How do you feel about fat pride?

I'm not into shame, it's how I got fat in the first place. At age 8. I am proud, and getting healthier. It seems it's only people well-served by CICO who have an issue with that. I think, "rock on, you are proud!" Maybe I got a little lilt in my step when I told my cousin I lost 20 pounds in 3 months. But it was because of a heck of a lot of work. I had to do astoundingly little to gain weight.... at age 8.

xx

Everybody has the right to feel comfortable in their own skin.

However, expecting a congratulatory pat on the back irrespective of ones' personal choices is amother matter entirely.

"Fat acceptance" =/= "Fat celebration"

Fat acceptance doesn't mean that you can be proud of yourself BECAUSE you're fat, it means you can be proud of yourself EVEN if you're fat. There's a slight difference.

^^ Nailed it.

Yep...the only thing I would add is that it's actually a huge difference.

Honestly, I can see both sides.

On the one hand, no one should be made to feel bad about themselves or discriminated against or treated differently overweight. Fat people have every right to feel good about themselves.

On the other hand, being overweight is so harmful, both to the individual and the culture, that I don't think it should be celebrated. Accepted, perhaps. But not celebrated.

Im all for accepting yourself no matter what size you are, the problem I have are the super mobidly obese people who think its perfectly ok to be lifted out of their home using a crane and draining the dwindling NHS fund. I have been obese, overweight and now "healthy BMI" - I am by far my healthiest now but not because of my dress size or weight, but because i am active and I eat right. I was also told that I dont look as good now that im a "skinny *****" - it goes both ways.

I don't take any pride in being fat, but I do wish people would accept me for who I am, regardless of my size. Fat acceptance, to me, is exactly that. People look at me and assume that I am lazy and unmotivated. The looks that I get when I tell acquaintances some of the things I've accomplished in my life seems unfair. They made the leap that my physical appearance tells a story of failure and sadness, when that's so far from the truth. Instead of calling it fat acceptance, it should be human acceptance. Everyone is different, and our physical characteristics do not define who we are, as people.

I was at a Restaurant that specialises in Chocolate recently, it was a lovely experience. 3 obese ladies came in and proceeded to enjoy the same restaurant. The person who I was with said to me:
"What the hell are they thinking they should not be coming to a place like this, theyre fat enough".
I said to that person, "In all fairness you smoke, how is your smoking any better than their over-eating"
I don't like it when mean things are said to/about people, I don't think judging others helps fix problems.
But I am not naive enough to not be concerned about the preasure that obesity puts on the public healthcare system the same as smoking also has it's costs.
I think the first step to fat acceptance should be realising that youre not treating your body as well as you could and taking small steps to really come into some self acceptance rather than fat acceptance.
:flowerforyou:

Loved your comment.

When I was in high school, I wanted to lose weight to be beautiful. I didn't believe I could be beautiful without being thin. When my grandmother died from complications from her Type-2 diabetes, I was in college, and decided that rather than being "beautiful" (Which I'd already accepted that I was), I wanted to be healthy and extend my life. Being healthy is the most beautiful thing I can think of, because you're working hard to extend your life, and to live well. So many members of my family are on a lot of medications (they had a long conversation about what works best at our annual camping trip this year), and I just don't want to be that person. I want to stay of medications for as long as I possibly can.

HaibaneReki, political correctness means using terminology that people don't find offensive to describe said people. For example, using non-offensive language to describe racial groups.

It is perfectly possible to disagree without using abusive language, so there's no political correctness issue here at all.

aha, I understand - call me medieval, but what I was trying to say is that the more quirks society tolerates and the more it encourages differences the quicker it'll eventually degenerate.

I couldn't disagree more.

Let's all be sheep! That way society won't degenerate

I agree with those who've said that no one should be bullied for being obese. However, our society's negative attitude toward obesity is so deeply entrenched, I don't think that any "fat acceptance" movement is going to change it at all. The day you can stand in the supermarket checkout line and not see tabloid covers of celebrities who got fat, and people stop laughing at pictures of fat people at Wal-Mart, then maybe.

The only problem I have with the fat acceptance movement is their insistence that the health risks of obesity are overblown. How many 80-year-olds do you know that are 150 pounds overweight? The health issues tied to obesity are well documented -- high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, joint problems (particularly in the knees and hips), etc. Sure, not all obese people are unhealthy, and not all non-obese people are healthy. But not all smokers contract lung cancer, and some non-smokers do. That doesn't negate the fact that smoking is a leading cause of lung cancer and other diseases. Most of the obese people I know are on all kinds of meds for various conditions -- in their mid-forties.

What are your thoughts on fat pride? Do you think fat and healthy can go hand in hand? It seems to be an increasing (pardon the pun) movement at present.

I think healthy is a relative term. I know people who have been overweight their entire lives and are in their 60s, 70s and 80s without major health problems. But every single one of them has major joint problems and decreased mobility/quality of life from it. I don't want to be riding around in a scooter when I'm middle-aged because I ruined my knees and hips from weighing too much.

I also think it's important for people to love themselves, no matter what their bodies look like. I don't think you can get to a healthy weight if you hate your body or yourself because of your body. Weight doesn't make a person good or bad, dumb or smart. It's just a physical state.

All that said, I see a LOT of denial and rebellion in this movement and I don't think it's healthy any more than I think groups of anorexics and bullimics cheering each other on is healthy.

HaibaneReki, political correctness means using terminology that people don't find offensive to describe said people. For example, using non-offensive language to describe racial groups.

It is perfectly possible to disagree without using abusive language, so there's no political correctness issue here at all.

aha, I understand - call me medieval, but what I was trying to say is that the more quirks society tolerates and the more it encourages differences the quicker it'll eventually degenerate.

:huh: :noway: Lemmie gues, Mitt Romney supporter?

^lmao :laugh:

that was a good one.

However Rand Pauls for 2016plzz!

:smh: i don't know why we have to compartmentalize everything. how does it help?

we should build up everyone
we should tear down no one
then we wouldn't need reactionary 'movements' to stuff that shouldn't be happening in the first place.
(spoken as someone who has never been fat but who has been disabled and has teh feels.)

can we please stop talking about "___ acceptance" and just do "acceptance"?

hear hear!! - MFP will be the ones to usher in this new utopia!!

HaibaneReki, political correctness means using terminology that people don't find offensive to describe said people. For example, using non-offensive language to describe racial groups.

It is perfectly possible to disagree without using abusive language, so there's no political correctness issue here at all.

aha, I understand - call me medieval, but what I was trying to say is that the more quirks society tolerates and the more it encourages differences the quicker it'll eventually degenerate.

:huh: :noway: Lemmie gues, Mitt Romney supporter?

LOL I'm not even from the States :bigsmile: anyway, Roman empire much? Not trying to be judgemental or disrespectful, just making an observation. :flowerforyou:

If it makes them smile at the end of the day, yay. Life is too short to be negative and all that jazz...:bigsmile:

How do you feel about fat pride?

I think it doesn't mean what a lot of people here think it means. Also, people put far too much emphasis on weight as a measure of health...I know plenty of "skinny" people who are not remotely healthy; conversely, I have a couple of fat cycling buddies who could definitely stand to lose some weight and they would be better off overall for it...but they are actually far healthier and more fit than a lot of my "skinny" friends.