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Thin Privilege or Lifestyle Consequences
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Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org4 -
Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org8 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact! People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
This is a whole bunch of garbage. Yes, of course obesity is a lot higher today (which is not at all what you said in your first post, but I digress). It's a lot higher among all age groups. That there is "no fat old people" is nonsense. In fact, seniors are among the highest age group of obesity. It is 41% for adults 60 and older. So if you have seen at least 3 old people in your life, than likely you have seen an obese one.
The reasons why obesity has increased over the last 40 years is complex and due to a lot of factors. From Americans working and commuting more (and therefore having less time to cook and prepare), to the rise in high caloric restaurants, to technological conveniences reducing the amount we move and the amount of calories we burn. Absolutely none of it has to do with our society thinking "being fat is okay". People are literally bullied into suicide over their weight. This idea that we have somehow glamorized being fat is nonsense. Normal weight (and underweight) people still make up about 99.9% of representation in media. Nobody intentionally gains weight. Sure, becoming obese is usually caused by actions we take, but so what? Life isn't easy, and I would never use someone making some bad choices as a reason to be crappy to them.
You're not actually trying to "look out for others health". You are just trying to justify that you want to be crappy to fat people. That you were once fat yourself doesn't change anything. Sometimes the worst people towards obese people are those who used to be obese themselves.
It would not be that hard for us as a society to make accommodations that are small but would greatly improve the lives and well being of obese people. This idea that would take a ton of work is just as excuse we all make to stop from doing it. Heck, the implementation of the ADA actually took a ton of work. And it made things immeasurably better for a segment of society. We could do the same thing with obese people if we actually cared enough to do it.
This idea that it would be "enabling them" is just another excuse we make to not do things to help people. I've never met a single obese person who wants to be obese. Some may be more comfortable in their bodies than others, but they all know it is bad for their health and they are usually constantly trying to change. As we should all know from weight loss, losing weight and keeping it off are both hard things to do.
TD;LR If you think that things should be difficult for obese people, you're not actually doing it out of the goodness of your heart. It's not hard to show some compassion and empathy to people.
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No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact!
Of course, I said that too. That does not mean that everyone was thin. (Not being overweight is not the same thing as being thin IMO, and in any case there were also people who were overweight.) For example, here (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6001a15.htm) it says that 15% of adults in 1976-1980 were obese (so the overweight percentage was higher) and 5% of children. One of the biggest differences and most worrying differences now is that so many people are becoming obese as children.People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
I don't think anyone here has said that being obese is not a health risk or that being normal weight is all about vanity. Are you arguing against some view you used to have or trying to motivate yourself or something?
Personally, when losing weight I didn't find beating myself up to be very beneficial and I did much better when I stopped it.13 -
Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org
My post are relevant to what the guy on the video is talking about. I agree with him.3 -
No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact!
Of course, I said that too. That does not mean that everyone was thin. (Not being overweight is not the same thing as being thin IMO, and in any case there were also people who were overweight.) For example, here (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6001a15.htm) it says that 15% of adults in 1976-1980 were obese (so the overweight percentage was higher) and 5% of children. One of the biggest differences and most worrying differences now is that so many people are becoming obese as children.People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
I don't think anyone here has said that being obese is not a health risk or that being normal weight is all about vanity. Are you arguing against some view you used to have or trying to motivate yourself or something?
Personally, when losing weight I didn't find beating myself up to be very beneficial and I did much better when I stopped it.
I am relating to the viedo that was posted.1 -
having read the comments on this video I have spared myself the discomfort of watching it. Trolls will troll.
My opinions:
thin privilege exists
being fat is not a moral defect or indicative of a moral defect
somewhere around here recently was an article about how the *same diet and exercise levels* today as in 1980 result in being overweight today but normal in 1980, with speculation about changes in gut bacteria as a contributing factor.
there is some correlation between obesity and poverty, perhaps partly due to thin privilege but mostly due to the fact that not having money means making due with what you can afford to eat instead of what is good for you. How many of us (whether in the weight loss or the sport conditioning clans on mfp) were on a (instant) 'ramen every night' budget in college or trade school?
In my most grouchy moments responding to people being jerks about weight, I take comfort in the fact if civilization falls and we're all reduced to water-leeching the tannic acid out of acorns before pounding them to flour to get our carb requirements (a trick of the first peoples of California), all those noxious people who stay thin on our modern calorie-rich foods will starve to death and all us fatties will be the lean and fit survivors. So there. :P13 -
Hmmm. I think that most of what he talks about i can see as being consequences not necessarily of conscious choices, but how american lifestyle is not set up to help people be healthy. But the subject of thin privileged... Yes there is something in the fact that a lot of essential services that are not set up for heavier people, but a lot of that is that the manmade world is designed to fit 90% of of the population. Very tall or very small people also have problems and are not accommodated. If you are outside of those metrics you takes your chances. If you complain about it you get push back because weight is something that most people see as within their control. At least until they have injuries or start to gain weight as they get older, lol.
What I see as actually thin privilege is something a bit different. It has more to do with how differently people treat you when they find you attractive.10 -
Nine states have an obesity rate of 35%! It's not an exaggeration.
StateofObesity.org
My post are relevant to what the guy on the video is talking about. I agree with him.
Relevant how? The title of the page is, "State of Childhood Obesity" - the person who made the video said nothing about children (thankfully). The information in your link (which, again, is a good one) isn't communicated by way of aggressive or charged language, isn't focused on personal blame, is heavily oriented towards public policy, discusses ways in which public policy can encourage the lowering of rates of obesity, and makes claims based on actual data and research.
Your link is only related to the video because both are talking about obesity. Otherwise they're pretty different.
edit: if anything the link you provided is about people who would be negatively affected by thin privilege, have little to no control over their weight, and shouldn't be given advice by random people on the internet (as opposed to say, their pediatrician).3 -
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No! Look back in time. If there was "skinny privilege" then that means there's always been overweight people and that's not the case. Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin.
[edited by MFP Mods]
Nope, I lived through the early 80s, although I was a kid. Lots of people were not thin, lots of people wanted to lose. Maybe we have a different understanding of what "thin" means, and certainly people overall were not as heavy as now, but no, not everyone was thin. My mom (who was high normal BMI or slightly overweight) checked out every diet book on the planet, and I was (a bit later) normal weight but not thin throughout my teens and completely depressed about my body.
Anyway, back to the OP and responses, thanks aokoye, you may have saved me from watching.
The percentage of overweight people in the early 80s and earlier was much lower than now. It's a fact! People who overeat do it to themselves. I made myself fat by eating. I don't understand where it started, in our society, that being fat is ok. It has nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with health; fat people are not healthy! This app is all the proof I need to understand that that people know they aren't healthy. You never see an old person who is fat, because fat people die young!
But you didn't say less people, you actually said "Back in the early 80s and before everyone was thin. "
And of course that statement simply isn't true.
And yes you do sometimes see old and fat people. "Never" is also false.
Hyperbole weakens your arguments rather than strengthens.
I remember the old test taking trick our 3rd grade teacher told us. If a true/false question contains the words all, everyone, never or some other absolute is most likely false.
Not sure what we are considering old. You do see obese people in their 60's but not so much in their 70's+. By that time they tend to die from the complications of obesity or they are so disabled they are in an assisted living arrangement and don't get out much.4 -
This thread isn't about debating. It's about, If you don't agree with me then you're mean and you don't follow the community rules and I'm gonna report you thread. I posted on here because I watched a video that was shared and I happen to agree with the man in the video. I also posted a link to a site showing numbers about the population of obesity. More people than ever are obese, this is a fact; obesity can reduce your life expectancy by 8-10 years. Thanks for your support. I don't believe in skinny privilege and actually this thread has pushed me towards believing that there is fat privilege.10
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PS... The man in the video went over exactly what the title of this thread is, Skinny Privilege or Life Consequences. So I did stay on topic!3
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This thread isn't about debating. It's about, If you don't agree with me then you're mean and you don't follow the community rules and I'm gonna report you thread. I posted on here because I watched a video that was shared and I happen to agree with the man in the video. I also posted a link to a site showing numbers about the population of obesity. More people than ever are obese, this is a fact; obesity can reduce your life expectancy by 8-10 years. Thanks for your support. I don't believe in skinny privilege and actually this thread has pushed me towards believing that there is fat privilege.
How has this thread pushed you toward believing that there's fat privilege? How are you defining privilege and are you using the word it in the way that sociologists (among many others) tend to in the context of things like white privilege or male privilege?
As for the rest of your post, I'm not sure what you're talking with regards to "If you don't agree with me then you're mean and you don't follow the community rules and I'm gonna report you thread.". No one has said that and frankly there haven't been any posts that even come close to warrenting being reported (I say this as someone who has no problem with reporting posts). I don't think this thread has been nearly the echo chamber that you are implying it is.
Your link isn't actually relevant to very much of the video at all and I've told you why that's the case. The only sections that are obviously relevant are the statistics on obesity among adults, but that's a miniscule amount of the content. If anything I suspect the person who made the video would be pretty opposed to the bulk of what's in the link that you shared. If you hold the position that the person in the video does, the link actually works against what your position. Remember, no one is claiming that aren't a large number of obese people in the US.
I guess my last question is, given that you shared the link from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with us, what did you find on their website other than the map of obesity in adults in the US and the graph with the rise in obesity?7 -
This thread isn't about debating. It's about, If you don't agree with me then you're mean and you don't follow the community rules and I'm gonna report you thread.
I haven't seen anyone call you mean. I thought you said you were obese, so was suggesting that beating yourself up might not be super helpful. It never was for me.I posted on here because I watched a video that was shared and I happen to agree with the man in the video. I also posted a link to a site showing numbers about the population of obesity. More people than ever are obese, this is a fact; obesity can reduce your life expectancy by 8-10 years.
Pretty sure everyone here knows and are not disputing that the obesity rate is up compared with, say, the '80s, and that obesity is a health concern.Thanks for your support. I don't believe in skinny privilege and actually this thread has pushed me towards believing that there is fat privilege.
Btw, many or most of us (regular posters) are likely not obese or are well on the way to losing the weight. I lost 90 pounds in 2014-15 and have been basically maintaining (fluctuating between 125 and 135)--weights that are not overweight but also not thin. I'm planning to get back to focusing on becoming leaner (as well as stronger) this year.
Having been fat and not fat, not sure what "fat privilege" is supposed to be, but the idea strikes me as absurd.11 -
Thin privileged? I had to think about this for a while. I came to the conclusion. The fact that we are not all starving is a privilege many of us take for granted. The fact we have an obesity issue in affluent parts of the world is completely in line with this. I was obese my entire life, this is the first time in my life I have been at a "normal" weight. Besides having the privilege to live a little longer, I feel no different in society at all.9
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psychod787 wrote: »Thin privileged? I had to think about this for a while. I came to the conclusion. The fact that we are not all starving is a privilege many of us take for granted. The fact we have an obesity issue in affluent parts of the world is completely in line with this. I was obese my entire life, this is the first time in my life I have been at a "normal" weight. Besides having the privilege to live a little longer, I feel no different in society at all.
Except there are obesity issues in non-affluent parts of the world as well and among people in the US who are working class. Never mind that those with X privilege don't automatically feel different in the world. Feeling privileged isn't a requisite for privilege to exist. if anything people often don't realize that they have that privilege until they are made aware of it.11 -
psychod787 wrote: »Thin privileged? I had to think about this for a while. I came to the conclusion. The fact that we are not all starving is a privilege many of us take for granted. The fact we have an obesity issue in affluent parts of the world is completely in line with this. I was obese my entire life, this is the first time in my life I have been at a "normal" weight. Besides having the privilege to live a little longer, I feel no different in society at all.
Except there are obesity issues in non-affluent parts of the world as well and among people in the US who are working class. Never mind that those with X privilege don't automatically feel different in the world. Feeling privileged isn't a requisite for privilege to exist. if anything people often don't realize that they have that privilege until they are made aware of it.
Well, the fact that an excess of calories exist in the "non-affluent" areas of the world is a privilege. If we look back to our past, famine was common. Yes, even the "working" class have privileges. I am technically working class, but I AM PRIVILEGED. I can go to the store and buy food, I get to go to work, I have shelter.... ect.... Too many folks forget this *kitten*.11 -
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psychod787 wrote: »psychod787 wrote: »Thin privileged? I had to think about this for a while. I came to the conclusion. The fact that we are not all starving is a privilege many of us take for granted. The fact we have an obesity issue in affluent parts of the world is completely in line with this. I was obese my entire life, this is the first time in my life I have been at a "normal" weight. Besides having the privilege to live a little longer, I feel no different in society at all.
Except there are obesity issues in non-affluent parts of the world as well and among people in the US who are working class. Never mind that those with X privilege don't automatically feel different in the world. Feeling privileged isn't a requisite for privilege to exist. if anything people often don't realize that they have that privilege until they are made aware of it.
Well, the fact that an excess of calories exist in the "non-affluent" areas of the world is a privilege. If we look back to our past, famine was common. Yes, even the "working" class have privileges. I am technically working class, but I AM PRIVILEGED. I can go to the store and buy food, I get to go to work, I have shelter.... ect.... Too many folks forget this *kitten*.
Someone always has it worse, of course. I'm not disputing that. That someone has it worse doesn't mean that the person who has it "better" isn't still marginalized. There are also intersections. So for instance, I have a very, interesting, form of male privilege in that I'm read as male, I'm trans (and male identified), and I'm black. Within the context of many, or even most, arenas in the US (among many other countries) black men are seen as a threat, even if that "seeing" is an unconscious feeling. If we want to go further I'm also highly educated (in the western sense of the word). It's very useful to look at things like privilege outside of a vacuum because people don't exist in vacuums. So no I don't have white privilege nor do I have privilege relating to being cis-gender. I do have privilege related to how much education I have. That, however, that's complicated by my other identities/aspects of my being.
I should note, I'm not convinced about their being such a thing as thin privilege. I do, however, think that people who aren't thin are marginalized in various ways.12
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