Fat Acceptance

Wikipedia description

Fat people are objects of discrimination and hatred. Fat people, who may have saintly personalities, are looked upon with disgust and openly disparaged. The word "fat" itself is an thought to be insulting: fat bitch, fat slut, fatso, lardo, whale, etc. Is it acceptable to call someone a Muslim bitch? An Asian slut? Faggot?

The fat acceptance movement wants to change these things. Weight is a personal matter, and one's character should not be relevant to clothing size. Obesity is a complex health problem that lacks simple solutions; would you ridicule a person without knowing their full story? Some people are genuinely happy being fat, and they demand respect.

That's my brief description of fat acceptance. I'm not a fat activist myself, so I might be incorrect about some of the things that I wrote.

What is your opinion on the fat acceptance movement?

Was it 4chan?

You know who make the best fat people? Black guys.

I don't know why, but first of all they're nicer. And second of all, more boisterous and hammy.

I knew two.

edited 30th Jan '11 8:49:45 PM by CommandoDude

Hmmm...I think it's better to pressure them to lose the fat tbh. Less people who take up 2 seats in a train or bus.

We want to discourage people from becoming fat, not say it's completely fine.

edited 30th Jan '11 8:52:35 PM by Signed

Being healthy should generally be encouraged, in a non-assholeish way.

Speaking as a fatass...what, Signed, should be done to me to "pressure" me to lose the weight (which, incidentally, stays on despite the fact that I eat normally and walk upwards of a mile a day)?

edited 30th Jan '11 8:56:31 PM by Karalora

Being healthy should generally be encouraged, in a non-assholeish way.

This. Of course, sometimes it's easier said than done.

^ That's...not what I meant...that's an extreme in this situation, just like how Fat Acceptance is an extreme in the other direction.

This one time I encountered an entire forum full of people that thought that people over a certain weight should have their civil liberties removed to encourage them to lose weight. Further, the posters there thought that corporations should be fined for selling products and services to overweight people. It sickened me and I wish it could be nuked from the face of the internet.

That is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Ever. Ever.

@OP: I'd say that the problem is not with people being unaccepting of the overweight, but rather with the absurd push in society to "look good". It's almost to the point that lacking this is seen as a massive flaw.

@Signed: So you think it's okay to be a jerk to people who happen to be overweight?

All Fat Acceptance means is that you don't treat people badly just for being fat. How is that extreme? I should be able to expect:

• That my work ethic be allowed to speak for itself, instead of being presumed lazy.
• When I go to the doctor, to be treated for my actual complaint, and not told I just need to lose weight and it will sort itself out (no matter what it is).
• To earn the same as my thinner colleagues, all else being equal.
• To eat/exercise in public without people making farm animal noises at me.
• To be viewed and judged as an individual, not merely a symptom of a social problem.

Get it?

People have got to stop hyperbolizing what I say...being jerks isn't exactly going to discourage fat people from being fat, well, most of them anyways.

What I read from a word like "Fat Acceptance" reminds me of parents of autistic children treating autism like it's a gift and that society shouldn't try to find a way to cure them.

edited 30th Jan '11 9:25:19 PM by Signed

So, how exactly should fat people be pressured into losing weight?

EDIT: Oh, so now being fat is like being autistic? Gee, thanks.

edited 30th Jan '11 9:26:05 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

Oh, so now being fat is like being autistic? Gee, thanks.

*bang*bang*bang* NO!

Read carefully!

edited 30th Jan '11 9:27:33 PM by Signed

What I read from a word like "Fat Acceptance" reminds me of parents of autistic children treating autism like it's a gift and that society shouldn't try to find a way to cure them.

I get what you're going for, but you need to stop there. The problem with this analogy is that there's no correlation between autism and, oh let's say, Hollywood Pudgy.

edited 30th Jan '11 9:29:30 PM by KingZeal

...lobotomy was never used as a cure for autism as far as I know. Just for "out of control aggressive teenagers".

^ It's less to do with the autism and more to do with the "parents of the kids with autism" 's approach to autism.

edited 30th Jan '11 9:31:48 PM by Signed

I know what you're saying, but it still fails the correlation. I'd suggest letting that line of logic go.

@Signed: I'm going to assume that you're complaining about an extreme, instead of try and rip on you for what your argument could be taken as. Yes, I agree with you...some people should just step away from the buffet table and get on the treadmill.

However, you need to understand how touchy a subject this is.

Some people who are considered "obese" by mainstream society actually are trying to lose weight, and the attitude that their problems are their fault does not help them. As someone who has been forced onto society's margins for other reasons, I can tell you that some judgmental asshole walking up to me and telling me its my fault I'm there would make me want to punch his teeth straight down his neck.

As I'm sure it is with most of the overweight population.

Sure, you've got a point. Just be careful how you express it, or don't be surprised that no one's listening. Personally, were I overweight I'd be ripping on you just as hard.

Give a little respect or expect to get none.