Fat Shaming?

[Audioblysk]

I was just made aware of this via the internet. Can anyone explain this in a way that makes sense? I tried looking online but all I saw was overweight people saying they're happy being overweight and that others are stupid and putting them down or articles about overweight people being comfortable being overweight and encouraging those in similar situations to be happy. Being someone that has worked quite a bit to overcome deadly slow metabolism by dieting and staying active, I can identify with the struggle, I guess.

 

Is it like, you pointing at some person ordering two meals and laughing while yelling "HE SHOULDN'T DO THAT" while pointing it out to your friends... or is it like just looking at an overweight person, or suggesting that they might be physically healthier to be... physically healthier in terms of weight and/or size... is that like insinuating someone is unhappy because they are overweight when they may very well be overweight and possibly unhappy?

 

Just so there is no confusion, I have an opinion on this issue, I just am really out of touch. I do realize glandular disorders happen, this isn't really a discussion about that, that's just plain unfortunate.

 

I'm so confused.

[hello spiral]

I think it's a reaction to a certain type of entitled obese person in 'murica. Fighting for the 'right' to be grotesquely gluttonous and not have to feel bad about it.

 

It's what lead to subs like this http://www.reddit.com/r/fatpeoplestories (which I have a soft spot for tbh)

 

But yeah, I'd say it's kinda similar to how militant american atheists are. The extremely religious begat the extremely anti-religous.

[Npoess]

[hello spiral]

lol

[Rubin Farr]

It's definitely an American obsession. We never had the Rubenesque age (doh pun), so that ideal of a woman is completely foreign to US. Add to that, some powerful fugly, jealous, middle aged women who have along with some gay men in the industry, made the US female population feel bad about themselves for going on 100 years now. Its a function of advertising in the fashion, and by extension fitness industries, all to make the almighty Dollar. Who cares how many teen girls or young women have killed themselves over body issues, starved themselves to death, ruined their bodies with bulimia, etc etc.

 

Only recently, and it seems to come in waves, have some celebrities thankfully decided to push back (hey, its the best we have, thanks to Twitter they each now have an audience that follows them for better or worse).

Victoria's Secret is awful, they have this image of a perfect "Angel" that's a size 0, basically the body of a teenage boy. You have to go to stores in the US like Lane Bryant, or Torrid to find a decent plus size collection of clothing. The influence of African American and Hispanic ideals have taken a foothold in the US, as those populations have grown and attained more financial affluence. Look at female rappers, its all about their ass now. If Marilyn Monroe were alive today, she would be fat shamed for being a healthy woman, Anna Nicole Smith suffered the same fate.

 

As much as I loathe Kim K, she has had a huge influence on how girls perceive themselves, being the untalented media mogul she is. Of course, her mother made millions off of fitness videos portraying the image that women weren't good enough the way they are. I date voluptuous women, and it breaks my heart to see the cycle they go thru, they have to eat to stay alive, but hate themselves for it. I can't count the number of times I've heard them say "I'm so fat" or "look at me, I'm disgusting". "No, you are beautiful" is my reply "Don't let the media brainwash you into hating yourself" as long as you're not morbidly obese, as in threatening your life, you deserve to be happy. Fuck Vogue or Claire, or Cosmo, whatever bitch rag is telling you to look like the little twat on the cover. Some models are so insane about their weight they eat Kleenex tissues, let me say that again, they eat fucking paper to fill their stomach without absorbing calories.

 

Karen Carpenter was a warning sign that fell on deaf ears, we have Keira Knightley, Paris Hilton, and slew of sycophants, and succubi that accept this message, and spread it to the next generation of young women. It's sick.

[MadameChaos]

it's mental really, mainly pushed by paps to sell papers because for some reason seeing celebrities looking tubby makes people feel better about themselves. it's not just a female problem, guys get the same shit too. Leonardo Dicaprio has struggled with his weight over the years, and lets not forget the shit Val Kilmer has had for packing on the pounds. i just ignore it basically and leave the idiots to talk shit amongst themselves.

[eugene]

i dunno, don't think there's anything positive about being fat. you're less agile, consume more resources and energy, take more space, get sick more often. perhaps beauty ideals have something to do with those health/environment ideals?

[hello spiral]

If Marilyn Monroe were alive today, she would be fat shamed for being a healthy woman

 

Really? nah.

Monroe was well proportioned and tiny. It's hilarious that she's used as some kind of patron saint of unhealthily overweight women.

 

Yeah the 'big ass' Kardashian role model is great. Better save up for those implants ladies.

 

Just gonna leave this Tina Fey quote here:

 

 

 

“But I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty. Girls wanted butts now. Men were free to admit that they had always enjoyed them. And then, what felt like moments later, boom—Beyoncé brought the leg meat. A back porch and thick muscular legs were now widely admired. And from that day forward, women embraced their diversity and realized that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. Ah ha ha. No. I’m totally messing with you. All Beyonce and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful. Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.”

[autopilot]

If we don't shame them how are they supposed to know they're gross and nobody wants to fuck them?

[Lewps]

lol definitely a hot topic

[MadameChaos]

don't worry guys, you are beautiful whatever size you are. unless of course you have tits, tits don't belong on a man. unless you're a man who wants to be a woman in which case go right ahead. i'm not just talking large pecs, large pecs are ok. i'm talking big fat floppy tits. like these.

 

[Bechuga]

Whatever you do is wrong to someone else. I was fat, had comments about it. Lost weight, now regularly 'thin shamed' at work by people who could do with losing a kilo or two themselves, which is honestly quite embarrassing when it happens, as if I'm anorexic or ill. People who can't mind their own damn business.

 

Plus, people like to argue. One day, there will be a true Battle of the Bulge: the fats on one side, the size zeroes on the other, either side too out of shape to properly perform combat manoeuvres.

[GraveGlitcher]

Fat shaming is fucked and if anything there needs to be a more proportional positive view to counter act the strong delusional bulimic view most of the media(mostly North American) has.

[MadameChaos]

i think it's important kids are taught to eat healthily at school, and provided with a well balanced meal.

 

i also think food should be labeled clearly and healthy food should be kept as cheap as possible.

 

beyond that people can do what they like provided they are not hurting other people.

 

everyone is entitled to make their own decisions in life about their own bodies.

 

also people have the right to be treated with respect despite not conforming to society's idea of the "ideal" (which changes constantly)

[Npoess]

I know there are people that gain weight easily due to slow metabolism, and that's unfair and not much fun obviously. But it's really not that hard to shut your mouth and move your ass every once in a while, that's also what the human body is supposed to do and needs, it also have huge mental benefits aside from the obvious physical ones.

 

And if you have slow metabolism (as unfair as it might be) you might have to work out a bit more and be a bit more aware of your diet, but that's really not the end of the world. It's very hard for me to feel sorry for people that denies all personal responsibility for doing something about it.

 

I know there probably are people who are not entirely to blame for their physical appearance, but honestly, that's more the exception than the rule. It's due to lifestyle in a lot of cases.

 

I used to be slightly overweight when I was younger, which I aren't anymore. It was commented a couple of times, made me more aware of it than I probably would have been otherwise, that was actually what kind of forced the dieting and all the exercising to some extent. So being commented on it was a great thing.

 

So instead of always feeling sorry for yourself, do something about it, most of us the western world have money for healthy food and a gym membership. I mean fast food and lying on the couch should only be exclusive to only a couple of days of the week, not every day of the week.

 

The reason I might sound a cynical, is because I'm simply sick of having to feel sorry for (most) fat people, there are people with much greater issues in this world.

 

But I actually don't mind "fat" people who are accepting of their physical appearance and can actually joke a bit about it, that I really respect. But the ones that have the mentality of wanting everybody to feel sorry for them, because they're lazy and can't control their appetites are slightly pathetic... sorry...

[GraveGlitcher]

 

So instead of always feeling sorry for yourself, do something about it, most of us the western world have money for healthy food and a gym membership.

 

easier said then done, mate. aka mental illness. and I'm talking the majority of overweight individuals.

[Npoess]

 

 

So instead of always feeling sorry for yourself, do something about it, most of us the western world have money for healthy food and a gym membership.

 

easier said then done, mate. aka mental illness. and I'm talking the majority of overweight individuals.

 

 

That's only the more reason to exercise, since the mental benefits from exercising are just as great as the physical ones, I'm talking from personal experience.

 

I also very easily gain weight, so I've had to make huge lifestyle changes (just saying so this doesn't seems too hollow)

 

Look, I know there are other circumstances and psychological obstacles that makes it very difficult for some, but I feel the only thing that's going change it for some very specific people is confronting them with it. Sometimes you need to be made properly aware of your obesity in order to reflect on your lifestyle a bit deeper (as long as we're talking bully-ish and mean-spirited confrontation of course).

[th555]

So wtf is fat shaming?

[GraveGlitcher]

 

 

 

So instead of always feeling sorry for yourself, do something about it, most of us the western world have money for healthy food and a gym membership.

 

easier said then done, mate. aka mental illness. and I'm talking the majority of overweight individuals.

 

 

That's only more reason to exercise, since the mental benefits from excersing are just as great as the physical ones.

 

Look, I know there are other circumstances and psychological obstacles that makes it very difficult for some, but I feel the only thing that's going change it for some very specific people is confronting them with it. Sometimes you need to be made properly aware of your obesity in order to reflect on your lifestyle a bit deeper (as long as we're talking bully-ish and mean-spirited confrontation of course).

 

you definitely missed the boat on that one. Speaking from experience, there simply isn't a better phrase to get my point across....easier said, then done.

[Npoess]

I don't know any mentally illness that forces people to eat cheeseburgers and lie on their ass playing video games all day?

 

And it is way easier said than done, but it's not impossible for anyone without psychical obstacles... I mean psychical illness is a more logical excuse in my world.

 

I know I might come across a dick right now, but maybe you elaborate so I could understand it a bit more? - I might just be ignorant.

[autopilot]

So wtf is fat shaming?

 

It's when a girl who eats well and exercises posts a pic of herself in a bikini on instagram.

[Bechuga]

By mental illness he might be referring to those who suffer clinical depression, among others. And I don't mean the kind of depression where you're a bit glum due to dropping a cookie on the floor--the chemical imbalance one, the form that is a bit harder to shake off than just grinning and bearing it. If you're positive, of course you can easily shrug it off and lose that weight (I did, not that I was massively overweight), but to others, where their mental state isn't helping them but crippling them, it's no wonder some of them turn to comfort foods, or lack of exercise etcetera.

 

Of course, there are fat people who are just lazy or stupid. But in among those are the genuine few whose own bodies are conspiring against their own betterment, either mentally or otherwise. It's somewhat of a generalisation to assume all fat people are of the same cloth, that all of them made the beds that they now sleep in. Some of those people did not have a choice. Given one, I'm sure they would have chosen differently.

[Npoess]

I'm not suffering from a clinical depression, so I simply might just not perceive and apprehend it properly.

But I still think there's an argument to made for the fact that exercising and healthy food have huge mental benefits and could help on a clinical depression to some degree. It might not cure it, but it certainly helps to a certain extent. So if one could overcome mental obstacles, however great they might be, a lifestyle change would certainly be beneficial for everybody who is living unhealthy and have no psychical illness.

[Rubin Farr]

None of us here, and the problem is worldwide, have a consistent definition of "fat". Is Kate Upton fat? No, but she gets called fat repeatedly in the US press. Is Ashley Graham, the first "plus size" model to appear in Sports Illustrated (in an ad no less) fat? No, but they sure made a fucking ruckus of her being in that magazine. The American media seems to have a rolling definition of what constitutes overweight, there's always some fucking twit who goes on tv, sometimes Fox News, and blows their mouth off about who needs to cut out the donuts, or who looks too skinny. It generates ad clicks, period. It gets more viewers, especially those who are home to watch tv most often, who is that target demographic? Females. Soap Operas are called that for a reason, they were targeting soap ads at housewives and stay at home mothers. QVC and home shopping channels regularly run more female skewed and household products, bc those are the viewers watching the most. It's no different with fat shaming, they target women bc they know they have been groomed to be insecure, and can take advantage of that for corporate profit. They are the ones buying those fashion magazine, men sure the hell aren't, unless it's to jack off to them haha

 

And I was gonna site J Lo as an influence as well, but she's such a fake motherfucker, if skinny was back in, she'd get her ass to the gym ASAP. Look at her on In Living Color, then now. She's as pale as me, with black hair, but she spray tans and highlights her hair to look more "Hispanic" bc that's her target audience. Sad.

[goDel]

 

 

So instead of always feeling sorry for yourself, do something about it, most of us the western world have money for healthy food and a gym membership.

 

easier said then done, mate. aka mental illness. and I'm talking the majority of overweight individuals.

 

 

not sure where you've got the stats that the majority of overweight indvs weigh too much because of a mental illness. That's more than half of the european population with the majority having some kind of mental illness (which is related to their weight?). if you've got a source, be sure to present it. please?

 

Seeing the number is growing, especially for children, something's going on the growing up stage which doesn't help. I'm assuming it hasn't got much to do with mental illnesses and more with lifestyle related stuff. I could believe however, that when growing up like that, it would be nearly impossible to reverse it as an adult. And that it's not a thing like simply flipping a switch. At least, not for everyone.

 

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/noncommunicable-diseases/obesity/data-and-statistics

 

 

 

The challenge of obesity - quick statistics

• The worldwide prevalence of obesity nearly doubled between 1980 and 2008. According to country estimates for 2008, over 50% of both men and women in the WHO European Region were overweight, and roughly 23% of women and 20% of men were obese.
• Based on the latest estimates in European Union countries, overweight affects 30-70% and obesity affects 10-30% of adults.
• Estimates of the number of overweight infants and children in the WHO European Region rose steadily from 1990 to 2008. Over 60% of children who are overweight before puberty will be overweight in early adulthood. Childhood obesity is strongly associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, orthopaedic problems, mental disorders, underachievement in school and lower self-esteem.