How do you feel about fat pride?

I went into a coma from drinking myself into one - confrontation stinks, but being a former hardcore substance abuser that confrontation not only saved my life, it made me the perfect model for the next michelangelo's David. :bigsmile:

Now that explains a lot..ain't none as zealous as the newly converted.

It doesn't help when obesity is called a disease. Being fat is not the same as having cancer.

I too have been overweight for the majority of my life. It took the scare of diabetes taking my foot to wake me up. "Fat Pride" to me is just another excuse to avoid the reality of being heavy and so obsessed with food. I have changed my eating habits and eating healthier. No Excuses Please.

I think no matter your size, shape, orientation, color or whatever ... You should have pride and be proud of who you are and love yourself...Do I think we need all these "pride" movements...no they are just getting annoyhing.

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I have trouble wrapping my mind around this. I do believe everyone at every size should have acceptance for who they are. They need to love themselves first and foremost.

But, I think everyone featured in that article needs to lose weight. A lot of weight. The healthy way. I honestly do. Maybe accepting themselves and loving themselves will be their first step to losing the weight they need to lose.

Though I've been in the 'obese' range for my height, I've never been that big & I took immediate action on my weight loss when I realized I was gaining so swiftly... so I really can't relate.

I think "fat pride" is a bit of a misnomer. I've never come across anyone that has been actively proud of being overweight. I think the purpose is to encourage people to find their inner strength/worth, while being fat. Not letting the label define all aspects of their life.

Which, IMO is really important. I'm overweight. I was diagnosed with "severe depression". I started treatment immediately. It was about six weeks later that I started liking who I was - finding worth in myself. Which led to me wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, which lead me here (20 pounds lighter so far).

You have to feel like you're worth it - why else would you pursue living a healthier life? You can't change and make better choices until you've decided to invest in yourself. That's what I feel like this "movement" (or whatever it is) is about.

All my opinion, of course.

everyone should love themselves no matter what size they are but fat pride is dangerous imo. no one has to to be morbidly obese and they can do something about if they choose to do something about it

Why not just call it self-pride and leave the fat out? Or is that too simple a solution?

In a perfect world this could apply to anybody. The reason people respond with "fat pride" is due to all of the "fat shame", and some people are not OK with allowing others to have self-esteem if they are large. Why I have no idea but I think it has been pretty well expressed several times in this thread. People think larger folks have no right to feel good about themselves. Which is fine if you can keep that line of thinking to yourself, unfortunately though it shows up in forms of discrimination and other sublimated hatred. There is also a number of people who just bully others based on anything they can, and in my honest opinion they don't want people to get healthy. Haters gonna hate.

All in all I really agree with your statement and now I guess I have to look at some Drop Dead Diva.

Why care about what others think, whether they approve or not, whether they think one should not feel good about oneself or should feel good about oneself? "Fat pride" is very much in tune with what the rest of the world thinks or doesn't think, but ultimately nobody can command me to feel something; it has to come from within. If hatred exists, one ought to find various "survival skills" in one's mind and respond in a calm way, perhaps just walk away. Silence is a very powerful tool, but that's something many don't seem to grasp.

If someone "hates on" (oh goodness how I detest that expression, it's utterly ridiculous) another person and that person responds in a dignified way, be it in words or silence, the crap might soon stop when the "haters" notice their efforts have no effect. They might keep trying for a while, stop altogether or keep going forever, but again, who cares? If pathetic minds have nothing else to do with their time, then let them keep going; it says so much about them as people.

Do you think your day would be any different if I told you a huge bunch of nasty stuff about your appearance and person? It shouldn't and regardless of what the mockery, teasing, bullying is about, people do need to work on their self-esteem. If your day is affected by my very much out of line words, look inwards and stop blaming me. Work on mental strength. You will never know in advance when someone might say something nasty to you, so it might be a smart thing to be prepared for anything at all times. If you have a calm, strong mind, none of it will affect you. "Fat pride" is a bad, weak crutch that will snap under you in no time and you should rely on yourself only.

If it's being used for self-esteem purposes, that's fine. But people shouldn't convince themselves that being overweight or obese is healthy.

Why not just call it self-pride and leave the fat out? Or is that too simple a solution?

In a perfect world this could apply to anybody. The reason people respond with "fat pride" is due to all of the "fat shame", and some people are not OK with allowing others to have self-esteem if they are large. Why I have no idea but I think it has been pretty well expressed several times in this thread. People think larger folks have no right to feel good about themselves. Which is fine if you can keep that line of thinking to yourself, unfortunately though it shows up in forms of discrimination and other sublimated hatred. There is also a number of people who just bully others based on anything they can, and in my honest opinion they don't want people to get healthy. Haters gonna hate.

All in all I really agree with your statement and now I guess I have to look at some Drop Dead Diva.

Why care about what others think, whether they approve or not, whether they think one should not feel good about oneself or should feel good about oneself? "Fat pride" is very much in tune with what the rest of the world thinks or doesn't think, but ultimately nobody can command me to feel something; it has to come from within. If hatred exists, one ought to find various "survival skills" in one's mind and respond in a calm way, perhaps just walk away. Silence is a very powerful tool, but that's something many don't seem to grasp.

If someone "hates on" (oh goodness how I detest that expression, it's utterly ridiculous) another person and that person responds in a dignified way, be it in words or silence, the crap might soon stop when the "haters" notice their efforts have no effect. They might keep trying for a while, stop altogether or keep going forever, but again, who cares? If pathetic minds have nothing else to do with their time, then let them keep going; it says so much about them as people.

Do you think your day would be any different if I told you a huge bunch of nasty stuff about your appearance and person? It shouldn't and regardless of what the mockery, teasing, bullying is about, people do need to work on their self-esteem. If your day is affected by my very much out of line words, look inwards and stop blaming me. Work on mental strength. You will never know in advance when someone might say something nasty to you, so it might be a smart thing to be prepared for anything at all times. If you have a calm, strong mind, none of it will affect you. "Fat pride" is a bad, weak crutch that will snap under you in no time and you should rely on yourself only.

I wish I was strong enough to not care at all what people say but even the most iron minded can't just brush that off. They do something to deal with it whether or not it's get up in your face and claim they are proud of something so damn terrible. I grew up in a place where it was horrible things said and thought 99% of the time and the world is simply too beautiful to live that way. The very act of being ready to be cut down at any moment causes the same kind of stress that makes it difficult to lose weight. I wouldn't mind seeing more people take responsibility for themselves and their actions since literally everyone could improve, not just us fatties.

Articles like this make me so angry!
'Fat acceptance' is a load of crap. I totally agree that anti-bullying campaigns are ok when it comes to being fat, no-one should be discriminated for being fat, but taking pride in the fact that you are fat is a whole other matter. The only reason that 'fat acceptance' campaigns exist is because people feel that they cannot do anything about their weight and decide to accept it, rather than change it. This is a lazy way out and it's only going to hurt themselves, no matter if they have 'accepted' it or not. I've never really been fat, but I could tell when I was going down the wrong track and I decided to change it, and from here I've never looked back. There is no way you can accept being 'fat', and people who say they have are only kidding themselves.

Rant over haha

I'm not sure that I completely understand fat "pride" or fat "acceptance". Pride suggests that fatness is something to aspire to, a goal to be achieved, while acceptance makes me think that one is simply resigned to being fat. I guess that's OK, but I just have a hard time wrapping my brain around it.

Personally, I think it's more important to take pride in your accomplishments and in the good you bring to this world, no matter your weight. I'm on board with general SELF-acceptance, and I think we all need to learn to love ourselves (with all of our faults) in order to really become the best versions of ourselves.

If fat pride or acceptance somehow motivates someone to be a better person, then I'm all for it. If it's just a cop-out or an excuse to stagnate or being used as a way to dodge opportunities for personal growth, then I think it's a harmful thing.

I wish I was strong enough to not care at all what people say but even the most iron minded can't just brush that off. They do something to deal with it whether or not it's get up in your face and claim they are proud of something so damn terrible. I grew up in a place where it was horrible things said and thought 99% of the time and the world is simply too beautiful to live that way. The very act of being ready to be cut down at any moment causes the same kind of stress that makes it difficult to lose weight. I wouldn't mind seeing more people take responsibility for themselves and their actions since literally everyone could improve, not just us fatties.

If it causes you stress to be prepared to let stuff flow off of you like the water off a goose, then you're doing it the wrong way. What I mean is when someone says something, you look at it from the outside in a way, see their ugliness and insecurity for what it is (because it takes a very insecure person to need to find strength in ridiculing and belittling others, no strong person has to draw their energy from such behaviour) and realise it has nothing to do with you. And the crap just rolls off, doesn't affect you in any way. You're teflon.

You need to see yourself as the beautiful human being you are and you need to see you do not have to crap on others to feel better about yourself; you are that strong and you have that much integrity. Any man-made concept on the outside of you won't do anything active for your self-image, but every change happens - inside you - because you were ready for it and you made it happen.

As for everyone improving, not just you, you're right. But at the same token, you can't change anyone but yourself, so that's where all your energy should be placed. Once you're strong enough, you can give to others the way they gave to you when you needed it. That act in itself can also be a source of energy, because genuine help offered is usually gracefully accepted and you will feel when you have reached someone else. If you're not there yet, let others help you and learn to ask for help when you need it; I'm sure someone will give you a hand.

*sigh* I usually stay out of the forums, but this popped up in my sidebar this morning and I couldn't resist.

Here's the thing with shaming...no one can "shame" you. You already feel shame, and when someone points out something you already hate about yourself, it just brings it to the surface. So, anyone who claims to be "fat-shamed"...you already are ashamed about that aspect of yourself. If you honestly love your body, love the fact that you are fat, then you won't care what anyone says in regard to your physique.

I've seen a lot of claims throughout this thread regarding fat and/or obesity and health. "But I'm fat and healthy!! My blood work is fine!!" Good for you. Let me ask you a few questions. When was the last time you had an ultrasound on your carotid arteries? An EKG? How are your joints feeling? How tired are you? How much sugar are you craving? And the ultimate question...how long do you think that good blood work is going to last? Mine lasted until I was 32. Some, of course, go much longer depending on family history and lifestyle.

Now, for the Fat Acceptance/Fat Pride/Healthy At Every Size Movement (HAES)....that's an interesting can of worms. Out of morbid (see what I did there?) curiosity, I checked out a variety of blogs from some of the leaders of the movement. While there is a lot of talk regarding acceptance and pride, there is a disturbing amount of childish vitriol towards anyone who does not agree with their position, or, in some cases, just with women who are not of size. I recommend Googling Dances With Fat, This is Thin Privilege, The Fat Nutritionist (this one just blows my mind), and check out #notyourgoodfatty on Twitter.

I'm all for loving who you are, but honesty should play a part in it.