Fat-positive Feminism and Weight Loss

This is starting to sound like a Tumblr debate...! Heh.

On that note: I follow a lot of fitness blogs, but I also follow a lot of women who are feminists, or part of the fat acceptance movement... OR Just fat positive/body positive in general.

I AM NOT STATING I AGREE WITH ALL OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION, but these are the statements I see the most when fat acceptance/haes supporters are questioned:

The big reason a lot of them are against dieting or trying to change their lifestyles is because many like to read articles or studies that contradict most of the information we have out there, especially the idea that diet and exercise can "cure" obesity. Here is something I have read myself that may shock you: Scientifically, they have not actually found a cure for obesity. Like any longterm ailment, such as asthma, diabetes, or depression: once you have it chances are it will never go away completely! Even if you have gotten yourself healthy you have to continue managing/treating it for the rest of your life to prevent it from coming back or getting worse. Many studies have found certain people can't ever keep weight off, they just have naturally larger bodies and more fat cells just like other people are underweight regardless of how much or how little they consume. Many also dispute just how bad it is to be overweight or obese in the first place. It is more of a "Why bother?" mentality since many assume any weight loss will not last/will cause more harm than good.

That being said, I don't think carrying a little extra weight is AS MUCH of a problem as doctors and the media make it seem like it is... but once you start getting up there at 40, 50, 100+ pounds it is undisputed that there are certain health risks that dramatically increase. When I was 50 lbs overweight I was exhausted all the time, unable to run up stairs without having to catch my breath, and often I would park it in front of the tv and literally scarf down an entire extra-large tub of Nutella in one sitting. That isn't healthy no matter how big or small a person is.

Fat is often the first thing we look for when we try to figure out if a person is healthy or not, and sometimes that isn't always a very accurate way to look at it. There are plenty of thin people with poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle, they aren't any healthier than I was, but because of genetics it may never catch up with them in terms of weight!


ANYWAY, back to the point: I believe you can be a feminist and body positive no matter what your size, you CAN love your body and still try to lose some weight. The two are not mutually exclusive. I don't believe you should shame anybody for the way they look, fat or thin, because you have no idea what their story is and frankly, unless you are a parent or medical professional, their bodies are none of your business.!

It no longer represents those things, in my opinion. MODERN feminism as a whole, has turned into women playing victims, and wanting to be BETTER than men, not equal to them. We should all be as good as each other, and we have the rights we fought for. Being better than 'the other gender' is not beneficial at all, it's childish.

*Women on average STILL earn less than men for performing the same jobs.

*Women on average STILL comprise less of the power positions in society. (CEO's, Lawmakers, etc etc)

*Women on average STILL fight for equal healthcare.

*Women on average STILL fought to be properly heard in cases of sexual assault.

1. "The day that the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, women earned 59 cents for every dollar a man earned on average. Today, it's about 77 cents," the president said. "Over the course of her career, a working woman with a college degree will earn on average hundreds of thousands of dollars less than a man who does the same work. "

Nonsense. The 77 percent figure is bogus because it averages all full-time women, no matter what education and profession, with all full-time men. Even with such averaging, the latest Labor Department figures show that women working full-time make 81 percent of full-time men's wages. For men and women who work 40 hours weekly, the ratio is 88 percent.

Unmarried childless women's salaries, however, often exceed men's. In a comparison of unmarried and childless men and women between the ages of 35 and 43, women earn more: 108 cents on a man's dollar.

Mr. President, if you're so concerned about the wage gap, why not fix it in your White House? In 2012, female White House staffers made 87 cents on a man's dollar, according to an analysis of published salaries by the Daily Caller.

Women make less than men because they choose more humanities and fewer science and math majors at college. Then, when they graduate, more enter the non-profit or government sector. Finally, many choose to work fewer hours to better combine work and family. In May, 2013, according to Labor Department data, 23 percent of women worked part-time, compared to 11 percent of men."

2. That is not discrimination, it is wholly choice. Women often choose children over being a CEO. A lot of companies these days have female quotas which they need to fill, which in my opinion is actually counteractive to feminism, because it is saying women can't make it on their own merit. This means a lot more staff are women, IF THEY CHOOSE SO. You have the choice to be a CEO tomorrow, the question is do you a) want it? and b) want to put the work in and c) pick it over a family?
'Feminists should admit that working part-time, or not working outside the home, is as valid a choice for women as being Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, or Marissa Meyer, the novelist. A choice of more leisure over more paid work is not a social problem, just as a man who decides to retire early does not face social criticism.'

3. I'm not even entertaining this one, because that is simply not true. If you're referring to 'right to birth control', then I will say I disagree with it completely, because it is not the governments place to take care of it, it's your/ your partners responsibility, no one elses. Please explain what you mean if not that, because there most definitely is equal healthcare in other aspects.

4. Men have literally no voice when it comes to sexual assault cases, and most of the time men being raped is more of a joke than a serious issue. It happens, yet it is not as heard of and it definitely isn't taken seriously. Women are taken seriously at the tiniest complaint, and a lot of claims are proven to be fake, mostly by women (not hating on women, this is fact) and thus, it makes real cases a lot less viewed because a stupid few want to make a joke out of something so bad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_accusation_of_rape#Rumney_.282006.29

We ARE equal, we can vote, we can work or have children, we can make choices. Third worlds countries is a different story, and frankly, I think feminists in developed countries complaining about their 'lack of equal rights' is rich compared to what some women on this earth are forced to do.

Feminism of today is synonymous with spoiled brat syndrome as far as I am concerned. If women care so much about equality, they shouldn't support women having more rights than men. That isn't true equality.

I'm for equal rights for everyone, men and women, and that was achieved many, many years ago.


I am not a Feminist, I detest Feminism as it is TODAY, and do not feel bad about saying it. Weight has nothing to do with feminism, and in the times we are in now, overweight women are a lot more accepted, to say anything else is to have your head buried in the sand. What I'm saying may not be popular but it is the truth.

1. "The day that the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, women earned 59 cents for every dollar a man earned on average. Today, it's about 77 cents," the president said. "Over the course of her career, a working woman with a college degree will earn on average hundreds of thousands of dollars less than a man who does the same work. "

Nonsense. The 77 percent figure is bogus because it averages all full-time women, no matter what education and profession, with all full-time men. Even with such averaging, the latest Labor Department figures show that women working full-time make 81 percent of full-time men's wages. For men and women who work 40 hours weekly, the ratio is 88 percent.

2. That is not discrimination, it is wholly choice. Women often choose children over being a CEO. A lot of companies these days have female quotas which they need to fill, which in my opinion is actually counteractive to feminism, because it is saying women can't make it on their own merit. This means a lot more staff are women, IF THEY CHOOSE SO. You have the choice to be a CEO tomorrow, the question is do you a) want it? and b) want to put the work in and c) pick it over a family?
'Feminists should admit that working part-time, or not working outside the home, is as valid a choice for women as being Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, or Marissa Meyer, the novelist. A choice of more leisure over more paid work is not a social problem, just as a man who decides to retire early does not face social criticism.'

3. I'm not even entertaining this one, because that is simply not true. If you're referring to 'right to birth control', then I will say I disagree with it completely, because it is not the governments place to take care of it, it's your/ your partners responsibility, no one elses. Please explain what you mean if not that, because there most definitely is equal healthcare in other aspects.

4. Men have literally no voice when it comes to sexual assault cases, and most of the time men being raped is more of a joke than a serious issue. It happens, yet it is not as heard of and it definitely isn't taken seriously. Women are taken seriously at the tiniest complaint, and a lot of claims are proven to be fake, mostly by women (not hating on women, this is fact) and thus, it makes real cases a lot less viewed because a stupid few want to make a joke out of something so bad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_accusation_of_rape#Rumney_.282006.29

This. Especially in the 3rd to last paragraph. "spoiled brat syndrome" I'm old enough to remember when women could NOT work outside the home, when we had no choice but to have kids or there was something wrong with us, not being able to buy something on credit w/o my husband and having jokes made by the male bank worker when my husband put me on HIS bank account. When I turned 21 someone shook my hand and said, "Happy Birthday! Your free white and 21. It's just to damn bad your a woman" and the men there laughed. Most of you complaining have absolutely no idea what your talking about. I reference this woman's very well informed post.

2. That is not discrimination, it is wholly choice. Women often choose children over being a CEO. A lot of companies these days have female quotas which they need to fill, which in my opinion is actually counteractive to feminism, because it is saying women can't make it on their own merit. This means a lot more staff are women, IF THEY CHOOSE SO. You have the choice to be a CEO tomorrow, the question is do you a) want it? and b) want to put the work in and c) pick it over a family?
'Feminists should admit that working part-time, or not working outside the home, is as valid a choice for women as being Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, or Marissa Meyer, the novelist. A choice of more leisure over more paid work is not a social problem, just as a man who decides to retire early does not face social criticism.'

Herein lies the problem. You say you're not satisfied with less pay, yet you want to have your cake and eat it, too!! You have to choose: Earn a little money and have a loving family, or earn a lot of money and not have time to have a family because you work your *kitten* off. You can't have everything!!! I reiterate ; spoiled brat syndrome. Men have to work extremely hard for the 'pay increase' that they supposedly get (really, they just work more hours) and they have to sacrifice family time FOR that. Women should expect the same treatment, not better treatment.