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The same has often been said in the past about homosexuality.
The thrust of the fat acceptance movement isn't about why people are obese. It's that being obese is not a moral failing any more than having a birth defect is. Being fat doesn't make a bad person or deserving of being shamed any more than being thin makes you a good person or deserving of being loved. And yet people will assume that fat people are deserving of being shamed for no other reason than their physiques.
When it's a controlable issue like weight (in most cases), it's understandable that people would discriminate or look shamefully upon them.
I myself don't discriminate towards overweight people. I mind my own business, it's not my problem. But just like we shouldn't intervene in other people's life by making "fat" comments or discriminating against them, we shouldn't be sending them a sign that it's ok either.
I think the goal of the 'movement' is to try and get people to not be *******s towards the fat. Generally speaking it's OK to make jokes about Southerners, Republicans, fat people and substance abusers but anything else is off-limits
Fat,Southern,Republican Crackheads! Are we in the Ozarks??????
From that website: "Encourage health care organizations to adopt a Health At Every Size (HAES) policy and include HAES in patients’ rights policies."
Considering that I am now paying for other people due to Obama's health care plan, I have a legitimate right to complain about obese people trying to rationalize their poor health. I wouldn't expect someone who abused alcohol to get a free liver, why should fatties expect the same level of medical care when they're actively increasing overall costs? If you want to be fat, that's fine, just don't make me pay for your fatness.
Oh, PLEASE! Obama has nothing to do with it. All of us have been paying for other people since FDR. That is what Medicare and Medicaid are about. Furthermore, even if you have insurance, others will be subsidizing you should you ever use it. That is why when someone at work has a catastrophic illness like cancer and requires expensive treatments, premiums go up for the entire company.
As RockJock said, the point of the movement is to stop shaming people for their bodies.
That is not the same as denying the health risks and costs of obesity, or living in a vacuum where we ignore the health benefits of fitness and weight loss.
No offense, but you sound young. Maybe you aren't, but it tends to be young, healthy people who have yet to confront an accident or serious illness either in themselves or their loved ones who whizz and moan about stuff like this.
I politely suggest that you either come up with a better argument than "I pay for them" or just get over it.
That is not the same as denying the health risks and costs of obesity, or living in a vacuum where we ignore the health benefits of fitness and weight loss.
So you're ignoring the language used on the website itself? The language that states they want to revise current medical standards about obesity?
I'm only going by what's ON THE WEBSITE. That is ON THE WEBSITE. You have an agenda, obviously; stop ignoring the facts here and address my statements directly. The Fat Acceptance people want medical literature changed to reflect their ideas, specifically as regards the impact of obesity on health.
People talk about health care costs...But what about global cost to the environment? Food production contributes to a lot of waste. So if you are obese and on a diet you are not a problem. But to be obese and just keep gaining when you have resources at your fingertips to stop? That is a shame because its not needed and causes more problems than it solves. Its a unhealthy behavior that affects more than just the person under the influence of those choices.
Fat acceptance is annoying because:
1. You should not have to tell grown adults how to behave
2. Being fat is good for no one- OBVIOUS -and yet people want to ignore its destruction much like a junkie does.
3. the world makes people so miserable they act like addicts over food
4. food industry makes products for profit and problems, not people
5. people want food cheap when they have had more than enough. WE CAN AFFORD IT BY THE LOOK OF WAISTLINES!
6. Its such a sick stupid move to pull and waste any time or resources on when people are DYING because they haven't eaten in so long. And we are suppose to coddle the ones who have resources to share? That just seems off.
When it's a controlable issue like weight (in most cases), it's understandable that people would discriminate or look shamefully upon them.
No, it's not understandable. Only a raging, gaping anal sphincter would do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dewdrop93
The thing is - there are very few obese people that are actually okay with being obese. Yes, I know - some are proud of their obsese physiques. But the majority of obese people are already ashamed. Many obsese people have eating disorders or mental issues that are extremely difficult to overcome. If it were so easy for everyone to have the perfect body - don't you think they all would?
I'm a little over sensitive to obese people because I'm completely neurotic about my weight. So I know that I may be a little too understanding - but I just hate to see people shamed and humiliated for something that they probably already feel horrible about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HurricaneDC
Well that's what happens with a society such as ours. My tax money goes to welfare programs, which sometimes subsidize people who have no intention of ever actually getting off the programs.
e: Dewdrop makes an excellent point as well. As a smoker I can tell you that nothing is LESS effective at motivating a smoker to quit than cries of "it smells bad! it gives you cancer! you're an idiot for starting it!" yeah we all KNOW that and telling us that does not make us want to quit. Likewise these candy-asses who are physically repulsed by obese people (I mean jesus grow a bit of a stronger constitution, I'd hate to see how you'd handle being an EMT or cop) and call them names are not helping the problem but exacerbating it.
Oh, PLEASE! Obama has nothing to do with it. All of us have been paying for other people since FDR. That is what Medicare and Medicaid are about. Furthermore, even if you have insurance, others will be subsidizing you should you ever use it. That is why when someone at work has a catastrophic illness like cancer and requires expensive treatments, premiums go up for the entire company.
As RockJock said, the point of the movement is to stop shaming people for their bodies.
That is not the same as denying the health risks and costs of obesity, or living in a vacuum where we ignore the health benefits of fitness and weight loss.
No offense, but you sound young. Maybe you aren't, but it tends to be young, healthy people who have yet to confront an accident or serious illness either in themselves or their loved ones who whizz and moan about stuff like this.
I politely suggest that you either come up with a better argument than "I pay for them" or just get over it.
When it's a controlable issue like weight (in most cases), it's understandable that people would discriminate or look shamefully upon them.
I myself don't discriminate towards overweight people. I mind my own business, it's not my problem. But just like we shouldn't intervene in other people's life by making "fat" comments or discriminating against them, we shouldn't be sending them a sign that it's ok either.
Again, it's not that controllable. Obesity is a very complex problem, because the way your body manages its energy balance is very complex, and a lot of the neurological components of hunger and metabolism aren't that well understood, let alone experimentally controllable.
The only thing shameful about it is the lengths people go to to justify their discrimination of others.
So you're ignoring the language used on the website itself? The language that states they want to revise current medical standards about obesity?
I'm only going by what's ON THE WEBSITE. That is ON THE WEBSITE. You have an agenda, obviously; stop ignoring the facts here and address my statements directly. The Fat Acceptance people want medical literature changed to reflect their ideas, specifically as regards the impact of obesity on health.
First of all, it is possible to be overweight and not have a health problem. Overweight and obesity increase the risk of developing health problems, which is not the same as automatically developing a problem when the scale hits a magic number.
Second, just because a group wants something, that doesn't mean the science (ie, risk) or the government will bend to their will.
Third, I'm a health and science writer. I've written columns about weight loss and obesity, and those topics are among my specialties. Your attitude is exactly what is wrong with the United States, and exactly why so many of our young women have all kinds of eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia (two more of my specialties) and binge-eating disorder. Hint: Negative reinforcement in the form of shame is NEVER successful in humans and serves only to warp their thinking.
Fourth, why are you even posting this in the Relationships forum? This belongs in the health forum.
Last edited by JustJulia; 07-28-2011 at 01:18 PM..
Again, it's not that controllable. Obesity is a very complex problem, because the way your body manages its energy balance is very complex, and a lot of the neurological components of hunger and metabolism aren't that well understood, let alone experimentally controllable.
The only thing shameful about it is the lengths people go to to justify their discrimination of others.
I'm no doctor so I wouldn't know. But again, I'm talking about the type of overweight that can be controlled. Some people just let themselves go.
I do agree that it's not right to discriminate nor make hurtful comments towards obese people. It's not anybody's place to make others feel inferior or bad about their weight, as if they weren't having a hard enough time already. The same goes for very thin people. When I was younger and 10 pounds under my ideal weight, I received some ugly comments about being too thin and even called anorexic. What gives anybody the right to make those kind of comments? They don't know what's going on with that person's body or their life, so why even say anything? People need to mind their own business and learn not to judge, period.
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