Fat Positivity?
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Yes, but as a medicine student, I know what I'm talking about. They're usually kidding themselves. It puts so much strain on their organs and is extremely damaging to their joints. Yet they claim to be healthy.
This arrogance will make you a bad doctor. You are 20, so likely 2nd or 3rd year of college or, if not in the US you still have 3-6 year to be a doctor. Most good doctors know that at best they have an educated guess and that their "knowledge" base can and will be overturned time and time again.
Being slightly overweight is often a long term statistical indicator of better health than being slightly underweight. There are now many epidemiological studies that demonstrate this; it also highlights that weight isn't the only health factor.
People that have joint issues know it, they aren't usually kidding themselves, they are quite aware of the issue. Perhaps a few people are in denial but my professional experience (as a hip prosthetic designer/biomaterials researcher for 6 years in which I saw hundreds of patients) is that the overweight person with joint pain is well aware of the weight contribution to the issue. If they could wave a magic wand and magically reduce their weight they would. It's a pretty easily litmus test question.
For many people who are overweight, having a positive attitude about themselves can be an essential step to losing weight. Feel good and you might have the energy to change while negativity about the body, depression may lead some down the path of fatalism and giving up. In this sense accepting yourself, being happy may be factors of success in weight loss.
Thank you for pointing out what I was going to mention about the arrogance. As a student, it is your job to learn, not assume that you already know.0 -
I think we need to stop judging fat versus thin and look more at healthy versus unhealthy. You can be thin and be pretty unhealthy, you can have a little extra and be very healthy, and vice versa. Will a 300lb overweight person be without malady? Nope, but neither will and 87lb adult. Personally I have tried to make a huge effort to hold my judgment about peoples' bodies until I know how they choose to care for them. Hopefully one day, Fat/Thin Positivity can just become wellness positivity. Creating more ingroups/outgroups in our society doesn't get us anywhere.0
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I don't believe in judging anyone based on body type OR health status. It's ridiculous. Someone else's health is none of my business if I'm not their doctor. (Spoiler alert: never going to be. I'm a communications major). Being a doctor in general doesn't make it right either, not unless they've invited your scrutiny and opinion. Did they come to you for health advice? Yes? Go for it. No? Keep walking.
There's no way that any of us can know a strangers health just by looking at them, not really. Pretending that we can see how healthy another person is just by the amount of fat on them is ridiculous and incorrect. For example:
I was overweight most of my life, but I was always healthy. Doctors never gave me anything but a clean bill of health. That never stopped my family and the people around me from weight-shaming me into what would eventually become a totally out of control eating disorder. Why? They knew my doctors weren't concerned (outside of "Are you active?" The answer to which was always, "Yes".) so why were they? The answer: it's more to do with fat and myths about fat than real health concern.
When I dropped 70lbs in a frighteningly short amount of time through a combination of fasting, purging, and over exercising, my family praised me constantly for how "beautiful" and "healthy" I was becoming. The appearance of my thinner body represented this to them. I was healthier fat.
Now, of course, I'm in treatment and in recovery, and looking to be the healthiest version of me that I can be. With my PCOS, the healthiest version might always be a little heavy. That's just fine. I'm entitled to love myself despite the fact that I may never be perfectly thin. I'm allowed to love myself WITH my fat, rather than "in spite" of it. That will never be anyone's business but my own.
And anyway, being fat will never make anyone any less of a person. Being unhealthy (and these things should always be considered separately) will never make anyone any less of a person. What does make you more/less better/worse is how you treat people.0 -
In my expereince students really don't know...............hence they are studentsYes, but as a medicine student, I know what I'm talking about. They're usually kidding themselves. It puts so much strain on their organs and is extremely damaging to their joints. Yet they claim to be healthy.
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People should be accepted for themselves. It would be a much better world if this were the case.
Taking time to accept a person for their inner qualities is really most important to me, not the packaging they come in.
It is not for me to judge appearance of another person. I do know that for me, losing weight has made me a lot less defensive of my own appearance, knowing that excess weight is not an immediate issue to some people.
Right or wrong, that is the society we live in, and there will always be some issue for someone to find fault with. Human nature.0 -
I don't believe in judging anyone based on body type OR health status. It's ridiculous. Someone else's health is none of my business if I'm not their doctor. (Spoiler alert: never going to be. I'm a communications major). Being a doctor in general doesn't make it right either, not unless they've invited your scrutiny and opinion. Did they come to you for health advice? Yes? Go for it. No? Keep walking.
There's no way that any of us can know a strangers health just by looking at them, not really. Pretending that we can see how healthy another person is just by the amount of fat on them is ridiculous and incorrect. For example:
I was overweight most of my life, but I was always healthy. Doctors never gave me anything but a clean bill of health. That never stopped my family and the people around me from weight-shaming me into what would eventually become a totally out of control eating disorder. Why? They knew my doctors weren't concerned (outside of "Are you active?" The answer to which was always, "Yes".) so why were they? The answer: it's more to do with fat and myths about fat than real health concern.
When I dropped 70lbs in a frighteningly short amount of time through a combination of fasting, purging, and over exercising, my family praised me constantly for how "beautiful" and "healthy" I was becoming. The appearance of my thinner body represented this to them. I was healthier fat.
Now, of course, I'm in treatment and in recovery, and looking to be the healthiest version of me that I can be. With my PCOS, the healthiest version might always be a little heavy. That's just fine. I'm entitled to love myself despite the fact that I may never be perfectly thin. I'm allowed to love myself WITH my fat, rather than "in spite" of it. That will never be anyone's business but my own.
And anyway, being fat will never make anyone any less of a person. Being unhealthy (and these things should always be considered separately) will never make anyone any less of a person. What does make you more/less better/worse is how you treat people.
I'm really glad you're my friend on here
you took the words right out of my mouth. 
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I don't agree with bashing people of ANY body type. When you're fat, especially VERY fat, you face loads of discrimination. Those types of problems shouldn't be fixed by losing weight, they should be fixed by changing society so we're not seeing fat people as not being worthy of respect.
This.
Double-this.0 -
I'm entitled to love myself despite the fact that I may never be perfectly thin. I'm allowed to love myself WITH my fat, rather than "in spite" of it. That will never be anyone's business but my own.
And anyway, being fat will never make anyone any less of a person. Being unhealthy (and these things should always be considered separately) will never make anyone any less of a person. What does make you more/less better/worse is how you treat people.
I'm really sorry to hear about how your family behaved; my family is very much the same, especially my father. Good luck in your future health!
(And your whole response was perfect; but someone has just quoted the whole thing above me, so.)0 -
I don't believe in judging anyone based on body type OR health status. It's ridiculous. Someone else's health is none of my business if I'm not their doctor. (Spoiler alert: never going to be. I'm a communications major). Being a doctor in general doesn't make it right either, not unless they've invited your scrutiny and opinion. Did they come to you for health advice? Yes? Go for it. No? Keep walking.
There's no way that any of us can know a strangers health just by looking at them, not really. Pretending that we can see how healthy another person is just by the amount of fat on them is ridiculous and incorrect. For example:
I was overweight most of my life, but I was always healthy. Doctors never gave me anything but a clean bill of health. That never stopped my family and the people around me from weight-shaming me into what would eventually become a totally out of control eating disorder. Why? They knew my doctors weren't concerned (outside of "Are you active?" The answer to which was always, "Yes".) so why were they? The answer: it's more to do with fat and myths about fat than real health concern.
When I dropped 70lbs in a frighteningly short amount of time through a combination of fasting, purging, and over exercising, my family praised me constantly for how "beautiful" and "healthy" I was becoming. The appearance of my thinner body represented this to them. I was healthier fat.
Now, of course, I'm in treatment and in recovery, and looking to be the healthiest version of me that I can be. With my PCOS, the healthiest version might always be a little heavy. That's just fine. I'm entitled to love myself despite the fact that I may never be perfectly thin. I'm allowed to love myself WITH my fat, rather than "in spite" of it. That will never be anyone's business but my own.
And anyway, being fat will never make anyone any less of a person. Being unhealthy (and these things should always be considered separately) will never make anyone any less of a person. What does make you more/less better/worse is how you treat people.
I'm really glad you're my friend on here you took the words right out of my mouth. :flowerforyou: 0 -
I'm entitled to love myself despite the fact that I may never be perfectly thin. I'm allowed to love myself WITH my fat, rather than "in spite" of it. That will never be anyone's business but my own.
And anyway, being fat will never make anyone any less of a person. Being unhealthy (and these things should always be considered separately) will never make anyone any less of a person. What does make you more/less better/worse is how you treat people.
I'm really sorry to hear about how your family behaved; my family is very much the same, especially my father. Good luck in your future health!
(And your whole response was perfect; but someone has just quoted the whole thing above me, so.)
It's always the fathers, isn't it? :P Best wishes to you, too!0 -
I'm entitled to love myself despite the fact that I may never be perfectly thin. I'm allowed to love myself WITH my fat, rather than "in spite" of it. That will never be anyone's business but my own.
And anyway, being fat will never make anyone any less of a person. Being unhealthy (and these things should always be considered separately) will never make anyone any less of a person. What does make you more/less better/worse is how you treat people.
The people who have issues with this "movement" don't have a problem with people being happy with their bodies. The problem is when people inside the group begin discriminating against those outside the group, in this case, thin or average people being called out and bashed online and in real life. I have witnessed this happening.
I'm all for body love, whatever, but I don't think the example these "Tumblr fatspo bloggers" is in any way helpful for their cause. When was the last time you listened to or learned something positive from a man screaming on the street? I see no difference between this and ranting, disgruntled bloggers, who attack others with words. They need to figure out the right way to deliver their message without being so hateful and angry.0 -
The people who have issues with this "movement" don't have a problem with people being happy with their bodies. The problem is when people inside the group begin discriminating against those outside the group, in this case, thin or average people being called out and bashed online and in real life. I have witnessed this happening.
I'm all for body love, whatever, but I don't think the example these "Tumblr fatspo bloggers" is in any way helpful for their cause. When was the last time you listened to or learned something positive from a man screaming on the street? I see no difference between this and ranting, disgruntled bloggers, who attack others with words. They need to figure out the right way to deliver their message without being so hateful and angry.
Now, that's just tone policing.
Conveniently enough, it's also not true.
I actually run a body positive blog (I can link it here, if anyone's interested) and I promise that it's never been used to perpetuate "thin hate" or whatever it is that people are supposedly worried about. I can't say that no-one has ever just out and out hated on thin people, but I /can/ say that's not what this movement is about.
That said, who wouldn't be angry? Who wouldn't yell? People (thin ones in particular) have been telling me my whole life "Sweetie you'd look /so good/ if you just dropped, you know, 15-20lbs." They've told me I'm not allowed to wear what I want. (Should you really wear those shorts?) They've told me I'm not allowed to eat what I want. (Maybe you should, you know, skip the bread. All those calories...) They've called me names. (Cow. Fat slut.)
We can't all be Ghandi. Sometimes, it takes anger to make things happen. The goal of fat positive and body positive bloggers is to create safe spaces online for people who have body types that don't fit mainstream beauty ideals. That means people of color, people who are fat, people with disabilities, trans* individuals, etc. These spaces NEED to exist. People need places to learn to love themselves. Society won't be providing them. There's too much money in making people hate themselves. (Too fat? Too ugly? Buy OUR product and we can make you acceptable) Because of that, we have to create them for ourselves.
And actually, people do have a problem with fat people loving themselves. I hear all kinds of horrible comments all day long about how so-and-so really needs to drop some confidence because she's "way too fat" to be as pretty as she thinks she is, or whatever. I've seen it make people genuinely angry. Hell, it used to make /me/ angry, once. When I was, y'know, in the middle of my ed.
The reason for that anger is because it's threatening. It's scary to see someone who's the embodiment of what you've been taught to believe is unloveable loving themselves. It's scary because someone isn't suffering the same fear of fat that you are. It feels unfair that they get to love themselves when you work SO HARD to be the "right" kind of body, and still have trouble.0 -
I'm entitled to love myself despite the fact that I may never be perfectly thin. I'm allowed to love myself WITH my fat, rather than "in spite" of it. That will never be anyone's business but my own.
And anyway, being fat will never make anyone any less of a person. Being unhealthy (and these things should always be considered separately) will never make anyone any less of a person. What does make you more/less better/worse is how you treat people.
The people who have issues with this "movement" don't have a problem with people being happy with their bodies. The problem is when people inside the group begin discriminating against those outside the group, in this case, thin or average people being called out and bashed online and in real life. I have witnessed this happening.
I'm all for body love, whatever, but I don't think the example these "Tumblr fatspo bloggers" is in any way helpful for their cause. When was the last time you listened to or learned something positive from a man screaming on the street? I see no difference between this and ranting, disgruntled bloggers, who attack others with words. They need to figure out the right way to deliver their message without being so hateful and angry.
That is not the message that the majority of fat acceptance bloggers care to advocate. There are a couple people on this thread that have already said they don't like body shaming of any kind, and I'm one more.
I also don't know of "fatspo" existing as a positive thing. I only saw it as friends' Tumblr pics reblogged by anorexic communities as what not to be. No one should be told what not to be if they're not harming anyone (even if that person is harming themselves *in your opinion*).0 -
The people who have issues with this "movement" don't have a problem with people being happy with their bodies. The problem is when people inside the group begin discriminating against those outside the group, in this case, thin or average people being called out and bashed online and in real life. I have witnessed this happening.
I'm all for body love, whatever, but I don't think the example these "Tumblr fatspo bloggers" is in any way helpful for their cause. When was the last time you listened to or learned something positive from a man screaming on the street? I see no difference between this and ranting, disgruntled bloggers, who attack others with words. They need to figure out the right way to deliver their message without being so hateful and angry.
Now, that's just tone policing.
Conveniently enough, it's also not true.
I actually run a body positive blog (I can link it here, if anyone's interested) and I promise that it's never been used to perpetuate "thin hate" or whatever it is that people are supposedly worried about. I can't say that no-one has ever just out and out hated on thin people, but I /can/ say that's not what this movement is about.
That said, who wouldn't be angry? Who wouldn't yell? People (thin ones in particular) have been telling me my whole life "Sweetie you'd look /so good/ if you just dropped, you know, 15-20lbs." They've told me I'm not allowed to wear what I want. (Should you really wear those shorts?) They've told me I'm not allowed to eat what I want. (Maybe you should, you know, skip the bread. All those calories...) They've called me names. (Cow. Fat slut.)
We can't all be Ghandi. Sometimes, it takes anger to make things happen. The goal of fat positive and body positive bloggers is to create safe spaces online for people who have body types that don't fit mainstream beauty ideals. That means people of color, people who are fat, people with disabilities, trans* individuals, etc. These spaces NEED to exist. People need places to learn to love themselves. Society won't be providing them. There's too much money in making people hate themselves. (Too fat? Too ugly? Buy OUR product and we can make you acceptable) Because of that, we have to create them for ourselves.
And actually, people do have a problem with fat people loving themselves. I hear all kinds of horrible comments all day long about how so-and-so really needs to drop some confidence because she's "way too fat" to be as pretty as she thinks she is, or whatever. I've seen it make people genuinely angry. Hell, it used to make /me/ angry, once. When I was, y'know, in the middle of my ed.
The reason for that anger is because it's threatening. It's scary to see someone who's the embodiment of what you've been taught to believe is unloveable loving themselves. It's scary because someone isn't suffering the same fear of fat that you are. It feels unfair that they get to love themselves when you work SO HARD to be the "right" kind of body, and still have trouble.
QFE!!!!!!!0 -
This whole "being fat and happy is ok, you can't be happy with your fat" thing is a load of bs. Who are ya'll to tell people how to feel about their bodies and their fat just because you didn't like being fat? How is any of it even your business? The bottom line is, people shouldn't HAVE to lose weight to be treated like a human being, which is essentially what a lot of people on this thread are saying. "Their problems could be solved by losing weight" ... so these people who are happy with their bodies should lose weight so people will respect them and treat them with some dignity? That's the biggest load of body-shaming health bs I've ever heard. It's not your business if someone loves being fat or doesn't care about losing weight, stop projecting your socially constructed self-hatred of fatness onto the people who enjoy being fat and don't see it as a struggle. But it's unhealthy you'll say... So? Focus on your own health, if someone has cancer (not that being fat is like cancer but follow me here) will you give them *kitten* for not wanting to get chemo or surgery? They've come to terms with what it is and they reserve the right to make their own health decisions without ya'll slamming them for not wanting to be like you. For some reason, people who lose a lot of weight think they're above people who are still heavy... This complex has got to go, stop focusing on people who are able to happy in a place you were miserable and deal with yourself.0
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I don't agree with the fat bashing, but the recent "fat girl dancing" video with Whitney Thorpe and the explosion of the "No Body Shame Campaign" is absolutely what sprung me into action. I had been ignoring my slowly creeping up weight over the past few years and was slapped in the face a few months ago when I realized I was a pu$$y hair away from 200.
Someone said it earlier fat and happy- fine, but happy with fat, no.
Yes, everyone should love themselves for who they are, not their weight, their pant size, their waist measurement, but not viewing obesity as something that needs to be addressed is foolish. When I made a list of my problems, both physical and mental- many of them are going to be solved by losing weight. The financial issues will be *enhanced* by losing weight- because everyone knows that a fat person couldn't possibly be competent (sarcastically- but yes- thin over fat gets the job is the ugly truth)0 -
For me, the fat acceptance blogs were instrumental in motivating me to take better care of myself. I felt paralyzed with negative feelings about my body and learning acceptance prompted me to take steps towards eating better and getting more exercise. I'm grateful for the message that we're all worthy of good health, regardless of the size of our bodies.0
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Body discrimination of any kind is wrong. Very slender people get discriminated against, and overweight people do, too. Even muscular people get hate.
It's always wrong. It's always mean. It's never acceptable.0 -
I think it started as a backlash against the disdain/mockery/dislike/discrimination fat people routinely face and it evolved from there. In principle I agree with the message. But trying to justify it on health grounds has gone beyond self-acceptance and into outright denial.
This! OMG I love your profile pic..0 -
The whole fat acceptance trend is one of my favorite rants.
What Abnersama said... it's okay to be fat and happy but not happy with your fat.
It just ain't healthy, people.
THIS^^^
I'm fat, but I'm happy with who I am/relationships/etc... I'm just not happy THAT I'm fat, but that's why I'm doing something about it.
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