Why is it still socially acceptable to make fun of fat people? I read the bitches and I notice the language….stop this and learn some respect for fellow human beings with feelings.
This article appears in Jul 17-23, 2008.
Hatred of fat people: Enough already
Why is it still socially acceptable to make fun of fat people? I read the bitches and I notice the language….stop this and learn some respect for fellow human beings with feelings.
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I agree 100%… People just need to learn how to respect each others differences!!!somewhat fat girl, otherwise known as….
The main argument that people use to justify fat bashing is that fat people are a drain on the health care system. But I think that might be a myth. I have a good friend who is fat. She eats healthy food. I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen her eat junk food in over 5 years. Obviously, she eats too much of that healthy food. She knows this. And while I would not call her sedentary, neither would I call her active. However, she persistently annoys her doctors by being in perfect health, having normal blood pressure, cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and what have you. She consistently passes every test that fat people are supposed to fail. If she is a drain on the health care system, it’s because doctors are always saying, “You’re fat. You must have X, Y, or Z wrong with you. We better test you for it.” In fact, I have several friends who are significantly overweight, and only one has a serious health problem. And that health problem is not obesity related. Now I’m not suggesting that there are no health risks associated with obesity. What I am suggesting is that justifying fat bashing by accusing the obese of draining the health care system might not be particularly valid.
Good Post Miranda.. Very well written :)Diabetes and Heart Disease run on my fathers side of the family.. So far, in my 25 years, the only health related issue I have had, is the common cold, or flu… But its always somthing that worries me everytime I go to the doctor.. or need to get blood tests completed…I will be the first to admit, I am kinda lazy, but my biggest excuse being, I feel like I am too fat to go to the gym (I know, I know, probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard, which is why I have so much respect for Holly..)Now, Taking me back to the OP… I want to go to the gym, and I want to be thinner.. But its soo damn hard, knowing how over weight people are viewed.. Its my own damn lack of self confidence thats keeping me away from the gym.. and why dont I have confidence? Cause I’m fat…. damnit… Umm.. sorry for typing so much, and going off topic…
Catlady, I had an aquaintance who took a bellydancing class last year. This class was specifically for “queen size women”. No skinny girls, and no boys. The instructor was a large woman too, and absolutely spectacular from what I’ve heard. It was a great way for larger women to get some exercise in a fun way, without feeling like anyone was looking at them judgementally. I’m not sure if it was through hfx rec, or one of the private studios. But it might be worth checking out for you.
Thanks! I appriciate you telling me about it 🙂 If you happen to hear who hosts it, and can let me know, I will definatly look into it.. (I’m actually excited about it now! Awesome)Thanks Miranda
And Cat Lady, it’s possible to be overweight AND healthy, believe it or not, but exercise is key. Ge yourself a cheap mp3 player and go walking… it’s cheap, easy and feels GREAT. you’ll see.
It’s so nice to see a post like this! I am so sick of the ones that feature comments like ‘Why are fat people so obnoxious?’ and ‘Why shouldnt we hate on the fat people?’ Having a dog is great excersise as well. I hate ‘working out’ and think gyms are really boring. But I had a big dog for the last 10 yrs of my life, and if I wanted him to behave and be happy, I had to get him out for lots of excersise and so we walked everywhere together. I miss him so much 🙁
Miranda, I think your overweight friend with the squeaky clean health record may be the exception rather than the rule. I also wonder if your friends are all pretty young too. A lot of the major health problems associated with being overweight manifest later in life. The more years you carry around extrapounds, the more likely you are to get helth problems like heart disease, diabetes, joint problems etc. The sheer number of people who are overweight in this province results in significant use of limited healthcare resources to the point that obesity is a problem that seriously needs to be addressed. No Myth. However, this is in no way a reason to attack overweight people for being a drain on the healthcare system anymore than it would be fair to blame cancer patients, sick children or any other group of people with similar afflictions. If we are currently spending a big chunk of healthcare on obesity-related health issues, we should be fighting obesity not the obese.
Miles, all my friends are my age: early to mid 40’s. I do agree with you that there are health problems associated with obesity. However, it is possible to live a fairly healthy lifestyle and still carry some extra pounds. I think a lot of the health problems associated with obesity are exacerbated or even caused by the unhealthy lifestyles that often go along with obesity. I hang around with a pretty health conscious crowd, and even the people who are overweight are moderately active and eat well. So they are healthier than those overweight people who eat transfat and refined sugar and drive to the corner store. They are probably heather than skinny people who live like that too. Having said that, it’s a no brainer that everyone would be better off at a healthy weight. No doubt some people will jump in and say you can’t compare fat people to cancer patients because fat people are ultimately fat by choice. So I’d like to offer another scenario: I’ve been athletic all my life. As a direct result of that, I’ve required a lot of medical attention to treat sports related injuries. As I enter middle age, I am developing osteoarthritis in a number of joints. This is a direct result of wear and tear on those joints from thirty odd years of running, cycling, and swimming thousands of kilometers per year. I’m more of a drain on the health care system than my fat friend, and it’s my own fault. I CHOSE to run those marathons. Should I have to pay for my own knee surgery?
Excellent scenario Miranda, and thanks for making my point better than I did.
Your point about eating healthy and being obese, vs. eating junk and being obese is a good one. Most of the posts on this site against fat people are directed at people seen eating in fast food restaurants, or feeding their children chocolate and french fries for breakfast. While we are saying fat people are bad/gross etc, I think most of us are bitching against the unhealthy, do it to yourself eating a bucket of chicken a day while watching reality tv fat people.This is why Holly got a good response to her post, because she’s not one of the irresponsible fat people that we’ve all grown to love to bitch about.I recently read an article in the paper about a study done on running and the desire to run. It showed that the desire to run is much higher in people who are already thin. They think this might be related to the fact that as hunter/gatherers/nomads, it was being skinny that made you more motivated to run and catch food. If you were well fed, you didn’t need to eat, so you didn’t need to run. But in today’s society, where food is everywhere and full of fat, and the desire is to be skinny, not well fed, we end up in a vicious circle of wanting to be skinny, but lacking the motivation to run for it.
Since when is being fat acceptable?
It became acceptable right about the same time it became acceptable for you to be tool. Go howl at the moon or something coyoteX. I can flash my ass if you need inspiration.
Coyotex, you must be one of those jerks who actually makes fun of fat folks! Do you have to be provoked, or can you do it all on your own?
I am thin but have shitty health- not because I’m not active or don’t eat well but because I have poor genes which I guess makes me a drain on the health care system. I would be dead if it weren’t for the health care system but if survival of the fittest counted, I wouldn’t be a “drain” on the system either. I pay a lot of taxes. Fat people pay a lot of taxes. Don’t be so quick to jump on that neo-liberal bandwagon that makes people feel as though the individual is to blame for why our system is so poor- the “system” isn’t poor, funds are just allocated poorly. We all pay so much in to health care, we are all damn well entitled to as much as we need- fat or thin, sick or healthy, smokers or non-smokers! Why not try blaming the government rather then ourselves for the fact that they can’t do things right? By blaming eachother, we are doing exactly what the government wants us to do- divert our attention away from them!
Vicky, actually no I’m not a jerk at all. In fact, I’m a really nice guy. I don’t make fun of fat people, I’m just not a fan of how they keep making excuses to avoid losing the weight and blame the world for it. Read the posts Vicky, not one single person admitted to exercising or at least doing something about their weight.I also don’t think obese people are a drain on the system, and never actually heard of anyone say they HATE fat people for that reason. I don’t hate fat people because i don’t hate people. I only dislike peoples actions in public. Example? Sure. Nice quiet dinner at Opa Greek Restaurant, when out of everyone in the restaurant, 2 fat ladies wouldn’t stop yelling (I would say talking but i think they went beyond talking) and laughing really loud while sitting 2 feet away from their friends. Separate tables of course. How can anyone be a fan of that?
Ok, I wouldn’t be a fan of that, either. But would you make the distinction if those two ladies were thin? Just like when the media reports crime, they don’t say “2 white guys were arrested…” Just wondering. ps. I’m one of those fat girls trying to lose weight, and I’ve been successful so far, 70 lbs lighter. I guess I’m the exception, doing instead of complaining. But, folks need to know that carrying fat does not entitle others to joke about it.
I’m always weary of people that feel the need to state to others that they are ‘nice’, like you have Coyote. In my experience, usually you ”I’m a really nice person!” types are, in fact, arrogant dipshits with no self-awareness whatsoever; and to quote you, ‘it is a trait, until I see otherwise’. You might be of the opinion that you are a ”really nice guy”, but I am of the opinion that you are a stupid, uneducated asshole. You say that most fat people are loud and obnoxious, well to repeat what I wrote in a previous bitch about fat people, in MY experience, most fat people seem to be overly shy, polite and accomodating to the point of making themselves doormats for assholes. But I know better than to stereotype an entire population of people…yes I’ll leave that to the idiots such as yourself.
Then I guess I’m an idiot, none the less, my opinion remains! No matter what you say, will not change, until i see otherwise.
And with that attitude, you are not likely to ever see otherwise.
Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it hon?
Coyotex, I didn’t contradict myself… I was merely stating that the drain on the health care system is weak. As many people have said here, they are bigger and healthy, I tend to be the opposite. The way someone looks is not necassarily indicative of a neagtive health status. My other point was that if the government spent it’s tax dollars more efficiently, we would all have better social infrastructure and better hospitals but instead they prefer to take $70,000 trips to China (David Miller) and buy pots and pans for $100,000 (Mulroney)-tax payers, fat and thin pays for this shit!Fat paople also wave goodbye to 35% of their paycheque in income tax. Are they less deserving of health care then the rest of us? I don’t think so! Are fat people who don’t care about getting “thin” errr, should I say healthy any different than people who speed, drive dangerously, drink alcohol, smoke, eat MacDonalds, or travel to not-so-safe countries? People take risks everyday that may have negative health consequences. If you’d read my post you’d see that I wasn’t judging them or saying the system makes them fat, rather I was judging the system that “claims” they are a drain on the system. Sure, over time certain individuals may have over time more health problems, blah, blah. They pay into the system too and if the govenment doesn’t like it, they can impose higher taxes on fast food! But don’t forget, Coyotex, not all overweight people eat fast food- that would be stereotyping just like you are doing by saying that most overweight people are “obnoxious”.
Maybe I don’t want to care, but why do you care so much to the point of obsessivenesses about my opinion? I don’t know why people hate to admit the obvious and truth. Read the posts. Only 1 person admitted to trying to lose the weight, rest are: “Obviously, she eats too much of that healthy food. She knows this. And while I would not call her sedentary, neither would I call her active””I will be the first to admit, I am kinda lazy, but my biggest excuse being, I feel like I am too fat to go to the gym””I want to go to the gym, and I want to be thinner.. But its soo damn hard, knowing how over weight people are viewed.. Its my own damn lack of self confidence thats keeping me away from the gym.. and why dont I have confidence? Cause I’m fat…. damnit…”Further proves my point. Nothing by blame and excuses!
I’m obsessed with you because I secretly love you. Opps, not so secret anymore!You’re judging an entire population based on LTWWB readership? Great sampling, genius! I hope you’re not a reseacher in real life…just remember, there IS a whole wide world out there!
a whole world with lots of quiet fat folks in it…
I’m sorry lynn, I didn’t read anywhere in any of the posts someone saying that fat people are a drain on the health care system. All I read was people posted that they think other people think that. I certainly don’t think fat people are a drain on the health care system, nor do i think they should be compared with cancer patients, fatness is no where near a disease! As my previous post shows, it’s nothing but excuses is all i hear. Plenty of ways to exercise, you don’t need people to tell you how to do it. You can work out from you’re own home if you want. The question is do you want to?The only people that are a drain on the health care system are the ones that refuse to take care of their bodies, injecting it with god knows what, know the consequences, then going and complaining to the doctor about the consequences.
Well Coyotex, Miranda and Miles both brought up how that argument is often made earlier in the post. I was agreeing with them in my post. Next time, try reading the thread before accusing me of contradicting myself, k?Who exactly compared obesity to cancer here? Paranoid much?
Good point Vicky, I also doubt Coyote would make the distinction if the two loud people had been thin! Oh well, Coyote! there were two of them doing the same thing afterall, that MUST mean their behavior is a trait to being fat!!”I’m just not a fan of how they keep making excuses to avoid losing the weight and blame the world for it”No Coyote, you don’t generalize much, do you?
I could give more examples but it’ll take up time and space.I’m glad to hear you’re doing something about it Vicky. It’s feels good doesn’t it. You don’t sit out there laughing your ass off at the most ridiculous reason? You’re not overly loud that you make you’re presence known. You don’t go to a library and keep yapping until you get kicked out? You decided to lose some of that excess weight, and it’s not to please anyone else but yourself.NHM, yes it is a trait, until i see otherwise.Lynn, you posted :” Why not try blaming the government rather then ourselves for the fact that they can’t do things right? By blaming eachother, we are doing exactly what the government wants us to do- divert our attention away from them!”.. How is the government making some of the population fat and obnoxious? Being fat can only be blamed on the person and no one else!!! I noticed quite a few here admitted to being lazy and not wanting to do anything about it!You can’t come in here comment on something and argue a point, where in the same paragraph, you write something against your argument.I’m not saying all fat people are, I’m only implying that most are and they’re giving a bad rep to all of them!
I have no idea who you talk to or listen to but i’ve never been presented with the argument that fat people are a drain on the health care system. Walk into a doctor’s office and see how many fat people sit there. I don’t think as many as thin people. Being thin isn’t healthy either. Sickly think that is. Someone that’s an adult and under 100 lbs, unless they have a growth issue which is different. I have never heard on the radio or TV anyone state that fat people are a drain on the health care system. This post is the post i’m referring to. The original post to me is this post. This post talked about fatness being acceptable. It never was, and never will be. That’s just history! I don’t make the rules.
Hey Coyotex, I think I just saw a dead horse for you to beat!
Did you know the third Police Squad movie was originally going to be called “Police Squad! 33 1/3: Beating a Dead Horse”?Let us examine the influence dead-horse-beating has had on popular culture.On second thought, let’s not.
qwerty, you are too funny today!I can’t believe he’s never heard that argument before… pull your head out of the sand, Coyotex :-S. Good to see you are so on the ball with staying on topic, even when it makes you look like a dummy. Yay for you~
Have you ever noticed a group of young people, in the school yard perhaps, and how they act? It’s rarely the overwight kids who are running around yelling and making obnoxious comments, but the skinny, attractive popular kids, yelling and being obnoxious towards the fat ones. And then what happens? The fat kids become more shy, and the obnoxious kids become more obnoxious because they are getting attention for it. Then, kids grow up this way and go to college where the freshman 15 hits. And all the obnoxious pretty kids become fat obnoxious adults. The point? They were obnoxious to begin with. Stop blaming their weight, and start blaming their upbringing, parents, and peers who rewarded them for being pricks in the first place.
Coyotex, with all due respect, you might want to do a little research on this subject. The impact on health-care systems of obese people, and people with self-inflicted illnesses such as tobacco and alcohol addiction, is well documented. (It costs a public health-care system a fortune to treat a patient with self-inflicted lung cancer, or a non-functioning liver. And that money is coming out of your pocket.)And, no, this is not intended in any way to be a condemnation of overweight people. But it is undeniably true that the treatment of the various ailments associated with obesity does impact health-care systems around the world. It is also undeniably true that in some cases obesity is itself a self-inflicted condition. Have you seen the junk some people pile into their grocery carts? They’re making themselves sicker, and fatter, and they can’t blame their obesity on anything but their own selves.Nobody should be allowed to pick on them, but it isn’t a crime to point out that they could become a drain on the public health-care system.
Quoted twice… impressive..I do just want to say one thing.. I never ONCE placed blame on anyone else for me being overweight… I said, do to MY OWN lack of confidence, being the number one reason…Why am I fat? I eat too much… I eat late at night… I dont move around enough… All my fault.. I cant blame anyone but my own damn self..And in regard to the comment about the fat girls in the resturaunt.. what the hell is that? I try my harest to go unnoticed… I avoid confrontation, and stares.. “most fat people seem to be overly shy, polite and accomodating to the point of making themselves doormats for assholes”Almost discribes me to a T….
as far as i’m concered, this is the topic:Hatred of fat people: Enough alreadyWhy is it still socially acceptable to make fun of fat people? I read the bitches and I notice the language….stop this and learn some respect for fellow human beings with feelings.somewhat fat guymy opinion stands. I have no idea why you people have so much hatred for anyone that disagrees with you. personally i don’t give a shit about health care system. It’s a pathetic system to begin with anyway. Also there are 3 types of kids in school, obnoxious that we always loved to hate, the shy ones that were occasionally picked on and beat up, and the ones that were just a happy medium. In any of the schools i attended in my entire 30 years of life, i have never encountered an over weight kid. I have no idea what schools you were going to but i don’t count someone who has a lil baby fat as FAT.. And yes they obviously gain the weight when they become older. I used to know someone who was a cheer leader and all of a sudden exploded into this 275lb woman from 120. she was actually very nice until she gained the weight.. started going downtown and just got plain annoying. you can’t tell me i can’t base my opinion on my so many experiences. If you haven’t experience at least one of the things i mentioned. You obviously need to leave your residence once in a while!
fatty fatty fat fat…
CaTLaDY From The Darkside.. I wish everyone was just like that. Honestly no word of lie it was on valentine’s night. I don’t know if anyone ever goes to Opa. It’s a really nice place, and believe me their laughter just rung through the entire place. A lot of obese people are very nice and pleasant. The ones that mainly go out and want to be noticed are the ones that just really give a bad rep to everyone else. So far, I have yet to meet one that doesn’t crave attention and isn’t obnoxious. Introduce them to me and i’ll change my view! Guys are worse, some of them actually think they’re god’s gift to women.
Coyotex meet CaTLaDY, CaTLaDY meet Coyotex..There, introductions done… Nice to meet you! I understand everyone is entitled to their own opinion, your going to think what you wunna think, but your opinion is based on a stereotype… I’ve seem some fucking obnoxious skinny people, obnoxious fat people, obnoxious white people, and obnoxious black people… They come in all shapes, sizes and colors…Its just too bad you’ve already judged my character, based on my size… Floyd, Glad you stopped by to add such wonderful input..
It must have interested you somewhat.. you came into read the bitch, and the comments… And, this is only the second post in regards to weight that I’ve seen… (from what I remember, I only became a regular poster here online about a month ago)
“In any of the schools i attended in my entire 30 years of life, i have never encountered an over weight kid.”Do you live in a hole? This is a huge problem right now, an EPIDEMIC in fact. “A lot of obese people are very nice and pleasant.”That is exactly the point we’re trying to make. Not all fat people are obnoxious. Some are, some aren’t. Same with skinny people.
I watched an interesting doc on TV last night. “The Human Body: Pushing the Limits”. There was a feature on a guy who swam the English Channel. They showed him at the beginning of the swim, as he stripped down to his swimsuit and dove in. The guy was FAT. Not morbidly obese, by any stretch, but definitely fat. And I looked at his six months pregnant belly and B cups, raised an eyebrow and thought, yeah right. Then the narrator went on to explain that this athlete had set out to gain all this body fat in preparation for the swim. The fat would provide insulation from the cold water, and fuel for when readily available glycogen stores were depleted. Dude lost 14 pounds of fat in the 14 hours it took him to swim the Channel, and he still looked pudgy when he got out of the water. Now this is an extreme case, obviously. But it DOES prove that a person can be very fit and still be overweight.