETA's mission. PETA's mission isn't to save every animal on the street and put it in a home - that's the ASPCA's mission. Try doing some credible research into their mission. You may not fully support it. I disagree with aspects of it, but they have big ambitions and are quite successful. That's why it is beneficial to have both the SPCA and PETA - they have different missions and focus on different elements accordingly. You may not wish to put your donations there and you may say "well this could be done different", but that doesn't change that their presence has had huge positive effects on society, animals and other organizations like the SPCA.

    PETA's mission is to do whatever they have to in order to keep reeling in the donations.

    To the tune of $35 million dollars a year.

    Sorry but that is the real mission of PETA.
  • ekahnicole
    ekahnicole Posts: 216 Member
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    I would like to see a billboard or something that shows like 1500-2000 calories worth of fruit, veggies, lean meat, etc compared to 1500-2000 calories of fast food.

    For people that love to eat, seeing the difference might make an impact (since you can eat a lot more) and it would promote making healthy choices in a POSITIVE way.

    Imagine that - constructive billboards!


    That would be awesome! We should do a kickstarter!

    Haha I like the idea of starting something like that. hmm
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
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    Alright, so you quoted the huffington post which is as laughable as they come and for the most part a bunch of websites made by crazy people pushing their agendas. Props to the credible new sources you chose.

    Secondly, SOME of what the sites say is true, however, it's taken out of context. I again emphasize the same thing I originally said which is that you don't understand PETA's mission. PETA's mission isn't to save every animal on the street and put it in a home - that's the ASPCA's mission. Try doing some credible research into their mission. You may not fully support it. I disagree with aspects of it, but they have big ambitions and are quite successful. That's why it is beneficial to have both the SPCA and PETA - they have different missions and focus on different elements accordingly. You may not wish to put your donations there and you may say "well this could be done different", but that doesn't change that their presence has had huge positive effects on society, animals and other organizations like the SPCA.

    PETA's mission is to do whatever they have to in order to keep reeling in the donations.

    To the tune of $35 million dollars a year.

    Sorry but that is the real mission of PETA.

    Yup. With that much a year, they could rent buy advertising for an adoption weekend, rent out a parking lot for the day and put up an adoption website, and then get all the adoptable pets a checkup, spay/neuter, grooming, ect. But they would rather keep it all for themselves, waste it on publicity stunts, and give some of it to eco-terrorists.
  • buhller
    buhller Posts: 28 Member
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    Do I think shaming smokers is counterproductive? Yes, I do. Of all the smokers I've known who've quit, exactly 0 of them have told me they've quit because they were shamed into it. I wasn't kidding when I said shaming people is bad and counterproductive, period. It doesn't matter what the shame is intended to do. Smoking cessation campaigns that are focused on making someone feel "gross" or making other people think smokers are "gross" are mean and don't work. At least the health-based ones (like pictures of damaged organs, or the one I've seen running currently about the former smoker who's also diabetic who lost his leg at a younger age than most diabetics tend to, because of smoking) provide information, sort of like the calorie comparison photo in the OP's link, on which people can choose to make healthy choices, but they ultimately choose to do so for themselves.

    People make long-term positive change in their lives because they decide to do it for themselves, not because of shame. Shame might produce short-term results: someone might choose to have a salad instead of an enormous burger for a day, or they might swear this is their last cigarette, but until they decide they are WORTH changing for, it's not likely to stick.
  • LuHox
    LuHox Posts: 136
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    I would like to see a billboard or something that shows like 1500-2000 calories worth of fruit, veggies, lean meat, etc compared to 1500-2000 calories of fast food.

    For people that love to eat, seeing the difference might make an impact (since you can eat a lot more) and it would promote making healthy choices in a POSITIVE way.

    Imagine that - constructive billboards!


    That would be awesome! We should do a kickstarter!

    I'm for it.
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
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    I didn't read the link--BUT, I think guilt and shame are seriously underrated in today's society--and I also believe the denial/ignoring-downplaying of guilt and shame in today's society (in so many areas of life, especially with the epidemic of obesity in our nation and other nations too) are also a major cause of many (if not most) of our society's ills and woes. I also believe that the lack of guilt and shame about how we live, being replaced by the ever popular and sought after "good" self-esteem, political correctness and this is what I want and I want it now... if it feels good, do it--no matter what anyone else thinks or feels mentality--is going to be the ultimate destruction of our society....:cry::ohwell: :indifferent: :cry:

    Everyone is entitled to their opinions, opinions are like noses...everyone has one or should--this is my opinion:wink:
  • sassafrascas
    sassafrascas Posts: 191 Member
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    I think it's needed. People are more worried about hurting another person's "feelings" than their overall health? It's not just "being fat." Being really overweight can and will kill you! We need to let people know, sure it's "okay" if you choose to live such a lifestyle, but it is NOT healthy and will have consequences. I wish i could see ads like that around me through out the day, it would definitely have an impact on my decisions.

    It's not 'bullying' to make people give up their excuses and admit their wrongdoing.

    Health is mind body and soul. second you cannot make anyone do anything including give up excuses.
    Its all about how your approach the topic instead of saying

    " you are fat disgusting and you are going to die so drop the bagel"
    It would be better to say,
    " Loosing weight is hard but it will be great for your health I know of a site that may help...

    I heard the first one alot, it never made me change it caused me to be depressed and suicidal at times. Eventually I had to stop giving a Ish about what people say and now I am loosing weight because I want to get healthy.

    With all that being said none of the ads in the article bothered me, because I no longer internalize the garbage that comes out of peoples mouths or base my self worth upon it.