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

1676869707173»

Replies

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I know this is an old post but I had to comment. I am a strong believer in love at every size however i think the idea of health at every size is a dangerous concept. The fact is if you are overweight your chances of developing diseases are increased no matter what your blood work says. And to lie to yourself about that is not beneficial to anyone. James Fell wrote an article about this a few years ago so anyone who is interested should google it.

    I think something got lost when the movement turned more radical. I think it originally meant "healthier at every size", meaning, striving for a healthier life is not something only people of a certain size do. You can be fat and still take care of yourself and your health. Weight loss may or may not be part of it, but health-focused behavior is not all or nothing. This is consistent with the message of self-love the movement wanted to spread, that just because you don't feel weight loss is something you wish to pursue right now it doesn't mean you should stop taking care of yourself.

    Who knows. I may be reading too much into it because that's how I personally think as someone who is fat and doesn't hate being fat.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,325 Member
    laurimaki wrote: »
    So let me tell you...I was a 500 lb man 10 years ago that couldn't walk half of a mile. Now I'm hovering around 330 lbs and have done 10k's, 5k's, and walk 20-30 miles a week, bike, paddleboard, etc, etc. But, I am still fat.

    The problem in my opinion is that "fat acceptance" has gone from look, I'm a person that is 360 lbs, but working to be a better version of myself and that's ok...to...oh, I'm a person that is 480 lbs and can't walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath and then I eat 4000 calories a day and that's ok. And the latter is not ok. I think our society has turned this into "fat shaming" but is it really shaming to say "look man, you can't walk up a flight of effing steps without being out of breath...1. that's not good...and 2. you shouldn't be ok with that." I don't think that's shaming, honestly that's wanting that person to have a better life. Granted it needs to be said in a decently nice way, but sometimes people need to hear those things (from loved ones of course, not strangers). I know I said those kinds of things to myself all of the time.

    Now in my life, I do 10k's. I am happy how far I've come and want to keep moving forward. I want people to accept me for who I am, we all do...but at what cost for yourself? Fat shaming aside, it's embarrassing to be 500 lbs and eat a ton everyday. It's embarrassing to be out of breath walking up a flight of steps. It's embarrassing to go out with friends and not be able to fit into a booth. It's embarrassing to have to order clothing online because stores don't hold your size. I could list a hundred things more. It's embarrassing...In my opinion, it's not normal to struggle to walk a mile. Of course there are health reasons, or age, etc that may prevent that...but if you have no problems other than your weight and you struggle to walk a mile, then yes, perhaps you should be ashamed of yourself. I was. Struggling with something that basic is not a good thing. Do you want things to get harder, because they aren't going to get any easier the older you get. When I was 500 lbs, I asked myself all the time, "how did you let yourself get to this point?!?!" I still wonder that. But, the answer doesn't matter...all that matters is that you realize that it's time to change, and change can start today.

    I'm sorry if I offend anyone with this post, and I'm sorry to myself that I need to be sorry for offending people (wait, what?!) haha, as I am not trying to shame anyone that struggles...I just wish the world would stop the whole "fat shaming vs. fat acceptance" conversation and look at basic things...if you can't walk a mile, if you can't walk up three flights of steps, if your blood work is jacked up, etc, etc.....these are signs, signs that regardless of acceptance, are telling you that there is a major problem with your body that needs to be remedied.

    Again, I'm not trying to be harsh to anyone, just speaking from my own personal experience. When I stood on a scale when I was 24, I expected to see 390, maybe 400...I saw 497...and that was after I already started trying to lose weight. I broke down and I cried, I bawled like a baby...I thought my life was over, I thought I was dead. I was a *kitten* 24 year old that thought my life was over. No matter what people said to me, whether they shamed me, or accepted me, the only person that could help me, was me. I had to start moving more. I had to start eating better (and less). I had to be responsible for who I was, and not worry about if you accept me or not. Great, you accept me for being 600 lbs? Well, good luck to me when I try playing with my kids/grandkids when I'm a 600 lb man. I made the changes not for society, but for me. I want to walk the dog after work every evening, I want to play with my kids/grandkids/nephews/nieces and not sit idly by. I made the changes that I wanted in my life because I knew who I wanted to be and what I had to do to get there. I am well on my way.

    Make the changes that you want in your life. Be who you want to be.

    41526192.png

    WELL SAID. <3<3<3

  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 850 Member
    Shaming people because how they look is always wrong, never a time when it is ok.

    Fat Acceptance, I really sit on the fence overall with what they say they are looking for and want. In general from what I have seen, and read. It is really about Obesity acceptance. I have not seen many who fall into the overweight categories being on talk shows or with the blogs following.
    To me, yes you can be obese and have good blood pressure, blood sugar and so on numbers, for some period of time. But the facts are the clock is ticking, and sooner or later. How they eat, what they eat is going to be making changes on the inside of their bodies. They are living in lala land if they really believe they can be 75 or more pounds over a healthy weight for 15 years and up. And not have it sooner or later became a true medical issue.
    I say this from the standpoint of someone who started at morbidly obese, but am working on losing weight. And have already been able to stop medications or reduce the amount. And at one time, I was obese with a good blood pressure and decent cholestrol results. But over time they went the wrong way.

    I also agree that Healthy seems to be a word that means different things to different people. And at different age groups even being healthy maybe different. Society or much of it, gets the impressions of what is beauty and health from the media. Think about in the US average woman 5ft 4 or so, average weight 168. Yet when was the last time anyone saw someone that size modeling clothes? I think the whole Fat acceptance thing resonated so much with people because everywhere you look it is not the average person who is in magazines, TV, Internet and so on. What is pushed is what sells. Models that are young mostly, tall and wearing size S blouses and size 4 tall pants. This became part of the battle cry for acceptance regardless of weight.

  • UltraVegAthlete
    UltraVegAthlete Posts: 667 Member
    I’m all for loving your body, but not at the expense of you health or others.
    FA activists can have a negative influence on younger generations.
  • kt90gurl
    kt90gurl Posts: 37 Member
    Nobody should be body shamed. I get where the 'fat activist' are coming from. However do believe they are wrong to be happy about their bodies unless they are healthy (i.e can dance, jump around and run without dying) can climb a flight of stairs without getting out of breath (I know I cant and this is something I want to change) and eat healthily.

    But fat or thin, no one should shame each other. Each to their own, fatness should not be promoted, and neither should skinniness. Healthiness is what should be promoted.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    Yeah, no one should be body shamed. You shouldn't make remarks about other people's bodies (unless you are a medical professional talking about health and weight).

    But obviously being obese is bad for health, and people shouldn't deny that or shame anyone else for wanting to be a healthy BMI. (You can also be obese and able to climb stairs without getting out of breath -- I lived in a 4th fl walkup when I was obese and could bounce up those stairs with groceries, even -- but obesity was still a major risk factor for me.)

    IMO, a good version of HAES would be to take steps toward getting healthier, and if exercise is an easier step that losing weight, do that. That you haven't yet lost weight or gotten to the head space to do it doesn't mean it's a waste of time to exercise or eat more vegetables or eat more protein, less desserts or what not. Or to stop smoking or drink less, etc. Value yourself and do positive things.

    It would not be a denial that being fat is generally not ideal for health.

    Being obsessed with your body and hating it for imperfections is usually not the best state of mind for a healthy lifestyle and for some people can undermine efforts to be healthy (that I was ashamed of my body as a teen, and thought I was fat and ugly although I was not, probably helped me decide I couldn't control and didn't care about my body and therefore set the stage for me getting fat). Reading an anti-diet book called Losing It motivated me to change my diet and take better care of myself and exercise and ultimately lose weight.