STFU Sizists

lovethyfatness: thisisthinprivilege: What’s Wrong with Fat? by...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:42:10 -0400

thisisthinprivilege:

What’s Wrong with Fat? by Dr. Abigail Saguy (UCI, April 17, 2013) (by feedmeimcranky)

Please watch the whole thing. At the end, Dr. Saguy, when asked a question about weight loss being prescribed to especially older cardiology patients, says:

…based on the data they shouldn’t be recommending weight loss. At all. And yet, [a cardiologist at UCLA] tells me she has fellow cardiologists come to her and say, “Well, do you really believe your data?”

[to which she replies] “Well yeah, I have no reason not to believe my data.”

Or [her fellow cardiologists say] “I know what the data suggests, but I just can’t bring myself to stop recommending weight loss. I know there is no scientific basis for it, but…”

This comes from people’s prejudice.

We live in a society that values thinness, so we assume that it must be better for everything. And it’s just not supported.

There is gold in this here mountain.

goldenheartedrose: sniffanyleeanne: glitterandsemen: brattyfat...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:44:33 -0400

goldenheartedrose:

sniffanyleeanne:

glitterandsemen:

brattyfatty:

avocadh0e:

myasphyxiatedmind:

hyenaboy:

theheavingbosom:

kylathegreat:

Ellen ! Ellen DeGeneres ! America’s favorite lesbian and anti-bullying advocate ! Who doesn’t love Ellen ?!

Me. I don’t love Ellen. Before a few days ago, I actually didn’t have much of an opinion of her, but when my close friend, Tiffany, told me about a tweet Ellen read on her show, I formed one quickly.

From what I can tell, on her show, Ellen does a weekly roundup of “funny” tweets from “amateur Twitter comedians.” And this is one of them:

“My 4 year old is so brave for yelling “that lady’s tummy is so big she can’t get by the table!” When everyone else was just thinking it.” - @kellyoxford

Why is this funny, Ellen ? Where is the comedy ? Is it comical how poor Kelly Oxford’s parenting skills are ? Am I supposed to laugh because this child is a total brat ? Surely you’re not expecting me to laugh at the expense of the big bellied woman, right ? Right ??

[image: quote of Ellen DeGeneres saying, “Most comedy is based on getting a laugh at somebody else’s expense and I find that’s just a form of bullying.]

Because that’s bullying, Ellen.

What prompted the discussion of this tweet between Tiffany and I ? We were at one of our favorite Thai spots for dinner. The waiter wanted to seat us in one of those two person tables, right in the middle of two other full tables. I took one look and said, “Um, can we get a different seat ? This isn’t going to work,” He looked at me like I was really putting him out by requesting a table we could actually fit into. And in that moment I felt that panic I’ve been familiar with my whole life — I’m fat, in public, around food, and everyone is looking at me.

It’s not funny. It hurts.

It’s a really painful experience when everyone is looking at you, judging you because of your body. Even if there wasn’t an issue with my table, I’m still noticed and judgements are made because of my size. I can’t hide my fat. I can’t take it off when I go out in public. I can’t hold the entire world’s face at MySpace angle height.

I’m fat and I like Thai food and I just want to enjoy myself in the company of friends — without shame being projected on me by children whose parents should spend more time teaching them how to be good people.

In the end, we were seated in a space suitable for our size. But if we hadn’t advocated for ourselves, we would have been that lady whose tummy was too big to get by the table. Most fat people ARE that lady because we’re taught that our bodies are wrong, not the arbitrary amount of space we’re “allowed” to take up.

There is nothing brave about making another person feel bad about their body, Kelly, Ellen, and anyone else who got a kick out of this tweet. It’s rude and mean. The end.

“Everyone else was just thinking it” and how is Kelly supposed to know that- because she herself was raised-and is raising her son-to only be tolerant of bodies they’ve coded as “normal”? She can go straight to hell.

And Ellen for not only reading this tweet outloud in front of a huge viewership and not criticizing it at all, but laughing? A thousand darts to you.

So disappointed.

She also signed Jamie Oliver’s fat hating petition called “Food Revolution”.

wow. that hurts.

that tyra gif sums up exactly how i feel. damn it.

:(

Fat hatred, fatphobia

Why the Obesity Epidemic is Like Modern Art

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:40:08 -0400

PETA: You’re fat because you eat meat. We can cure fat by making meat-eating illegal.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS: You’re fat because you drive everywhere instead of bike. We can cure fat with higher gas prices.
LOCALVORES: You’re fat because you eat fast food and over-processed junk instead of cook with local ingredients. We can cure fat by taxing fast food and processed food, and by subsidizing local farms.
ACADEMICS: You’re fat because you’re not educated enough. We can cure fat with widespread campaigns teaching people what to eat and how much to exercise.
INTERVENTIONISTS: You’re fat because bad food and gas is too cheap and poor neighborhoods are too unregulated. We can cure fat with tougher zoning laws and price regulation.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT FANS: You’re fat because you drive everywhere. If you used public transport you’d burn those extra calories taking stairs from train levels and walking to your train/bus stop. We can cure fat by expanding public transportation options.
WALKING/BIKING/RUNNING FANS: You’re fat because you sit on a bus, then sit at a desk, then sit at home. We can cure fat by building more bike lanes, walking trails, and parks.
LIBERTARIANS: You’re fat because you lack personal responsibility. We can cure fat by engendering a sense of individual pride in people.
RELIGIOUS FOLKS: You’re fat because you display the sin of greed. We can cure fat by teaching our children the correct values.
POLITICIANS: You’re fat because the previous administration didn’t care about the health of the nation and the costs of healthcare. You can cure fat (and save the economy!) by voting for me.
EMPLOYERS: You’re fat because you have a poor work ethic. We can cure fat by refusing to hire fat people, thus forcing them to lose weight in order to get a job.

itgetsfatter: Hi Tumblr! The It Gets Fatter Project, a body-positivity project started by queer...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:25:44 -0400

itgetsfatter:

Hi Tumblr!

The It Gets Fatter Project, a body-positivity project started by queer fat people of color for fat people of color, is now offering workshops in Toronto & Montreal!!*

We know that there are so many young people in our cities who access community services, attend after-school programs and other community groups that would benefit from a Body Positivity workshop. Most people today have never even been told that being fat is okay. The main goal of these workshops is to begin to destigmatize the word “fat,” deconstruct the messages and images that teach us to be ashamed of our bodies, to discuss our own experiences with fatness and to talk about ways we can build a healthier model of body positivity and self love. If you run and/or are a part of a group that you think could benefit from the work that we do, we encourage you to book a workshop with the It Gets Fatter Project!!

We are currently offering Body Positivity 101 workshops, but are also looking to develop workshops on more complicated issues like fat desire, fat trauma, and the relationship between queerness/race/class/ableism and fat bodies.

We organize all of our work within an anti-oppressive and anti-racist framework. If you’re interested, please contact us to discuss fees!

If you are interested in booking a workshop, please email us at itgetsfatterproject@gmail.com.

Big Big Love,

Jackie, Sara & Asam

XOXOXO IGF

_________________________________

*Of course, we would love to come to your city and present these workshops for you (NYC, anyone?!?!?). If you have the budget for such things, talk to us and maybe we can make it work!!

Big Fat List of Myth-Defying Health Resources

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 14:50:49 -0400

redefiningbodyimage:

This is Redefining Body Image’s go-to list of resources, articles, research, videos, etc. providing facts and information regarding health and body image, especially dedicated to debunking the everyone’s favorite myth that fat = unhealthy.

If I referred you to this page and this way of thinking about fat and fat health is new to you, I encourage you to have an open mind.

If you have something to add, please submit! The more this list grows, the more ammo we have to back us up in our fight against the body positive nay-sayers.

Let the facts come marching in.

Big Fat Facts: The truth about fat, obesity, gastric bypass, and weight loss. Focuses on many aspects of fat health that are widely accepted but never challenged, targets the claims, points out the faults, and highlights the truth.

Articles and Evidence by the Fat Nutritionist that go into some of the controversies around dieting, weight, and eating.

A massive list of resources discussing the truth behind fat health can be found over at Big Liberty Blog, titled Truth Behind Fat: References.

One of my staple resources, Kate Harding answers the ever popular question directed at fat activists: “But Don’t You Realize Fat Is Unhealthy?”

Some more from the lovely Kate Harding: “Reality vs. Relativism“ and ”Diets Don’t Work”.

A scientific study helping to prove how diets really work by, Junkfood Science - How We’ve Come to Believe that Overeating Causes Obesity

More of Me to Love discusses fat health, fitness, and health at every size.

Everyone Knows Obesity Is Hurting Us, But Is the Fight Against Obesity the Problem? - Linda Bacon, Ph.D.

The Health At Every Size® Manifesto.

Heart Surgeon Speaks Out Against What Really Causes Heart Disease - A very interesting and informative piece that details new studies on heart disease.

Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift

Medicare’s search for effective obesity treatments: diets are not the answer.

The TRUE Cost of Fatties - Looking closely at how obesity impacts gas costs and health care, which is to say not at all.

More on Obesity and Healthcare Costs here.

Stereotype Management Skills by Deb Burgard, PhD. discusses how to refute fat shaming propaganda, among other helpful things.

Uncommon Knowledge About Changes in Body Weight by Lily O’Hara

Things Obesity is Not by Ragen Chastain

‘Everyone knows’ obesity kills, but is weight loss the answer? by Lydia Turner

Above-Normal Weight Alone Does Not Necessarily Increase Short-Term Risk of Death, U.S. Data Suggest - Science Daily, July 2012

Among diabetes patients, the obese outlive the trim - a study that cracks fat health stereotypes about type 2 diabetes

‘Fitness and Fatness’: Not All Obese People Have the Same Prognosis; Second Study Sheds Light On ‘Obesity Paradox’ - People can be obese but metabolically healthy and fit, with no greater risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer than normal weight people, according to the largest study ever to have investigated this seeming paradox.

This TED talk by Julie Rochefort called “Shift the Focus” discusses and displays a lot of really important data based around the fact that health is possible at EVERY size. A short 8 minute video that covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

This extensive article by Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D. called Obesity, Health, and Metabolic Fitness debunks a number of myths regarding fat health. Many important topics are covered, from “thinner is not necessarily healthier” to “emphasis on weight loss” being “misdirected and hazardous”, to challenging the link between obesity and heart disease. A very comprehensive and informative resource.

Fear Mongering for the Nation by Fat Body Politics - A critical look at the HBO documentary Weight of the Nation.

Fat Acceptance/Size Discrimination Related Resources (WIP)

Ever wanted to learn more about Fat Acceptance? Check out the Fat Acceptance FAQ over at Spilt Milk, complete with a list of links to some great health-related info.

5 Fat Acceptance Myths Debunked - Debunking myths such as “Fat acceptance demands complete confidence and self-love at all times.”

NAAFA Official Website

The Association for Size Diversity and Health // Research Articles

Body Positivity Resources (WIP)

Body Positivity 101 by The Ellipses Project

Thank you.

randomlancila: Not smarter. Not nicer. Not better people. Not a...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 07:26:54 -0400

randomlancila:

Not smarter. Not nicer. Not better people. Not a scientist or an engineer or a teacher or a mother. Just thinner.

We as a society have to remember that when we see ads on TV saying ‘LOSE 10 LBS N 10 DAYS!’ ‘GET RID OF THAT UGLY FAT!’ ‘TAKE THESE DIET PILLS!’, our children are seeing them too.

When you’re complaining about how ‘fat’ you look in the mirror, your little sister or brother, your son or daughter, your cousin, the child you babysit, sees it. And they internalize it. It starts them on a LIFETIME of being obsessed with body image. They’re actually MORE likely to become obese because of hyper-awareness of body image and constantly feeling like they’re not good enough. They’re MORE likely to end up with an eating disorder.

It has to stop.

"Women who are fat are said to have ‘let themselves go.’ The very phrase connotes a loosening of..."

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 17:12:15 -0400

“Women who are fat are said to have ‘let themselves go.’ The very phrase connotes a loosening of restraints. Women in our society are bound. In generations past, the constriction was accomplished by corsets and girdles…. Women today are bound by fears, by oppression, and by stereotypes that depict large women as ungainly, unfeminine, and unworthy of appreciation…. Above all, women must control themselves, must be careful, for to relax might lead to the worst possible consequence: being fat.”

- “Letting Ourselves Go: Making Room for the Fat Body in Feminist Scholarship,” by Cecilia Hartley (via clairvoyants)

sugaredvenom: OK, so I’ve been putting this off for as long as I can, but shit has got real...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:38:20 -0400

sugaredvenom:

OK, so I’ve been putting this off for as long as I can, but shit has got real recently.

Basically, my flatmate and I are totally financially screwed at the moment. She’s not got any money coming in, and I make £2.60 an hour at my apprenticeship. The amount I make just about covers my travel, but we’ve been surviving so far.

The problem is paying rent. My flatmate is the landlord after her mother transferred the mortgage to her after moving out due to disability problems and between us we have nowhere near enough- there is no asking the landlord for an extension, by not having the money we face eviction and she faces losing the house she’s always lived in. Obviously we’d like to avoid this.

I’m selling a bunch of stuff on eBay- I have a lot of clothes that I’ve never worn and are new, or are old and just too fabulous to throw out despite not fitting anymore. There will also be a bunch of handmade jewellery and art being added over the next few days along with the rest of the clothes we have.

Please have a look and see if there’s anything you like- we have sizes from 8 to 22 going up in a bunch of styles, and anything you buy goes directly towards supporting us.

eBay link is here!

I’ll also be adding a donate button for anyone who doesn’t see anything to buy but wants to help.

Thank you in advance guys. I’m finally at a place where I’m happy with what I’m doing (despite the poverty)and I don’t want to give it up.

Signal boost on behalf of a mod here- some nice plus size clothes here!

thisisthinprivilege: strangestwords: pinkhairedneko: redonkbadonk: thisisthinprivilege: Thin...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:16:12 -0400

thisisthinprivilege:

strangestwords:

pinkhairedneko:

redonkbadonk:

thisisthinprivilege:

Thin privilege is reading (or writing) a book and having your body type be the default image in your head for the protagonist.

It is really hard knowing that my body type is only used for villains or unimportant characters to be killed off.

The image of the character in your head can look how ever you want it to. If you want a curvy female protagonist in your story then make one. Seriously. This is absurd. The only thing that you can’t control is who is cast in a movie, assuming they make a movie after the book. But ‘your’ character can look how ever the fuck you want it to whether it matches what Hollywood picks or not.

What kind of books are people reading? Usually the only books I read that actually spell out what a person’s body looks like are like, shitty romance novels where the babe is either curvy and sexy or thin as a reed or some bullshit like that. Imagine the main character however you want to.

And now that I think about it, I’ve read plenty of books with characters that aren’t described as being thin. I’ve read tons with “pleasantly plump” ladies as main characters, or at the very least vital secondary characters.

Maybe the solution isn’t to make everyone else feel bad about how they look. Maybe the solution is to read some better freaking books.

Name four fat female protagonists in mainstream not-shitty fiction whose character isn’t defined by their weight somehow (as attribute, obstacle, etc). I’d really like to know. Considering there are thousands of good books out there with female protags, this shouldn’t be a difficult task. Right?

And yes, they’ve got to be actually fat, not the coded ‘curvy’ which in fictionland usually means ‘thin-waisted with biggish boobs/butt’.

For more hilarious conversations about how crazy us fatties must be to believe that people with our bodies aren’t represented in the vast majority of movies and books, please check out these posts (and comments!): The Fatty Bechdel Test and Fat Heroes in Science Fiction.

Study finds fat acceptance blogs can improve health outcomes

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:22:32 -0400

jentheturk:

fuckyeahsexeducation:

re-cover-ed:

“Fat acceptance” blogs urging overweight people to shed negative feelings about their body image can lead to healthier diet and exercise choices, a study has found.

The fat acceptance movement, which seeks to foster a support network among overweight people, has inspired a plethora of blogs and web forums such as Corpulent, Fat Heffalump and The Rotund — an online community that’s become known as the “fatosphere”.

In a study published in the journal Qualitative Health Research, researchers from Monash University, the University of New England and the University of Canberra interviewed 44 fatosphere bloggers from Australia, the US and the UK about how their involvement in the movement had changed them.

“There’s been a lot of criticism of the movement that it promotes obesity and encourages people to give up on weight loss and makes their health worse,” said one of the researchers, Dr Samantha Thomas, a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University’s Department of Marketing.

“We saw there was a lot of opinion about the movement but very few people had actually studied it.”

Interviews with the respondents revealed many had experienced feelings of worthlessness, shame, crash diets, cycles of starvation and binge eating and laxative abuse before discovering the fatosphere.

“Having that support and feeling empowered, people slowly found that their health behaviours began to change dramatically. For example, many people suddenly felt confident to do swimming, something they would not have done before,” she said.

“People shifted their focus away from weight loss and more toward health. A lot of people started to take part in physical activity not as a way to lose weight but because they enjoyed it. Instead of pounding it out on the treadmill they start playing with their kids. It’s actually a massive shift in the way they looked at things.”

Shifting the focus away from restricting food and toward listening to the body’s needs could also lead to better food choices, said Dr Thomas.

“There are actually a lot of lessons for public health here,” she said.

“The term fat acceptance is really confronting for people. That’s why we have seen a lot of blame and criticism. Society tells us it’s not OK to be fat for a whole bunch of moral and medical reasons,” she said.

“This study shows that far from promoting obesity and promoting negative health behaviours, the movement is really positive for some people’s health.”

EAT THAT CONCERN TROLLS.

You mean people are generally healthier when you tell them to appreciate themselves for who they are? SHOCKING.

No, but seriously, it’s amazing to see this have validation finally.

Thin Privilege Is...

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 10:23:45 -0400

thisisthinprivilege:

codarsnacht:

sixtyxcelph:

mistermistopheles:

thisisthinprivilege:

Not understanding fat people feeling angry at the excess of diet ads being aired on tv because “everyone has the right to lose weight if they want to.”

As if skinny people want to see diet ads? wtf

Seriously, tumblr… I constantly question if any more than a handful here know what privilege actually is and what it means.

You don’t have to be considered “fat” to feel under pressure to lose weight, or to find diet ads annoying.

Point missed.

Thin privilege is turning on the TV and being able to watch for however long you like without expecting to hear that your body is terrible and needs to be changed.

When fat people watch TV (or read most magazines, or listen to most radio stations, or navigate to most websites with ads) they can expect to hear/see that their bodies are wrong not just once, but multiple times. They can expect to hear/see ads that suggest they’re bad people for having a fat body. That they can’t find love or play with their children or go on vacation the same way thin people can. That they’ve ‘let themselves go’ by virtue of existing in a fat body. If they pick up a newspaper, suddenly they’re also mass murderers (by virtue of ‘taking up health care resources’ from ‘people who deserve them’) and planet killers (by virtue of having a ‘higher carbon footprint’ than thin people).

And no, thin people are not subject to this same message. Thin privilege is not having the whole goddamn culture bleat at you through every available screen that you’re wrong, bad, ugly, less-than. Thin privilege is having the privilege to simple ‘not like’ diet ads, while fat people have to battle with the messages diet ads put forward every day hour, every day. Thin privilege is being able to cavalierly write off a submission about diet ads and thin privilege with, “As if skinny people want to see diets ads,” when diet ad “before” pictures look like me, and “after” pictures look like you.

Thin privilege (and just plain ignorance) is being able to dismiss a fat person’s recognition that when the whole goddamn culture bleats about how her fat body is bad and needs to change, a thin person is inherently not subject to the same message.

Not OK, Cupid, not OK.

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:17:27 -0400

lapocketrocket:

bigfatfeminist:

fatbodypolitics:

geekfighter:

thisisthinprivilege:

red3blog:

fatbodypolitics:

thisisthinprivilege:

Thin privilege is rarely, if ever, seeing someone’s dating profile specify “no skinnies”. Thin privilege is not having to dig through a thousand questions or more before discovering that the person who was highly matched with you would never date a thin person. Thin privilege is people being unashamed to state a preference for your body type, even if they use euphemisms like “someone who takes care of herself/himself”. Thin privilege is not being terrified of a hostile, even disproportionately angry reaction when you tell someone you were flirting with that you are thin.

Dating sucks for everyone, believe me I know. The stuff I put up with dating while fat, you would not believe. I actually came to appreciate the people who stated outright “no fatties” because at least I knew where not to waste my time.

(submitted by anon)

This is seriously the first thing I look for when looking at someone’s profile. OkCupid is the worst when it comes to this, though I have seen similar things on most online dating sites

There is the additional challenge this creates that because these preferences are so often stated in the negative, this makes it that much harder for fat people to search profiles to find partners expressing a positive interest. A search for “fat” or “BBW” or what have you will inevitably yield a wealth of results from everyone who said “no fat people”. This compounds the privilege thin people face in never having to consider qualifying their searches in this way at all.

Reblogging for awesome commentary.

This ^ so hard. I mean, the second sentence in my description is “I am plus sized.” I actually answered some of the match questions that were specifically about this. What comes to mind is, “If one of your matches was overweight, would that be a deal-breaker?” The most common answer I see, and the one that makes me most wary, is “Yes, but only if he/she were obese,” because then you have to wonder what that person considers ‘obese’. If they’re thinking a size 14 is obese, I’m out of the running completely, but if they think a more moderate 20 is obese then I might be in the ‘datable zone’. Even worse, the question, “Can overweight people still be sexy?” When they answer, “Yes,” instead of being reassured I’m sent into a panic wondering if I fit into their paradigm of beauty. Overall, online dating is hard and scary and anxiety-inducing and I would not recommend it… except that it’s pretty much the only way that I meet and interact with anyone who I can easily confirm is available and looking.

I feel the same way so often. I always wonder what people think when they answer that question since most people do not have a grasp at what ‘obese’ looks like. That said, I don’t want to date someone or be in a relationship with someone who would answer that question in a negative or fat shaming way. More often than not they will not be fat positive and will be at odds with the work I do.

1am confessions time: the above reasons are why I’ve basically given up on dating sites and actively looking for someone to date. It’s funny, because some of the most valuable friendships in my life have come directly from the Internet, but online dating is a cesspool of failure and woe. Like, it sucks up so much of my energy for absolutely no purpose because inevitably it leads to higher insecurity, lowered self-esteem, and a pervasive sense of worthlessness and/or utter lack of desireability that I can’t shake off. Why invest that kind of effort into a situation that doesn’t yield anything positive for me?

All of this. I don’t have the confidence to deal with it as someone who is truly, unequivocally fat, with my fat in all the “wrong” places.

red3blog: fancybidet: adultography: samclifford: benjaminjtay...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:42:49 -0400

red3blog:

fancybidet:

adultography:

samclifford:

benjaminjtaylor:

Via Manchester Friends of the Earth. Via: Bikes for All.

I love cycling but I do not love this ad. Fat people ride bikes. Thin people drive cars. Not everyone is a speedy cyclist, fat or thin.

To me, the road symbolises a road to becoming fat… not a literal statement that car drivers are fat or cyclists are thin, rather that there are options available in our day to day activities that can compliment healthy lifestyles.

Yeh but no.

Health does not come in fat and thin.

When I ride my bike I cop heaps of abuse AND I am too scared to ride in city bike lanes. So i ride around quiet streets and parks. Where I still cop abuse.

It must be nice to reduce the world to such simplicity. I can’t do that because this sort of bullshit ad uses my body as a cautionary tale that actually prevents me from doing fun and useful things like riding places in the bike lane.

Also, what about people who live too far away from work to ride? People with disabilities? Idk thinking critically is pretty easy.

If you respond to criticism of fat shaming by saying, “Oh, you don’t get it. Its not saying fat people are literally evil, slovenly monsters. Its saying fat people are SYMBOLICLY evil, slovenly monsters. Duh!” then you can just do everyone involved a favor and not say anything.

This ad is pure fat shaming. Pure fat stigmatization. That is its purpose. That is its message. And it is bullshit. Fat people bike. Fat people walk. Fat people drive. Fat people take mass transit. Some fat people probably even boat and fly as part of their regular commutes. And thin people do all of that, too. I’m sure “Love your Bike” wants to encourage cycling and that’s fine. Do it without stigmatizing fat people to promote yourself. This is the same sort of bullshit we see all the time from P.E.T.A., just with a more marketable veneer. Promoting your agenda by demonizing fat people is bullshit. Its bad enough we have to deal with people whose agenda IS demonizing fat people, but we rotuinely find ourselves cast as the villain to promote cycling, animal rights, global warming, sustainable farming, school lunch programs, and pretty much anything else people can think of.

"I’m so sick of weight-loss shows. I’m sick of people coming out and revealing new bodies and then..."

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 10:40:52 -0400

“I’m so sick of weight-loss shows. I’m sick of people coming out and revealing new bodies and then belittling the old bodies they once had, bodies that some of us possess. Contrary to popular belief, being fat doesn’t mean you hate yourself, it doesn’t mean you lack self-respect, it doesn’t mean you deserve to be humiliated, degraded, ignored, and dehumanized; it doesn’t mean you’re ugly or stupid or worthless, but that’s how society wants us to feel and I’m just sick of it. If I’m not dieting, if I’m not spending every moment of my life counting calories and apologizing for the size of my body; if I’m not taking the abuse and the punishment and the cruel looks and the hateful words, if I actually dare to accept myself, then I’m crucified. I’m sick of living in a world that tells me on a constant basis that I am not good enough, that if I just lose weight I will be worthy of the conditional love it has to offer. I don’t want any part of a world like that. I will fight that world and, in it’s place, I will create a new world, one that is my own, one that is made of art and poetry and feminism and compassion and intelligence and pleasure and love, love for myself and love for others, love that has no conditions and no limits, love that too many of us are denied.”

- A Drowning Woman: Being Fat (via chubby-bunnies)

1. Self Acceptance =/= Body Acceptance Self Acceptance and Body...

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 23:27:17 -0400

1. Self Acceptance =/= Body Acceptance
Self Acceptance and Body Acceptance, while often related, are actually separate concepts.

Accepting one’s self and having a core sense of self-worth does not necessarily equate to loving your body in its current state. Nor does a lack of self esteem necessarily equate to lack of body acceptance (although I would hazard a guess that if your self esteem is low, you are going to be more inclined to dislike your body). A sense of self worth can be built on who you are; your place in your community, family, work; what you like doing and do well; your hobbies and accomplishments. While appearance may be a factor in self worth, in most people I believe it would be only one of the components of their sense of self.

To put it another way, Self Acceptance relates to the inner whereas Body Acceptance relates to the outer

2. Fat Acceptance vs Size Acceptance – Allies with a difference
Philosophically, Size Acceptance and Fat Acceptance are very similar. SA and FA both advocate an end to size & weight related discrimination. Many FA and SA activists follow the principles of HAES (Health At Every Size). Many have learned to love their body at its set point, regardless of whether that is fat or thin or in between.

The point of difference to my mind is that Fat Acceptance explicitly states that FAT is – and must be – part of that discussion; there can be no upper weight or size limit to our quest for rights and acceptance. There can be no point at which we nudge each other, compare bodies and say, “Well, I’m fat, but she is something else again. That really can’t be healthy, can it?”

3. Dieting and Body Acceptance are mutually exclusive
If you are dieting, then you believe your body as it currently stands is unacceptable. Full stop (or period, for the Yanks). It really doesn’t matter whether you are trying to lose weight for cosmetic or ‘health reasons’ – dieting, by definition, is a rejection of the current state of your body and an attempt to change that. The ultimate goal is a smaller or ‘healthier’ you, and regardless of whether you call your diet a ‘lifestyle change’ or ‘eating sensibly’, that is not body acceptance.

4. Therefore Fat Acceptance and Dieting are mutually exclusive
If you believe your own body is so unacceptable that you must starve and shrink it, then by extension, you also must believe that bodies of people who are as large or larger than you are unacceptable. Do I really need to state why that is not Fat Positive?

5. Diet all you like, just don’t talk about it in Fat Acceptance spaces
Some dieters appear to believe that the refusal of Fat Acceptance advocates to diet (or to discuss how to diet or the ‘benefits of weightloss’) somehow impinges on the right of the dieter to bodily autonomy. For my own part, I really don’t care if you diet. But – much as I refuse to listen to Jehovah’s Witnesses who knock on my door – I refuse to take part in endless discussions about calories and what ‘worked’ for you. I will not participate in the celebration of the loss of part of your body. I have made a conscious choice not to diet, despite there being endless cultural pressure to do. Fat Acceptance spaces are one place where that cultural pressure is eased (not removed, eased) for a while. I do not require your validation for my choice, nor do I require you to stop dieting. I just ask that you SHUT UP ABOUT IT already. Thank you.

This is Thin Privilege: a blog detailing the realities of being fat

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:53:30 -0400

This is Thin Privilege: a blog detailing the realities of being fat:

Obviously, if you’re easily triggered by this stuff, be careful, but otherwise it’s a great resource, and I strongly recommend thin people who consider themselves allies follow it to educate themselves.

submission from lookoutpinkie: Dealing with Health Concern Trolls

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 23:31:05 -0400

Today I had gotten in trouble on a forum for debating with fat health concern trolls. Apparently, I was the only one insulting. Meanwhile the other people, were referring to my claims you can be healthy and fat with things like “Okay, but make sure to put down that soda!” “Fine, if you want to eat 12 burgers a day!” apparently these things are not personal insults according to the mods. What is a personal insult, calling those people out on being fat haters.

Well the whole thing is over, I apologized to the posters I offended, or who thought I was in the wrong. I told them yes I understand, go ahead tell me what you think I did wrong so I can learn from it. Really only out of desperateness to stay on the forum, I know you’re thinking why would I want to participate in a forum like that. I did get a few good points in, some people did understand. Pretty much everyone aside from the mods, who like school teachers, feel that it’s easier to punish the victim of bullying than the bullies, understood where I was coming from.

I feel stronger knowing I can handle myself in the future regarding these trolls. Furthermore, I don’t feel as afraid about being rejected. I can find another community, even if they want me to have a password that is convoluted.

I think one of the more important things is, for at least 2 days, I had the trolls in my grasp confusing them by pretending to be an anonymous poster. That they were made to hear what I was trying to say, and then being able to go at the end “That’s right b***ches it’s me!” and have a good laugh. Okay, not that important, but it was fun.

Have you heard of the 9 year old boy from Ohio who was removed from his mother's care because they said she didn't do enough to keep him from getting fat? I can't give you the link in the ask, but it is on Yahoo! News and I'm sure elsewhere. The comments on it are about to make me sick from their obvious sizism and classism(one person said: "just keep fresh fruits and vegetables for snacks and avoid junk food!"). I thought you'd find it interesting if you hadn't seen it.

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:34:44 -0400

It’s pretty scary, and I know that’s happened a few times over here in the UK. It’s just another way to punish poor people for being poor.

Of course you should feed children as healthily as possible, but for some people that literally means getting whatever food into their kid that they can. I have a friend who often skips meals so her child can eat, and sometimes takes her to McDonalds because she can get discount vouchers for there, and almost everytime someone is an ass to her for letting her kid have some fries while she gets a meal that she needs. People just love to judge people when they know nothing about their situation.

First Do No Harm

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:16:45 -0400

First Do No Harm:

“First, Do No Harm came about following the tremendous response to this post by Barbara Benesch-Granberg, a.k.a. Thorn. When Thorn told the tragic story of her mother’s death — which followed decades of her being too afraid to see to a doctor who’d told her not to come back unless she lost 50 lbs. — the outpouring of similarly heartbreaking stories was overwhelming.

We hear constantly that we’re in the midst of an “obesity epidemic,” that fat people are burdening the health care system (or eventually will), and that being fat automatically equals ill health, even though that’s patently false. What we don’t hear are the stories of fat people being berated and shamed by health care professionals; being handed Weight Watchers brochures when they come in with strep throat; being misdiagnosed and mistreated, dismissed and dehumanized — sometimes with fatal consequences — because doctors can’t see anything but their fat.

So, inspired by sites like Hollaback, we decided to start collecting those stories in one place. This kind of thing happens every day. It’s past time we started hearing every one of these stories.

If you have a story to tell, please send it to fathealth at gmail dot com.”

I haven't had a chance to look through the entire blog (or at least a majority of it), but what thoughts do you have on the notion of sizism against anorexia/bulimia? I find it prolific because I am considered to be ED, but what about you? Do YOU find there is much talk of it?

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:06:42 -0400

Sizism is something that happens to fat people specifically, as an oppressive force requires privilege and power, and as thin bodies are privileged what they experience isn’t sizism.

HOWEVER

all people can be subject to body policing, and people with EDs are often the target of that body policing. There is also an element of ableism involved in the body policing of extremely thin/ED bodies.

I think this is something people get hung up on a lot, so thank you for asking.