Because Fat-Shaming is Sooo Cool
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Fat acceptance is probably one of the most damaging things to health and fitness. It tells people that fat is normal and acceptable and not a very obvious sign that they need to change their habits. Fat isn't healthy, at all. It's a symptom of eating disorders, health problems, or other issues. This would be like "rash acceptance" or something. Fat is a sign of a problem. Do not embrace it and encourage it.
Strong this. To varying degrees, we're all here partly in an attempt to either stop being, trying to be less, or keeping from being fat. It's MyFitnessPal, not MyFatnessPal.0 -
if someone is OK with being fat and knows the health risks its fine with me. Guess what? I love to drink alcohol! is that wrong? someone go ahead and write a disparaging article about me. Ill take it to the bar with me and have a laugh. No ones perfect. SHOCK!!! HORROR!!! AMAZEMENT!!!!0
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So, she sees a few overweight girls in an airport and they aren't curled up in balls rocking back and forth lamenting their size and that means they aren't concerned about it? They aren't allowed to be happy, like, ever?
Are they supposed to just hide in dark dungeons until they've lost the proper amount of weight?
I'm all about being healthy and stuff, but wow.
YES0 -
Being obese is unhealthy, and that is a proven fact.
I hesitate to jump in this ring becuase I really don't like controversy. But I'm genuinely curious about this comment. (and I will admit that I am replying before I read through the other 5 or so pages of this thread. I apologize if this is redundant) I know that being obese *can* be unhealthy. But I am in the obese BMI. I have normal blood pressure, normal blood sugar, normal cholesteroal levels, normal lipid levels, etc. I see a doctor every year and have these things checked. Almost without exception every doctor I have ever seen has had the same comment. "If all I had to go by was your test results I would say you are a normal, healthy individual. Then I see your height and weight." There is no compelling medical reason for me to lose weight. And I have been holding steady within 10-15 lbs of my current weight for 15 years or so. I know I should lose weight because it can and most likely will cause complications down the road. But right this minute I am a healthy individual. I suppose that just proves the saying that there is an exception to every rule. I am here to reduce my weight before I am no longer that exception.0 -
Being obese is unhealthy, and that is a proven fact.
I hesitate to jump in this ring becuase I really don't like controversy. But I'm genuinely curious about this comment. (and I will admit that I am replying before I read through the other 5 or so pages of this thread. I apologize if this is redundant) I know that being obese *can* be unhealthy. But I am in the obese BMI. I have normal blood pressure, normal blood sugar, normal cholesteroal levels, normal lipid levels, etc. I see a doctor every year and have these things checked. Almost without exception every doctor I have ever seen has had the same comment. "If all I had to go by was your test results I would say you are a normal, healthy individual. Then I see your height and weight." There is no compelling medical reason for me to lose weight. And I have been holding steady within 10-15 lbs of my current weight for 15 years or so. I know I should lose weight because it can and most likely will cause complications down the road. But right this minute I am a healthy individual. I suppose that just proves the saying that there is an exception to every rule. I am here to reduce my weight before I am no longer that exception.
There are about 9999 other health markers besides the ones routinely checked like BP and cholesterol.
The compelling reason is that your risk factor for illness/death is much higher and you will never know unless you happen to get some very specific testing done.
Right this minute, an obese person with "healthy blood markers" is not a healthy individual, like you claim. That's a complete fallacy and flies in the face of logic and medicine.0 -
There are about 9999 other health markers besides the ones routinely checked like BP and cholesterol.
The compelling reason is that your risk factor for illness/death is much higher and you will never know unless you happen to get some very specific testing done.
Such as? I'd like to know becuase I'd like to arrange to have this testing done. I would like to know where I stand. And if my doctors aren't doing enough I will push the envelope to find out what I need to know. I am here to learn. What should I be checking?0 -
Just to be clear - this woman has written for the Daily Mail. This is not a reputable newspaper!
"Fat-Shaming" or making comments about someone because of their weight (Whether positive or negative) is never acceptable. None of us are perfect, we all have flaws.
This woman is obviously trying to grab attention by writing a base, trash article.
Good luck to her and her career - they are BOTH going to need it!
Kaela x0 -
"Why are today's young women so unashamed about being fat? Horrified by the rolls of flesh she's witnessed on show this summer, LINDA KELSEY takes no prisoners."
^^That is a quote I read from the article linked below. Yes, being overweight is unhealthy but this lady's tone totally made me feel like she wrote this article thinking to herself, 'I'm going to be so cool for calling fat chicks out'. Ugh. What is your take on this article?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2686676/Why-todays-young-women-unashamed-fat-Horrified-rolls-flesh-shes-witnessed-summer-LINDA-KELSEY-takes-no-prisoners.html
Here is Linda Kelsey.
I guess she considers herself to be attractive and perfect unlike 'fatties' as she references overweight girls/women in the article.
I don't know if this has been addressed before. But when I read the article...Britain doesn't have any fat men?
All the examples were women. The fat ones, the thin ones, the daughters, the fat girls.
Men and boys don't get diabetes?0 -
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145981.html
Being obese is a health risk, there is no way around that.
Motorbiking is a health risk.
Running is a health risk.
Weight lifting is a health risk. (Not that I am accusing you of that) see below.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-czj6HI_NUZE/T4_PTJLFpnI/AAAAAAAADe8/eSzSYSJPyVw/s1600/Protein+Can+Kill.jpg
Excessive bodybuilding is a health risk.
Walking out your front door .... is a health risk.
Don't see anyone shaming them.
lol- people judge you all the time based on their perceptions of what they see in you.
Yes- people judge me for riding a sport bike- shaming me even.
yes- people judge me for lifting weights- for being fit- for looking good- for wearing make up to the gym.
While I do not not concur that the accepted risks with weights/dangerous hobbies are the same as the inherient health risks for obesity- you are sorely mistaken if you think people do not get mocked, judged or hated for doing any of those things- because I can personally tell you I have. Fortuantely i'm comfortable with myself to be okay with it- but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
How many threads do we have on here regularly about "cute girls at the gym with their matching clothes and make up" guess what- that' s me.And I can promise you I work harder than almost anyone complaining about me looking cute at the gym.
it happens- fat people aren't the only ones to get shamed. not saying it's right- but discrimination and judgement goes many ways. All directions- and none of it's right.0 -
What makes you think I am elitist? That I think obesity is a medical issue which it is? What is the chip on your shoulder buddy?
The only reason I am thin is because I work at it A LOT. Sorry but the picture of a dude's chest really didn't make anything more clear. I never said that we should be shaming people but I don't think that people that are obese should be fooling themselves into thinking it is healthy because it is not and they shouldn't be trying to bend society into thinking it is healthy. My point is people should take personal responsibility for their health and not blame others. There is nothing "cowardly" about saying it is a health issue because it is and a serious one in today's society.See my edit i decided to explain a bit better. It makes sense because dead is dead is dead. If we take the view that our own personal health and safety is paramount to everything we end up living cowardly, shallow lives no matter how healthy we are. Some people just love food too much to care about some detriment to their health. Like I said there are limits but there's no need to ostracize people for having some extra weight. And i'm sorry if you have been healthy all your life then you really really don't understand a damn thing about how bad it is. People look at you like a second class person. No not even that. Like an animal. It is discrimination of the worst possible kind. And nothing excuses it. Not the health consequences of being fat. Not the benefits of being thin. Not beauty not nothing. It turned me inward and disgusted me with humanity for 15 damn years. I might never have regained my faith.
No one is fooling themselves. We all understand it is healthier to be thin. We are not completely stupid. However just because it is unhealthy does not mean it is unacceptable. Or worthy of ridicule. You reveal yourself to be quite the elitist.
Fat shaming is wrong and if you do it you are a bigot. End of discussion.
Because truth be told all fat shaming does is drive people further away from health further away from caring what they look like to others.
It's not naughty or a matter of opinion. It's vile.
No one ever said it was healthy. At the very least not me. Only acceptable. And unworthy of ridicule. You really are quite the elitist it appears. You seem quite unable to grasp the difference between imperfect and unacceptable.0 -
http://www.bhf.org.uk/default.aspx?page=16993There are about 9999 other health markers besides the ones routinely checked like BP and cholesterol.
The compelling reason is that your risk factor for illness/death is much higher and you will never know unless you happen to get some very specific testing done.
Such as? I'd like to know becuase I'd like to arrange to have this testing done. I would like to know where I stand. And if my doctors aren't doing enough I will push the envelope to find out what I need to know. I am here to learn. What should I be checking?0 -
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145981.html
Being obese is a health risk, there is no way around that.
Motorbiking is a health risk.
Running is a health risk.
Weight lifting is a health risk. (Not that I am accusing you of that) see below.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-czj6HI_NUZE/T4_PTJLFpnI/AAAAAAAADe8/eSzSYSJPyVw/s1600/Protein+Can+Kill.jpg
Excessive bodybuilding is a health risk.
Walking out your front door .... is a health risk.
Don't see anyone shaming them.
lol- people judge you all the time based on their perceptions of what they see in you.
Yes- people judge me for riding a sport bike- shaming me even.
yes- people judge me for lifting weights- for being fit- for looking good- for wearing make up to the gym.
While I do not not concur that the accepted risks with weights/dangerous hobbies are the same as the inherient health risks for obesity- you are sorely mistaken if you think people do not get mocked, judged or hated for doing any of those things- because I can personally tell you I have. Fortuantely i'm comfortable with myself to be okay with it- but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
How many threads do we have on here regularly about "cute girls at the gym with their matching clothes and make up" guess what- that' s me.And I can promise you I work harder than almost anyone complaining about me looking cute at the gym.
it happens- fat people aren't the only ones to get shamed. not saying it's right- but discrimination and judgement goes many ways. All directions- and none of it's right.
Well if that's the case then I quite agree. You shouldn't be shamed for what your body looks like no matter what that happens to be. I'm certainly not gonna go all double standards and say that fat people should be the only ones tolerated lol. Still I believe that the degree to which fat people are shamed is extreme to say the least. And at least you get some admiration too to soften the blow I'm sure XD.
It's certainly not something I would ever think to do. Because of my experiences being a fat person. It would feel completely wrong for me to judge others for the choices they make. Unless of course those choices involve belittling and hurting other people physically or emotionally. Sometimes I think a lot of people don't really understand that being alone in a crowd is actually worse than being alone by yourself. When people are all around you and no one accepts you it scars you. And that's what being fat is like these days tbh.0 -
She was harsh, and certainly not PC, but she was dead on.
As obesity becomes an ever growing problem across the world, it's also becoming far more normalized. Stigmas about being fat are falling for the sheer fact that so many of us just are. Gone are the days, not that long ago actually, where the fat kid at school was the rare exception. More and more of us are seeing reflected back at us overweight images in our friends, neighbors, families, and co-workers.
Normalizing obesity is dangerous. It is a far more epidemic problem than the relatively minute amount of people dealing with a restrictive eating disorder. We pearl twist over the less than 2% of the population dealing with EDs like anorexia, while remaining largely unphased by the overconsumption disorders and resulting fatness.
I think the trend toward fatness, and the increasing fight to accept that state, is simply going to lead to bodies that grow larger and larger, but with the stigmas removed and an expectation of silence all around. I think it'll become just as un-PC to say anything publicly disparaging about fat as it is to say something about a person's sexuality or race.
Difference being, of course, that the results of increasing obesity are detrimental to anything from health, workout put, physically capable military, and our overall healthcare expenditures worldwide.
This is an epidemic problem destined to only get worse in the name of spared feelings and PC silence.0 -
I don't believe making people feel even more shame and fear will make them take better care of themselves. At least not people like me, who are obese AND painfully aware of all health risks and so on. Why take care of someone who doesn't deserve it?
Once I allowed myself to respect myself, like myself a little, and even occasionally enjoy a few carefree moments once in a while (without that constant mixture of self hatred and desperation to change everything that was me), I started to heal.
I sometimes actually wish someone would make a comment about me nowadays. How come I am happy? I have 100 pounds to lose. Why am I at McD, shamelessly eating a burger, and even enjoying it? Well, I AM happy. I DO still have a lot of weight to lose, but, guess what, I have lost 60 pounds since January, and every calorie in this delicious burger is logged in my diary, and I have everything under control.
You just never know where a stranger is in their journey. I wish people would give others more credit. I always try to do that.0 -
She was harsh, and certainly not PC, but she was dead on.
As obesity becomes an ever growing problem across the world, it's also becoming far more normalized. Stigmas about being fat are falling for the sheer fact that so many of us just are. Gone are the days, not that long ago actually, where the fat kid at school was the rare exception. More and more of us are seeing reflected back at us overweight images in our friends, neighbors, families, and co-workers.
Normalizing obesity is dangerous. It is a far more epidemic problem than the relatively minute amount of people dealing with a restrictive eating disorder. We pearl twist over the less than 2% of the population dealing with EDs like anorexia, while remaining largely unphased by the overconsumption disorders and resulting fatness.
I think the trend toward fatness, and the increasing fight to accept that state, is simply going to lead to bodies that grow larger and larger, but with the stigmas removed and an expectation of silence all around. I think it'll become just as un-PC to say anything publicly disparaging about fat as it is to say something about a person's sexuality or race.
Difference being, of course, that the results of increasing obesity are detrimental to anything from health, workout put, physically capable military, and our overall healthcare expenditures worldwide.
This is an epidemic problem destined to only get worse in the name of spared feelings and PC silence.
wait so fatties not having their bodies stigmatized & ridiculed in society anymore bothers you? damn you better start harassing them fatties even more do the world a favor you know?0 -
Drives me crazy, and I'm actually at the lower end of the BMI scale! Because I'm a firm believer in weight set points... varying body frames (genetics..)... the fact the we as a race are just EVOLVING when these stats find us getting "larger" (we're actually just picking up where we left off before the 20s-40s took such a massive toll on our species!)
I'm also the farthest thing from competitive, so if we could all just have our own body sizes and stop comparing and competing that'd be great. So you'll never hear me shaming anyone for being fat or skinny or tall or short or anything else that's physical.0 -
I have a headache from all the eye-rolling I did reading this thread. Talk of "normalizing" obesity. You cannot be serious. Spend a week in a 300lb fat suit and then get back to me about how normal you felt and were treated. A handful of fat actresses and fat acceptance advocates is not going to make being fat the popular choice. Did you ever meet an obese person with a cool job when you were a kid and think, yeah, I wanna be fat when I grow up for sure! It's intellectually lazy and self-aggrandizing to suggest that the whole problem of the obesity epidemic lies on the individual alone (how morally superior of you to have remained thin! Head pat for you!). Fatness, like thinness, is influenced by a host of socio-economic, familial, biological, physiological, and environmental factors. Does that mean that individuals cannot resolve to lose weight? Absolutely NOT, I am a testament to that fact as are thousands of other people on MFP. Reality is, we allow, encourage even, our food environment to be completely toxic and misleading (because, capitalism y'all), we fail to model (show, not teach) many school kids about proper nutrition and physical activity, we allow sugary crap to be marketed to children with their favorite TV characters, our government subsidizes the building blocks of fast "food" while people ***** about public health campaigns to promote physical activity as being socialist nonsense...all of this disproportionately hurts the poor, whose children are more likely to view those ads with their favorite characters and whose schedules and finances they often view (rightfully) as barriers to healthy meal preparation. You can sit on your high horse all day long speaking of personal responsibility and choices, feelin' all warm and fuzzy about how awesome you are for being healthy, but until we address these systemic issues we will continue to see the numbers of obese children and adults rise. But if there were no more obese people, how would you know who you're better than? smh. If you REALLY care about obese people, go make friends with one, go volunteer with Girls on the Run or a similar organization that teaches children about health, go learn about food deserts and insecurity in your community and do something about it, go mentor a child in your family/circle of friends who struggles with weight, go ask your city planners why they feel it's appropriate to build seven fast "food" joints on a single block, go read about how the obese are discriminated against in everything from employment to housing (and try not to be one of those discriminating), go start a farm to school food program at a local elementary school, go volunteer at a community garden. If you don't feel like getting involved to help solve the obesity crisis, by all means don't, but then don't stomp around the interwebz talking about the "normalization" of obesity, don't pretend that you truly care when you don't.0
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2 (somewhat snarky) thoughts:
That article was horribly written, I know it’s a stereotype but I expect better from the British.
She needs to see someone about her ability to apply eyeliner. Now.
YESSSSSSSSS0 -
What makes you think we don't help? I have lots of obese friends some of which are no longer obese in part due to encouragement from myself and others but obviously it is mostly due to themselves taking personal responsibility and making the effort. And to be blunt a big **** you for telling me what I do or do not care about. What the **** do you know? But thanks for passing your moral judgement.
Nobody is talking about moral superiority for being thin, no one is asking for a pat on the head but you seem to be discounting the effort and work it takes to remain fit which frankly is bull****. It takes hard work, it takes hard work to lose weight as well no freaking difference. You can blame society for a myriad of problems be it obesity or whatever else but that doesn't mean one should just throw their hands in the air and say **** it.
Do a quick google search and there are tons of groups that are advocating for normalisation of obesity in the sense of it being a healthy lifestyle. Do a bit more reading and you will see the scorn then heap upon "skinny" people. You see it in stupid memes all the time "real men like women with curves" etc etc. Or the "thin privilege" crap like being thin is bestowed upon people and it is has nothing to do with how they manage their lifestyles. If you had read through this thread you would see that I have only pointed out obesity is a health issue that needs to be dealt with I haven't advocated shaming anyone.0 -
fat is physical, acceptance is mental.
when they put a girl on a magazine cover, its not because she's healthy. its because she's thin and beautiful. you cant look at a body and know its healthy. even ones ridden with muscle- who knows! could be steroids! you don't know until you walk a mile in someone's shoes.
even IF fat acceptance meant just saying 'hell with it' and embracing an unhealthy life, why should anyone else care? does it personally affect YOUR health when a happy lazy fat girl walks by? when you see a fat girl wearing skimpy clothing, are you really looking at her with deep concern for her health and livelihood? or with judgment and disgust?
as someone mentioned earlier, i also feel as if this can be compared to gay rights. don't like gay marriage? don't get gay married. don't like fat people? don't be a fat person.0
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