Because Fat-Shaming is Sooo Cool

These topics always give me a headache.

You shouldn't be a jerk to people based on their looks be it fat, thin, race or your perception of their attractiveness.

Name calling is bad.

Personally, I will not accept that my extra weight is or was okay (health wise). I did not and do not base my self worth on my weight but I definitely feel better now that I've lost and kept off 40 lbs. Maybe that makes me a bad person within the 'fat acceptance' community because if I feel better now about my current weight, that means I felt worse about myself when I was clinically obese. I understand the idea that you shouldn't hate yourself for being overweight or obese and that you should be able to be a happy person (I was happy despite my weight but not as happy as I am now) but it's the word 'acceptance' that always rubs me wrong.

In all the ways I've ever seen the word acceptance used (except for the title of this movement) it means you've accepted something about yourself (or anyone and anything) that you can't change.You have to accept unchangeable things because the ONLY other alternative is to be miserable. But you can change your weight and fitness level. Maybe if it used a different word, the concept of being able to be a happy person despite your weight might not cause such controversy. It casts an automatic idea to the public at large that those within the acceptance community then have to clarify (as has been done in every thread of this type that I've run across). TLDR: the movement shot itself in the foot with it's poorly chosen, inflammatory name

I always leave these threads thinking the same things:

- Descent people should not use inflammatory language with the intent to shame others.

- Everyone should be able to be a happy, productive person no matter their weight.

- It's hypocritical to call someone out for being a name calling jerk and then do the exact same thing right back.

- I hope that everyone that's overweight/obese one day finds their own desire to become a potentially healthier person.

- Tax payer funded health care makes this topic far more complicated (which I won't touch with a ten foot pole).

- cake > pie

- I like turtles.

You know, for a site where "because science" get said often as a mantra, it's surprising how little people know about the scientific research surrounding obesity that isn't about losing weight but why people become overweight or obese in the first place.

There are genetic factors to it, just like being gay. The genetic contribution to your body weight is the same as that of your height, which is 70%.

Ever met the kid who complained about not being able to gain weight- the skinny awkward teenager who wanted to bulk up? Ever met the girl who no matter how hard she tried and how stringent her diet she couldn't lose weight?

Wanna know why? Because science.

Does an obesogenic environment contribute to obesity? Definitely yes. Do our dietary behaviors impact our weight? Obviously yes. But they aren't the sole reason for one's body weight.

And I won't even touch on the role that socio-economic status plays in obesity trends.

The idea that weight is all personal choice is garbage. I would like to see the scientific papers that prove that it is.

Is alcoholic acceptance a thing? Drug abuser acceptance?

I'm not saying it's laudable to go around haranguing people, but fat acceptance often seems like little more than a thin veneer of rationalization. Yeah, try to be happy whether you're fat, skinny, tall, short, or whatever, but don't act surprised when people have a poor opinion of your voluntary actions.

Fat acceptance is about trying to be happy if you're fat. That's why I said it's just this circle of people who are (or should be, by extension) about being happy whoever you are.

I can't speak for alcoholics or drug abusers. I have never been down that path. But in my life and in the lives of the people I've met through the fat acceptance movement, being able to accept that you are worth the work is a major starting point to getting healthy.

That's not really fat acceptance, though. It's you acceptance. It may be your definition, but you don't have to look far to find people who aren't so much trying to be happy if they're fat, they're happy that they're fat.

Like I said, people who want excuses will usually find one. But for most of my life I was fat. That wasn't just how I looked or how my waistline was. For so many people that was ALL that I was. And that becomes internalized, it becomes believed. I am not unique in that experience. There's threads here on MFP asking users about their experiences about being fat. The things that you hear are heartbreaking. And most people can't pick a handful of experiences. They have hundreds of experiences, because fat is a choice, therefore speaking out against fat people is okay. It's fine to treat them like garbage because they did it to themselves and they have it coming. They don't deserve the respect of other people because they chose this life.

Coming to the realization that I can be fat AND sassy AND educated AND witty AND desirable AND fun is what fat acceptance has been to me. Not all communities are like that. Not all people are like that. But many of them are, and I'm so pleased to promote that.

- cake > pie

- I like turtles.

I was with you all the way down to here. Chocolate pie is better than some cakes. So are apple and tart cherry.

Still, ^ this.

- cake > pie

- I like turtles.

I was with you all the way down to here. Chocolate pie is better than some cakes. So are apple and tart cherry.

Still, ^ this.

Lies. Pie always wins.

I think its more about giving people the chance to learn to care about themselves and who they are inside, so that they can decide to want to become a healthier person.

I agree with Linda Kelsey 100%.

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- cake > pie
...

Ummmmm...

Apparently she can't discern the difference of fat and natural curves!

They were not chubby, but fat. They had bulging bellies and billowing pillows of back and shoulder stuffing, punctured by flabby arms and lardy legs that no amount of fake-tan could disguise.

She's discerning just fine. She's talking about fat. She made that very clear and included helpful pictures. This is not "natural curves" unless you consider "bulging bellies" and "billowing pillows" of rolls on their back to be natural curves.

I have a serious problem with people who use curves and fat synonymously. They are not the same thing. Fat does not mean one is curvy and curvy does not mean one is fat. Please stop misusing this word people.


also

I don't like "fat" shaming. Just as I don't like "skinny" shaming. I hate them both equally.

I also don't like justifications for unhealthy behavior, whether that be being overweight or underweight. I don't think unhealthy behavior should be glamorized.

I agree with what she said.

Fair points. I was just playing Devils advocate because there are people who would say that because they want to be fair/sound politically correct/dodge the bullet of the obesity populations scorn! :indifferent:

This is a topic near and dear to my heart and I would like to share my story. I grew up in Kuwait and Lebanon and during the early days of my youth I was always very healthy and motivated. However when I came to the UK I faced racism and discrimination. People didn't even know what to call me back then. They just knew I was "foreign" This eventually lead to my segregation from normal society for a long long time. I over ate played computer games and indulged in drugs and amateur philosophy because I had literally nothing better to do. My experience with people back then jaded me to human relationships. To me love, friendship,duty, family society it was all a big fat lie an illusory measuring stick that we judge each other by. To an extent I still believe this. And this lead me to separate myself further from people not out of shame but out of disgust. While I was getting fat and lazy and disgusting other people I in turn was disgusted that other people could not see beyond the fact that I was fat and lazy. I was shocked to find that people no longer treated me like a person. More like an animal.

This lead to a downward spiral which eventually resulted in bipolar disorder and an extremely unhealthy relationship with food and a decided unhealthy relationship with cannabis. While I believe that one can have a tempered cannabis habit mine was anything but. I drowned in it and in the distractions it provided.

Honestly I have only fully recovered in the last couple of years. My cannabis habit though still present is definitely under control. I only use it once a week at most rather than drowning in the damn stuff every night. My bipolar mood swings are extremely rare. And I have made some very good friends. Who are frankly the best the human race has to offer and I am not really sure I deserve. But am grateful for all the same. But the point is alone it took me me almost fifteen years to reconcile this. I had no help I felt isolated. And I could so easily have got myself in an irrecoverable position. I don't even know if I could have escaped it without my friends and family.

But beyond my race beyond my attitude beyond anything I was segregated for being FAT. People do not tolerate it. If they let you in their social circle at all it is as a comedy relief. It's disgusting and it has to stop.

So yeah some people are using the "fat acceptance" movement as an excuse to stay fat. But their message is real and people .need to listen to it. It's not ok to dehumanize someone for ANY reason. Least of all being fat.

I am not sure replacing fat with gay is the same thing. You can't change your sexuality. IMO

There are genetic factors to it, just like being gay. The genetic contribution to your body weight is the same as that of your height, which is 70%

Source for this please?

When I was really bored the other day, I calculated roughly how many hours exercise I had done over the last 5 years.... I don't remember how many it was but it was a lot, hundreds probably thousands of hours of intense exercise.

You want to tell me the reason I'm in shape and all the overweight people are overweight is mostly genetics?

I'm calling bs.

this thread has turned out a lot different than the other thread on the same thing. interesting. :huh:

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- cake > pie
...

Ummmmm...

Whatever...more for me.



eta: kudos for saying the most controversial thing in this thread.

Fat people are immoral.

Gluttony is a sin.

If i'm going for one of the Seven Deadly ones, I'm in for sloth.