Fat Acceptance and HAES
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Recently, there has been a growing trend of women (and some men) adopting the Fat Acceptance movement and the HAES (Health at Every Size) movement. This movement has also become synonymous with 3rd wave Feminism. And with role models like plus-size model Tess Munster (founder of the #effyourbeautystandards hashtag) and more companies promoting plus size in a positive way, more women are becoming comfortable in their bodies. However, with over 70 percent of the US being overweight or obese, I feel like the FA and HAES movements are poison. While I am all for body positivity, I simply cannot condone accepting fat as something that is positive. Obesity is an epidemic in our country that is costing us millions per year, but yet people are too afraid to talk about it for fear of the backlash and hurt feelings. Instead of these overweight/obese women seeking out help with their weight problems they simply give up, citing all of the FA and HAES quotes ("real men like curves, size isn't an indicator of health, genetics, etc."). And this Tess Munster character. She says "effyourbeautystandards" but yet conforms to every other beauty standard but weight. I feel like she is just promoting obesity. I don't feel like you have to be stick-thin to be healthy, but I don't think you can be a woman that's 5'2 and 200+ pounds and claim to be healthy. So, I personally am against these movements, what are your thoughts?
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In for gifs.
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I don't believe these women have given up. Tess Munster is a body positive advocate because there is so much emphasis on being a specific size or look. All she's doing is promoting loving your body at any weight. Just because one is over weight doesn't make them unhealthy. It's not your body so why even give it a second thought. We all have our reasons for getting healthy, losing weight, etc. Why worry yourself with what movement is trendy right now. Be you, do you, and don't worry so much about how everyone else is living their lives - fat, skinny, whatever!
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Meh. Live and let live. That's my opinion about most everything when it comes what we do with our bodies. Sexual orientation, piercings, tattoos, body size - has nothing to do with me. Let them have their community.0
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I struggle with similar ideas. The problem is that "Health" is a broad notion.
What if someone has a healthy BMI but they smoke? Or a healthy BMI but no lean muscle mass?
Or, what if someone is physically healthy but mentally on the brink?
And so forth.
It seems like a normalizing to meet the trends. I don't know. It seems like it's taboo to discuss.
Also I know BMI is a garbage metric.0 -
I wholeheartedly agree. As someone who used to be quite overweight (5'5" and 195lbs) I still think the HAES and fat acceptance movements are unacceptable. We should be promoting healthiness. Another thing that drives me nuts is how these overweight individuals think that all stores should cater to their size. You want designer jeans? Bust your behind off and watch what you eat until you fit them. End of rant. Haha!0
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I wholeheartedly agree. As someone who used to be quite overweight (5'5" and 195lbs) I still think the HAES and fat acceptance movements are unacceptable. We should be promoting healthiness. Another thing that drives me nuts is how these overweight individuals think that all stores should cater to their size. You want designer jeans? Bust your behind off and watch what you eat until you fit them. End of rant. Haha!
But here's the thing: The bell curve is shifting to the right whether people like it or not. If retailers don't cater to the new distribution of body types then they're going to lose out on sales.
So yeah we have to promote healthiness but you also can't expect the obesity rate to decline by ignoring it.
Or by saying "Hey jerk, why don't you just move more and eat less!"
Set a standard; show people that it can be done.0 -
Meh. Live and let live. That's my opinion about most everything when it comes what we do with our bodies. Sexual orientation, piercings, tattoos, body size - has nothing to do with me. Let them have their community.
But the community of people who are obese or morbidly obese isn't usually one they join willingly (like tattoos) or one they're born into (like sexual orientation). It's something you (one, I) slide into. Society greases the wheels. They become de facto members of the community.0 -
I mostly agree. Besides the designer jeans part, but thats just cause I have no interest in fashion/clothes haha.I wholeheartedly agree. As someone who used to be quite overweight (5'5" and 195lbs) I still think the HAES and fat acceptance movements are unacceptable. We should be promoting healthiness. Another thing that drives me nuts is how these overweight individuals think that all stores should cater to their size. You want designer jeans? Bust your behind off and watch what you eat until you fit them. End of rant. Haha!
But yeah. While i'm not someone that cares even slightly to oppose them. I do disagree with those movements and stuff. Be ok with your own body and all that crap fine, even now i'm only just finally starting to not despise mine anymore, and start liking it, after losing weight, still more to go.
By all means, people can be chubby and perfectly healthy - physically and mentally - and live a nice long high quality life. No one needs to be fit looking or really skinny to be healthy.
But Being at like 30% body fat or higher, or 30+ bmi or just grossly fat/obese for your height. Nothing makes it acceptable really.0 -
part of me wants to mind my own business, leave them alone, and let them live their lives how they want.
part of me doesn't want to watch my mom kill herself 'intuitively eating' the 5 servings of ice cream her body is 'asking for' in one sitting.
tess munster is an opportunistic hypocrite and every company jumping on the haes bandwagon is just making a quick buck off of people in denial seeking validation. but it's really none of my business or my concern, nor will my opinion change anything. all i have control over is me, so...0 -
keithcw_the_first wrote: »Meh. Live and let live. That's my opinion about most everything when it comes what we do with our bodies. Sexual orientation, piercings, tattoos, body size - has nothing to do with me. Let them have their community.
But the community of people who are obese or morbidly obese isn't usually one they join willingly (like tattoos) or one they're born into (like sexual orientation). It's something you (one, I) slide into. Society greases the wheels. They become de facto members of the community.
I'll give you that, but it's still not my job to police other people's bodies. I believe in free will. I got myself fat, now I have to get myself unfat. Some people are ok with their fatness. Kudos to them. For years I avoided cameras. There are few pictures of me with my kids. I wish I had the love of self that these women do. Bottom line, other people's bodies aren't my business.0 -
keithcw_the_first wrote: »But here's the thing: The bell curve is shifting to the right whether people like it or not. If retailers don't cater to the new distribution of body types then they're going to lose out on sales.
So yeah we have to promote healthiness but you also can't expect the obesity rate to decline by ignoring it.
Or by saying "Hey jerk, why don't you just move more and eat less!"
Set a standard; show people that it can be done.
I agree, ignoring it is not the solution, but moving all clothing designers into higher sizes hinders, it doesn't help. I honestly think that if they had the clothing I want in my size at my highest weight, I would have been less inclined to do something about it.
It would be nice if we had some type of class in high schools or something that teaches proper nutrition. That would be a good move in the right direction.0 -
keithcw_the_first wrote: »But here's the thing: The bell curve is shifting to the right whether people like it or not. If retailers don't cater to the new distribution of body types then they're going to lose out on sales.
So yeah we have to promote healthiness but you also can't expect the obesity rate to decline by ignoring it.
Or by saying "Hey jerk, why don't you just move more and eat less!"
Set a standard; show people that it can be done.
I agree, ignoring it is not the solution, but moving all clothing designers into higher sizes hinders, it doesn't help. I honestly think that if they had the clothing I want in my size at my highest weight, I would have been less inclined to do something about it.
It would be nice if we had some type of class in high schools or something that teaches proper nutrition. That would be a good move in the right direction.
Gardens at school where kids learn science and nutrition? Imagine that! But we'd rather underfund schools, teach kids to take standardized tests and give them prepackaged crap and call it 'lunch.' Education in the US is a mess.0 -
I'm against fat acceptance but I don't want anyone bullied other teased for their weight0
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As a rule? I'm cool with fat acceptance, just as I am fine with messages to constantly push yourself to be the best person you can be. Sometimes that's going to fit into normal BMIs, or beauty standards, and sometimes it's not.
And the thing is - people know this. To a certain degree, you understand when your body is feeling icky (technical term) and when you feel like a superhero. What I think the fat acceptance and other campaigns are *trying* to do - is push that it doesn't matter if you don't look like you meet standards if you're feeling good and your health tests are coming back great.
That's a fantastic sentiment and one I wholeheartedly endorse.
And it applies to those in a 'healthy BMI' as well. Before I started MFP, I had a healthy BMI and health tests but I knew I wasn't as healthy as I COULD be. I was no superhero.
I think we all see occurrences when people lie to themselves about 'feeling great' or use these campaigns as an excuse to not make an effort. And that's unfortunate - but still not a reason to lambaste these campaigns.
Even if someone is using these campaigns as an excuse, it could very well be someone with low self-esteem and maybe, just maybe these campaigns will give them enough of a boost so they can eventually realize it's just excuses and decide to make a change.0 -
Recently, there has been a growing trend of women (and some men) adopting the Fat Acceptance movement and the HAES (Health at Every Size) movement. This movement has also become synonymous with 3rd wave Feminism. And with role models like plus-size model Tess Munster (founder of the #effyourbeautystandards hashtag) and more companies promoting plus size in a positive way, more women are becoming comfortable in their bodies. However, with over 70 percent of the US being overweight or obese, I feel like the FA and HAES movements are poison. While I am all for body positivity, I simply cannot condone accepting fat as something that is positive. Obesity is an epidemic in our country that is costing us millions per year, but yet people are too afraid to talk about it for fear of the backlash and hurt feelings. Instead of these overweight/obese women seeking out help with their weight problems they simply give up, citing all of the FA and HAES quotes ("real men like curves, size isn't an indicator of health, genetics, etc."). And this Tess Munster character. She says "effyourbeautystandards" but yet conforms to every other beauty standard but weight. I feel like she is just promoting obesity. I don't feel like you have to be stick-thin to be healthy, but I don't think you can be a woman that's 5'2 and 200+ pounds and claim to be healthy. So, I personally am against these movements, what are your thoughts?
I don't think fat is a problem until it interferes with your quality of life. For me that is about 200-230 lbs. Over that is just too much. That is about 40-70 lbs over the so called 'healthy' BMI weight for my height. I know I cannot be healthy over that amount. It starts affecting me mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. All I really want is to be able to have a good life with my family and do the activities I want. I cannot do that at my current weight. It's not like it would be horrible to be thinner than 200 lbs, but if I cannot get thinner, I will try to maintain that weight because it is fine for me.
Oh, and I think people should be able to love themselves and be accepted by others even if they are fat.0 -
part of me wants to mind my own business, leave them alone, and let them live their lives how they want.
part of me doesn't want to watch my mom kill herself 'intuitively eating' the 5 servings of ice cream her body is 'asking for' in one sitting.
tess munster is an opportunistic hypocrite and every company jumping on the haes bandwagon is just making a quick buck off of people in denial seeking validation. but it's really none of my business or my concern, nor will my opinion change anything. all i have control over is me, so...
I can do the five servings of ice cream thing and it is because I do not have that shut off signal. I have to get that from outside myself by tracking my calories or points or whatever or I have a compulsion to eat and can actually finish a whole container of ice cream at a few sittings.
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I mostly agree. Besides the designer jeans part, but thats just cause I have no interest in fashion/clothes haha.I wholeheartedly agree. As someone who used to be quite overweight (5'5" and 195lbs) I still think the HAES and fat acceptance movements are unacceptable. We should be promoting healthiness. Another thing that drives me nuts is how these overweight individuals think that all stores should cater to their size. You want designer jeans? Bust your behind off and watch what you eat until you fit them. End of rant. Haha!
But yeah. While i'm not someone that cares even slightly to oppose them. I do disagree with those movements and stuff. Be ok with your own body and all that crap fine, even now i'm only just finally starting to not despise mine anymore, and start liking it, after losing weight, still more to go.
By all means, people can be chubby and perfectly healthy - physically and mentally - and live a nice long high quality life. No one needs to be fit looking or really skinny to be healthy.
But Being at like 30% body fat or higher, or 30+ bmi or just grossly fat/obese for your height. Nothing makes it acceptable really.
My grandma was about 150 lbs at 5'2'' and my grandpa has a belly and my grandpa is still alive over 80 years old and my grandma died at 82. You can live a long life being a little pudgy if you are active and happy.
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I wholeheartedly agree. As someone who used to be quite overweight (5'5" and 195lbs) I still think the HAES and fat acceptance movements are unacceptable. We should be promoting healthiness. Another thing that drives me nuts is how these overweight individuals think that all stores should cater to their size. You want designer jeans? Bust your behind off and watch what you eat until you fit them. End of rant. Haha!
It is funny. I felt pretty great and healthy at 185 and 5'6''. I could do everything I wanted to do, but I just felt like I would be judged by others so I didn't do a lot of the things I wanted to do.0 -
It's also a pretty hypocritical movement. Health at every size except smaller ones. BMI doesn't measure health unless you're underweight. People are naturally fat but everyone skinny must be constantly obsessing over calories. PICK ONE.0
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