Fat shaming

Read a few posts on Reddit about fat shaming. I'm not for name calling or belittling people about their appearance but there were a few gems in there:

-someone posted that they don't like it when thin people talk about their diet and exercise or say that they need to lose a few pounds (they consider that fat shaming)

-someone else posted that mentioning fat statistics in America (i.e., 35% of adults are obese, 60% of adults are overweight, etc.) is akin to hate speech (no really, HATE SPEECH; maybe they were just trolling but whatever)

A few thoughts:

-if you are fat and a fit person is talking about diet and exercise and you feel bad, either do something about yourself or just live with it

-we live in an America right now where if you say anything contradictory even if it's a proven fact, it's hate speech; scary....

From wiki:

"People are considered obese when their body mass index (BMI), a measurement obtained by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height in meters, exceeds 30 kg/m²."

given the parameters, a case for hate speech could be made and argued.

terribly

i disagree with the bmi take on obesity, it should be updated. if this were the case a lot of healthy people would be considered obese. take a big football player like calvin johnson, that guy is built like an action figure but according to the bmi scale he would be obese. .

Obesity is *usually* a lifestyle choice and not a genetic predisposition (I say "usually" with great emphasis here). People need to stop playing the victim card and either make changes to their diet and lifestyle, or stand up and be proud of who they are ("fat pride" is a thing now).

I know I'm never going to be considered "slim" but I'll be damned if I have a pot belly for the rest of my life. I've got loads of muscle mass hidden beneath my squishy surface that's just dying to come out and be drooled over. That, and I'd like to be able to continue moving at a "fit" pace for at least another 25 years (or more).

That whole thing makes no sense to me. Why the hell should you be proud that you're unhealthy?

Bill Burr makes fun of fat people on his podcast. He's had people write in saying that what he said gave them motivation to lose weight. I don't see the big deal about the stuff those guys said TC. Most fat people have no excuse for being unhealthy.

Why would people be proud of doing anything that's unhealthy? No one will ever know.

As an overweight person, formally obese, I think people who are having weight issues need to man up a little. Sitting there and whining about being overweight will not change anything, I was one of the people who did do something. It is fairly easy honestly. Also, when someone would attempt to insult or "shame" me for being overweight I would laugh at them and say, "really? I cannot see that when I look in the mirror every morning, thank you for giving me this life changing information.".

Fat shaming is hilarious. I think people who have accepted that they are fat and that being fat makes them happy because they 'reject society's opinion on what should be healthy and normal' are psychologically damaged.

It would be a stupid argument. So-called "fat shamers" often have the health of the fat person at interest, or the economic and/or social cost in mind. I agree totally that fat shaming is misguided, but it's not hateful.

fat people are annoying.

Obesity is (for the most part) a lifestyle choice, and shouldn't be compared to things people can't control like race or sexual orientation. Almost anyone can get down to a healthy weight if they make the right decisions and develop good habits.

There are always going to be a lot of people who basically loathe themselves, consider themselves powerless victims and therefore interpret anything related to them as criticism. For people like those, talking about obesity as a negative thing will only feed their insecurity and cause it to bloat up and grow even larger and larger. For the rest of us, it's a constant message that being obese is unhealthy and unattractive and that people should make sure that they don't get fat.

I never fat shame because that would make me a massive hypocrite. I'm drinking a milkshake as I read this very topic, for God's sake.

I remember one university banned the term "illegal immigrant" because it's considered hate speech to them, even thought that's literally what they are.

I think Americans (it might be humans in general, I can't say)

1. blame others for their problems/faults

2. Are too sensitive when people call them on their major faults

3. don't work hard enough on their faults (gym memberships spike right after new years, then drop off sharply in FEB, wonder why.....)

and because our culture puts much more emphasis on looks than other cultures people end up feeling shitty about it if they're heavy.

but reality is whether people want to admit it or not, it's an easily fixable fault. Yes getting in good shape is hard work, but nothing in life worth while isn't. People give up way too easy on diet/exercise.

and people need to stop blaming others for their own problems.

Also, OP can you share the link?

Let's Fat Shaming Oprah

Gallery

In America it is completely acceptable to shame smokers. People will say to a smoker's face:

1. Smoking is a turn off
2. Smoking will kill you
3. Stop smoking/change your habit
4. I don't care if you like smoking, I don't want to smell it

While someone else being fat doesn't harm my health, it does hurt my wallet in terms of increased health care costs, and thus I see no reason why the obese should be sheltered from similar treatment. Time to spike taxes on foods high in sugar and fat.

This seems relevant ...

Fat Shaming

Apologies for the link: Video embedding doesn't seem to work anymore. Not for me, at least.

When someone calls me fat, I just wear glitter and I feel pretty.

I have no problem with people being "overweight", I get that it can happen with today's lifestyle and hectic world, coupled with the availability of shitty food and the inaccessibility of healthier choices. That and people can always do something about it when they choose to and it does not stand in the way of having a normal life.

Being morbidly obese however...damn I can't imagine how someone would willingly choose to lead such an existence. All those layers on top of layers of fat seem to trap people's sapience and sentience in between.

Only when they make a big deal about it and act like it isn't their fault.

I need to lose a few pounds.

I saw a news program in which they questioned overweight people. Most of them thought they were fat because of genetics, they said they had a healthy lifestyle. When they were examined, it turned out none of them had some genetic disorder. And when they were watched in an experiment it turned out that all of them ate too much (mostly because of snacking in between meals) and exercised too little. Perception of people can be totally off.

I understand that not everybody can be thin just as easily, some people simply have a bigger frame than others. But there's a difference between being bigger and being obese.

Also I think there's too little help for people who are fat because of psychological issues, comfort eating is a problem that should be solved because it's only a downwards spiral. These people not only need physical help but also psychological help.

If some people wanna be fat then fvck off, it is not your problem. Fat people need to chill out, you are fat, deal with it. And that is that.

I probably couldn't be fat even if I wanted too. I'm eating a whole fking pie as we speak as a snack, and I'm still thin.

@deeliman: I bet you are under 30 years old?

Yes, I'm 16.

@deeliman: That's understandable, I was stick thin until I was about 25 years. Too thin I might add, I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain a single pound. It was kind of frustrating. But after 25 I suddenly gained about 10kg, while I didn't change my eating or exercising pattern. I'm 34 now and my figure is pretty good if I might add ;-)

lol, your body haven't even fully mature. Lets see in a few years.

I'm glad most people I know IRL don't have immature callous attitudes that many people on OT do.

While being fat is not healthy and shouldn't be encouraged, "shaming" fat people and making nasty comments about them is pretty ugly behavior.

Well being fat is pretty ugly behavior as well. An eye for an eye.

Riiiiight...

Nice attempt at being clever, but being fat is far different from treating other people badly.

You don't have to respect them. But that doesn't put things like fat shaming within the realm of decent behavior.

Also, fat people treating themselves badly is not a justification for treating them badly.

Both of you should really grow up. Black/fat people are not a hivemind and there are annoying/non-annoying people of all weights and races.

Meh, I'm fat as **** and I don't mind hearing my friends talk about their diet and exercise. I know I'm fat because of my own fault. I like to eat a lot of junk food and shit that is bad for my health. Being fat is hard because you WANT to lose the weight but at the same time, eating is like an addiction. Especially if you've been having that kind of a diet for years. I dropped 30 pounds on my last diet, regained some weight back because I was like "Damn, 30 pounds gone? Let's pig out for a little while" and now I'm currently dieting again. There is not really such a thing as fat shaming. You can shame someone for being too skinny and they'll get equally offended. It's just mostly guilt for yourself that makes you feel ashamed or whatever because you know you can do something about it but simply refuse.

Yeah, there is. Deliberately trying to make one feel ashamed of being fat by insulting them=fat shaming.

I'm a pretty big on healthy living - I eat well, hit the gym thrice a week and play squash once a week. Because of my lifestyle and personal interests in this, I find obesity to be most undesirable and quite unsightly. Yes, some (read: incredibly few) people are overweight for genetic or medical issues, but for the overwhelming majority, it's a case of too many calories through food and drink. Simple, permanent lifestyle changes will resolve obesity for so, so many people.

I think shaming smokers is wrong too.

However, I don't think merely expressing the opinion that smoking (or being fat) is a turn off is "shaming" them.

Normally I would prefer not to concern myself with the actions of others when they don't affect my daily life but in terms of people who are overweight they put themselves at greater risk for certain health issues. With mandatory health insurance in place that results in higher premiums for everybody. I don't encourage insulting people to the point they try to lose weight in shame (it may backfire and they may overeat more or even harm themselves) but we should try to encourage healthier living.

When it comes to health insurance, the thing is that smokers can be charged higher health insurance premiums due to their increased risk for lung cancer and few will says a word in opposition. On the other hand, try to charge somebody who is obese due to their own negligence and not a verified health issue a higher premium because of their increased risk of early diabetes and people will claim you are discriminating against the obese.

That's just plain insulting people.

But sometimes people do insult others with the aim of making them feel ashamed of themselves.

Your grammar hasn't fully matured either ;)

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you once were. Your Dutch, so you probably know about those ggd gewicht/lengte richtlijnen right? I'm just a tee bit under the normal curve for weight. What is funny about being so thin is that it looks like you have a 6 pack even though you never work out :P

I wouldn't say it's hate speech, but some might--hell, there's plenty of people that consider insulting religious institutions and those who follow them to be hate speech, yet people choose to follow a religion.

As for fat shaming, it's just not effective despite what people like Ricky Gervais might think. If you insult a fat person, they're not more likely to loose the weight--they're more likely to get depressed and overeat even more.