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Demonising fat people
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
About time someone said this.
Overweight people are not acceptable, an attitude which has permeated the national consciousness. The word "fat" is invested with negativity, considered a derogatory term used as an insult, as opposed to the word "thin" which invokes images of beauty and perfection. Some people are genetically predisposed to be overweight. Others may be miserable, prone to comfort eating. Either way, the claim put forward by Weight Watchers and endorsed by celebrity culture - loose weight and feel great - not only creates, but also enhances existing insecurities, in addition to placing unrealistic expectations on the power of weight control.
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On top of that you have the health risks.
Being too skinny carries almost the same stigma IMO.
For the record, it's more healthy to be a few pounds overweight than a few pounds underweight.
I'd be happy as a 14/16, but at the moment I feel that I am TOO overweight to be chubbly and nice.
Moral: stay fat, to annoy them.
Unfortunately being fat means a lot of things to different people. On health/fitness forums I frequent fat people are always referred to as lazy etc.. something we have been trying to debate there recently..
agreed, but then a few lbs overweight doesn't = fat
Exactly - there is a massive difference between being 'chunky' and being 'fat'.
Unfortunately I am one of those people that sees a fat person and immediately recoils. I've got a bit of a strange mental block when it comes to this - for example, a girl I know called Michelle; lovely lass, but huge, and for the life of me whenever she tries speaking to me I find ANY excuse to get away. I have no idea why, but I just can't stand speaking to somebody I find 'fat'. I can't even watch a TV programme about fat people without finding myself saying something really insulting about them being lazy/eating pies etc etc etc.
I've been trying to work out exactly what is going on in my head with this as I don't know where it's come from but it's started in the last 3 years or so... I'm not fat, never have been and never will. I do take pretty good care of myself, so perhaps it's my brain thinking 'this person obviously doesn't take care of themself' and so sends me into a :eek2: state.
I am wondering if it is partially to do with the fact that pretty much all of the 'fat' people I know seem to permanently be on diets yet refuse/can't be bothered to exercise and then whinge about not making any progress, blaming something irrelevant and then porking out on comfort foods. Annoys me when most could take the bull by the horns and tackle it if they wanted to, but the easy option is not to bother.
Genuinely, I am
ETA - For the record, I am never harsh about a larger person working hard in the gym. Ever. To me, this is somebody trying to do something about it and so encouragement is needed.
Nah. :no: I've definitely not got any body image problems, and am not worried about getting fat...
Strange, ain't it? Seems the fitter I get, the harsher I can be.
Not trying to sound harsh either. lol.
I suggest you guys look at your attititudes tbh.
Did i say i thought the same way?
And at the end of the day people will find something to look down on people about if they so chose to. Be it that they're fat and therefore must be lazy, too thin and therefore must be anorexic, all bulked up/muscley and therefore must be on steroids or have no life and live at the gym, etc. etc.
And none of the people who have posted so far say they abuse or give any such people hard time do they? Everyone has their own opinion, and makes judgements on people on how they look to varying degrees, at least initially. Anyone who says they don't is lying to themselves as looks are all you have to go on at first.
Yes people will always judge others for whatever reason, but to say they don't like speaking to someone who is fat, well, that just seems a bit insane to me. Fat isn't catching you know!
My housemate it is a little overweight. She's been told she could afford to lose a stone or more and she is going to the gym regularly and has a trainer who ups her exercises, tells her she is doing well etc...and I'm proud of her. But she complains constantly. She is unhappy with her weight, she complains that it stops her being in relationships. But aside from the gym, she sleeps most the day or lies on the sofa and eats. There is rarely anything healthy in her meals and snacks. She criticises me for being thin and eating chocolate, but I am constantly active; if I'm not in rehearsal or lectures I am at work or doing some form of exercise. If anything she winds me up. I love her to pieces and she forks out quite a lot of money for the gym each month and squanders her efforts by being inactive and eating badly, and you can't say anything as she is too fragile. She watches America's Top Model and considers them beautiful. She called me sickeningly thin when I arrived at uni. I was and still am a size 10. So what does she want? To make me feel bad because she feels bad? She hates herself but I can't speak because I don't have her issue.
My male friend seems happy the way he is, and I wouldn't change him for the world. My housemate is unhappy and takes it out on everyone around her and so for her...being thin would be a blessing. If overweight people don't accept it themselves, how can others overlook it? If you can't be happy the way you are, and yes for the most part the perception of 'thin' is glorified then of course 'fat' is going to be considered negatively, and not just because of the health issues but because those that are overweight don't embrace it themselves for the most part.
I have, hence the questioning myself above... Still no idea why I find it so offensive.
I know one thing, my views on certain things are 'if you're not going to actually try doing something about it, then don't complain'. I think this has some angle on it...
I agree there is a snobbery and there will always be cultural shifts in terms of how fat is looked at, but there really is cause to be concerned about being overweight or obese in terms of the health problems. Even in a small area like surgery, being overweight carries more risks pre/peri/and post operatively. When I worked at Marie Stopes, it was harder to scan someone who was overweight, they were less likely to be given a general anaesthetic because of the risks, and some of them had a hard time fitting into the recliners (not to mention the physical strain on the nurses backs when they had to transfer someone).
I've never had anything against him, never will as he's one of the greatest people I've met, but even he is having body image issues as he's always been 'Big Pete' and he feels he may lose this tag, even though he's the shoulders of a bull now. We've had a good chat about this and gone through the view of fair enough he's not fat any more, but he's still Big Pete (always will be), and actually has more presense now as he's much physically healthier and is broad, rather than, erm, deep now.
Strange old thing, my brain.
Like I said, my point was sometimes I get nasty inside my head about it, not just fat people though, anything, short or stupid anything I can pick on, I don't know why because I'm generally a nice, laid back person, but theres like a switch that flips on and off in my head in.. but there we go!
One thing that most people I know seem to think though, is that for some reason when some really really fat sits and stuffs their faces or really loudly, it comes across as a bit gross and ew. Guess I'm in for more flaming now?
I guess there are some valid points in that article however I don't like fat! I don't like it on me and I don't like it on other people. Whether that's because of what society has made me think or whether that's because I'm naturally slim I don't know.
Hammering at the 'roids again?
I think a lot of what I feel comes down to what g_angel said about being pro-active about things. An aunt of mine is obese, and she always complains about it (with some comments about my weight thrown in for good measure :yeees: ) but whenever people suggest doing something about it, she can't, because there's an excuse every step of the way.
It's not just concerned with weight, I have friends who complain about money problems but are happy to splash out on expensive holidays and hit Oxford St whenever they 'need' something, then when the bank statement comes through, more complaining.
I believe it comes down to two things:
Health - I'll reference go_away's post for that one. It's a major issue for me (and the NHS), and the healthier I find myself getting, the more I think "Christ, how can you do that to yourself?" - especially when you see somebody very large throwing McD's down their necks. First impressions of that person are always bad for me, harsh but true. I could never date somebody more than a few pounds over weight simply because I don't find that attractive in the slightest - some may call that shallow, but bollocks to that. I don't fancy kneeding flab when I could be holding nice lean muscle... Simply put - I look after myself and so I couldn't date somebody who didn't. Just how I am.
Laziness - Always making excuses and just not actually getting off your arse and doing anything about it and complaining (reference my previous posts and also go_away's post above). As I mentioned this covers a lot of things - relationships, jobs, money etc etc. If you're not prepared to do anything about it, then I don't want to hear about it once I've given my advice/views until you at least try make some changes yourself. To summarise - I'll try helping anybody I can, but if they're not prepared to help themselves, then my help will rapidly diminish.
Now, living up here in Leeds instead of Oxford/Northamptonshire, there are NO racing clubs and white water canoeing just isn't the same and I hate that discipline. I am a member of the gym at uni, but because I don't live there (commute) and I only have lectures 2 days a week I find it difficult to get there enough for it to make any difference. The last couple of weeks I haven't even been, because of being ill and just being too damn tired from working, commuting and doing everything I need to for uni.
It really gets me because I LIKE doing exercise. Yes at the moment I'm not doing any but hopefully that will change in the future. G_angel, Cheese on Toast and Go Away all seem to have a lot of time to dedicate to the gym and I really wish I had that because I love going to the gym. But I don't and now I am a fatty.
I blame the North for not having any proper canoe clubs.
Quick point about this - the three posters you mention in the above paragraph are all very busy people but we MAKE time to get our workouts in.
I'm working 9-7 most week days and so have to either sneak in a 30 minute lunchtime workout, or do a late workout. For example yesterday, by the time I'd finished work, gone to the gym then got back from Tescos it was 9:45pm. I'd hardly say that's leaving me any free time. By the time I'd cooked and eaten it was 10:30pm... It's just about making the time for what you want to do.
At the moment, most of my time is spent at the hospital (Wednesday afternoons off for sport). I live in south London, my teaching hospitals are all in north London ( :yuck: ) so it's about 1.25/1.5 hrs commute one way. I still need to get home every evening, study, cook my meals, shower and chill out like everyone else (I'm also in the middle of moving house, great fun). The only reason I get to do my gym stuff is because I absolutely push myself to do it, otherwise I just wouldn't get the same mood boost and be in better spirits. It means having to get up earlier, or sacrifice time with my boyfriend or going to bed later (pretty much giving up TV altogether
I'm not saying this to be smug about it or projecting that because I can do it, everyone else should, but I certainly don't want anyone thinking I'm some sort of kept woman or that I have all the time in the world to go. I don't. For me, it came down to me letting go of my negativity and just going for it. I'm a lot healthier now mentally and physically for doing so.
On the issue of people finding time, TBH I think it's mostly a load of crap, everyone can find time if they want for at least say 2x 30 minute cardio sessions.
I just turned 24, I have a 3 year old son and I regularly work upto around 80 hours per week! On a shift pattern as well meaning I work through the nights etc..
But I still find time to train. Granted, a lot of weeks I'll only manage to do weights, and no cardio, or just 2 weight sessions and 1 cardio etc etc but I always do something unless there is a genuine reason (like this week my son hospitalised then me having a stomach bug) or I feel like shit.
If anything, I feel like I make too many excuses, I know guys who have large families, run their own businesses and still actually powerlift or bodybuild to a competitive level! Now that is deadication..
I am hoping to feel re-vitalised towards my training after the surgery next week, although after a month off I am going to feel like I have a full blown pair of tits and a pair of girl arms. lol
:yes:
Lots of excuses from most people.
Bugger this. Truth is I'm struggling to make time for everything and struggling doing a job AND uni AND commuting and I feel shit about myself, particulary since every other thread on here now is about food, weight, health, gym etc and I'm feeling sensitive about it and so every time there is a thread I take it a bit personally. And I do feel offended that g angel probably wouldn't even like to look at me!