Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
Fat Acceptance Movement
Options
Replies
-
Unlike many, I've been lucky not to have been shamed for being fat or a past of hating my obese body so maybe I don't have the full picture.
Fat acceptance movement as portrayed by some activists of this movement is silly, what is even more silly is people thinking they have the right to dictate what is acceptable and what isn't, what people should do and what they shouldn't.
No one gets "encouraged to be unhealthy". Just like smokers are fully aware that their habit comes with a price, most obese people are aware of the potential health repercussions of their weight and are either choosing their battles preferring to stay fat, or have not found the right tools to successfully deal with it. What people choose to do about it is none of anyone's business. If you want to help, help by contributing to the availability of the right tools and step away. None of that condescending fake "I care about your health" stuff. You don't. Other people's health is none of your business. We're not stupid, uneducated, or a suitable target for your "pitying needs".
I think I'm going to start a new movement: the mind your own business movement.34 -
Someone should be accepted and should be "okay", no matter the number on the scale. Overweight is beautiful too because everyone in the body they are in is beautiful.
The shame I felt when I was overweight and how horrible I felt about myself and knowing how society viewed me....made it harder for me to make the healthy changes I needed to make in order to lose weight. Shaming as a motivational tool is often one of the least effective.
Whenever the Fat Acceptance comes up on here, it usually goes the same way. Fat shaming is wrong, but let me go on and explain why this version of fat shaming that I agree with is okay because I believe that if people love and accept themselves as they are...that we are encouraging people being fat.
I've noticed this as well.6 -
Someone should be accepted and should be "okay", no matter the number on the scale. Overweight is beautiful too because everyone in the body they are in is beautiful.
The shame I felt when I was overweight and how horrible I felt about myself and knowing how society viewed me....made it harder for me to make the healthy changes I needed to make in order to lose weight. Shaming as a motivational tool is often one of the least effective.
Whenever the Fat Acceptance comes up on here, it usually goes the same way. Fat shaming is wrong, but let me go on and explain why this version of fat shaming that I agree with is okay because I believe that if people love and accept themselves as they are...that we are encouraging people being fat.
I am not really sure I understand what you are saying. Not shaming someone does not mean you have to agree with what this person is doing or consider them beautiful. I do not like beards in men, absolutely not attracted to them. I would not consider this the same as shaming them, unless I start pointing at guys with beards and yelling that they look like bears or are disgusting. Why must everyone announce loudly that fat is beautiful to not shame overweight people? Shaming is not the opposite of liking!25 -
godlikepoetyes wrote: »Someone should be accepted and should be "okay", no matter the number on the scale. Overweight is beautiful too because everyone in the body they are in is beautiful.
The shame I felt when I was overweight and how horrible I felt about myself and knowing how society viewed me....made it harder for me to make the healthy changes I needed to make in order to lose weight. Shaming as a motivational tool is often one of the least effective.
Whenever the Fat Acceptance comes up on here, it usually goes the same way. Fat shaming is wrong, but let me go on and explain why this version of fat shaming that I agree with is okay because I believe that if people love and accept themselves as they are...that we are encouraging people being fat.
I'm glad you said this. I haven't been on the boards much, until now, but this thread catch my eye. It's kind of like when someone says, "I'm not prejudiced but......" "I'm not a bigot, but..." "I have lots of gay friends, but really...." "There's nothing wrong with that, but...."
I really just wanted to start a discussion on a controversial topic I had been thinking about. I feel awful if I came off that way and probably could have spent more time to formulate my thoughts better. I am in medical school studying with a special focus on community health so public health issues are important to me. I am from Oklahoma, a state with very poor health status and I have encountered so many people disabled by obesity related illness. I sincerely apologize if my statement was bigoted. Obviously, it is none of my business what someone weighs or if they identify with the FAM/HAES. I was more interested in it from a societal perspective rather than an individual level. I struggle with self acceptance in many aspects of my life and I think that some aspects of the Fat Acceptance Movement are very empowering.8 -
I find it ironic that the some of the same people preaching tolerance also will be prejudiced against people they deem "unhealthy".
15 -
caffeinatedcami wrote: »godlikepoetyes wrote: »Someone should be accepted and should be "okay", no matter the number on the scale. Overweight is beautiful too because everyone in the body they are in is beautiful.
The shame I felt when I was overweight and how horrible I felt about myself and knowing how society viewed me....made it harder for me to make the healthy changes I needed to make in order to lose weight. Shaming as a motivational tool is often one of the least effective.
Whenever the Fat Acceptance comes up on here, it usually goes the same way. Fat shaming is wrong, but let me go on and explain why this version of fat shaming that I agree with is okay because I believe that if people love and accept themselves as they are...that we are encouraging people being fat.
I'm glad you said this. I haven't been on the boards much, until now, but this thread catch my eye. It's kind of like when someone says, "I'm not prejudiced but......" "I'm not a bigot, but..." "I have lots of gay friends, but really...." "There's nothing wrong with that, but...."
I really just wanted to start a discussion on a controversial topic I had been thinking about. I feel awful if I came off that way and probably could have spent more time to formulate my thoughts better. I am in medical school studying with a special focus on community health so public health issues are important to me. I am from Oklahoma, a state with very poor health status and I have encountered so many people disabled by obesity related illness. I sincerely apologize if my statement was bigoted. Obviously, it is none of my business what someone weighs or if they identify with the FAM/HAES. I was more interested in it from a societal perspective rather than an individual level. I struggle with self acceptance in many aspects of my life and I think that some aspects of the Fat Acceptance Movement are very empowering.
I didn't think your post came off as if you were judging people, but just posing the question and raising some things you were thinking through.9 -
singingflutelady wrote: »The problem I have with HAES (which should be HABS-health at bigger size) is that they demonize anyone who is trying to lose weight or unintentionally lose weight and they bodyshame thin people. It seems to be covering up binge eating disorder behaviours
I agree with this. I think you should love yourself at any size. And I think that if you are comfortable at a bigger size and have good health markers that is fine. I have been overweight a lot in my adulthood. I was never overweight as a child or teen but I always thought I was chubby. I wish I could have loved myself more back then and realized that curvy is not the same as chubby. I have never been bullied or called names because I was fat though. My biggest problem with the Fat acceptance movement is in my experience they have decided that it is not ok to shame fat people (and I agree it isn't) but they seem to think that it is perfectly fine to shame skinny people. And that isn't any better. My daughter is severely thin. She has had trouble gaining weight since she was about 2. As a child she had to have a feeding tube for a few years to get her to an acceptable weight. Now as an adult she has a 16.5 BMI. She does not have an eating disorder, but as early as elementary school she has been told she was anorexic and that she looked like a skeleton. I think more people have made negative comments to her about her weight than have ever said anything about mine and I have been overweight and obese. It seems to be acceptable for fat people to put memes on the internet about how "real women have curves and bones are for dogs" but there would be an uproar if a thin person put something up calling fat women whales or cows. We should love ourselves, but we should also strive to be healthy. If someone is 5-10 pounds overweight and not having health issues and they don't want to do anything about their weight then that's fine. But if you are obese then you are going to start having health issues sooner or later whether you want to admit it or not.28 -
Let's not blur the line between having a healthy self-esteem and being overweight , although the two rarely coincide. The two things in this society that we can't seem to keep separate are body image and health.3
-
Shaming someone for their body type or any choice they make about themselves should never be ok, and there is no need to make this specific about weight. Bullying is not ok, what you are bullied about is irrelevant.
How this translates to not being able to state facts, like that being fat increases health risks, I do not get it. It is like saying we should never mention smoking has health risks because it will make smokers feel uncomfortable.
That last sentence is perfect. Be the healthy you. That should be the message. Being fat is not okay because of the detrimental effects it has on one's lifespan, health and quality of life. The exact same can certainly be said about smoking.9 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »How many obese people to you know or yourself if you are or were obese that set a goal to be obese?
Explicitly set a goal - none. Couldn't care - quite a few. Made decisions that lead to them becoming obese over time - many.
Decisions are not always free choices - families can overfeed children or other family members, depression and the like can lead to inappropriate decisions, food environments can lead you to the wrong place, education may be lacking and so on.
Remember those are cause and effect, not excuses. What's that saying - the first step to overcoming something is to acknowledge the problem ?2 -
I don't believe that obese people should hate themselves, nor should they be made fun of. But I don't believe that any size is healthy. The overwhelming weight of medical research bears this out, yet many Fat Acceptance people deny it. Even informed discussion is labeled "fat shaming."
I become concerned because the FA people want to create a new normal in which we all give in to obesity and make seats larger when we are all getting too fat. Finding ways for all of us to eat better and be more active is a societal and personal task to which we need to dedicate ourselves.22 -
From what I understand, the FA movement is more about learning to love yourself regardless...that your weight shouldn't dictate whether or not you love yourself. There are a lot of people that are under the impression that if they lose weight, their overall lives will be better and they will love themselves more, etc and this simply isn't the case in most cases because there are underlying issues regardless of weight as to why people don't love themselves.
I don't think the FA movement is really about "I don't care about my health", etc...12 -
Fat acceptance == Normalization of a disease, to where it's considered normal. And, encourages people to try and change the world, rather than take ownership of their body, and correct their health issues.
Note: You'll never see any FA person saying we should accept anorexics...46 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »How many obese people to you know or yourself if you are or were obese that set a goal to be obese?
Explicitly set a goal - none. Couldn't care - quite a few. Made decisions that lead to them becoming obese over time - many.
Decisions are not always free choices - families can overfeed children or other family members, depression and the like can lead to inappropriate decisions, food environments can lead you to the wrong place, education may be lacking and so on.
Quite true. But sometimes you can try to change your environment. In the little test group of my family, in which else everyone is overweight or obese, they made the choice to indulge their foodiesm while I was more aware. When I would ask how many calories or much fat something had, I was called "obsessive". They are highly educated and can afford to make healthy purchases. Some of them are older and they just don't care, even about their quality of life.
My current weight is much higher than I like, in part because of my family and the food they buy, but I'm not considered overweight on any chart. I need to work harder and persuade myself it's worth it.6 -
It's Health
There's a big cost-effectiveness issue, if you can demonstrate rapidly decreasing effectiveness of a procedure with weight it may be cost effective to treat the normal weight but not the obese. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-26526212 points to the extra cost of overweight pregnancies, that combined with reduced effectiveness of fertility treatments means the latter are withheld from heavier patients.
In addition, health care workers are put at risk by having to lift very heavy people.11 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »From what I understand, the FA movement is more about learning to love yourself regardless...that your weight shouldn't dictate whether or not you love yourself. There are a lot of people that are under the impression that if they lose weight, their overall lives will be better and they will love themselves more, etc and this simply isn't the case in most cases because there are underlying issues regardless of weight as to why people don't love themselves.
I don't think the FA movement is really about "I don't care about my health", etc...
Agreed. As always, some people have co-opted this to start shaming thin people, but that's wrong as well. Groups tend to be defined by their extremes, and this one really is no different.
Lots of people seem to think that if this one thing about themselves could be different, their whole lives would be better/changed/whathaveyou. It's very rarely that easy.5
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 913 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions