no doubt there are a small proportion of people who have glandular trouble and are predisposed to stoutness. And if you are crippled and can’t take vigorous exercise, then yes, one would have an excuse (but you should still be moderating your calorie intake in accordance with medical advice). But the great majority of fat people are eating the wrong stuff and taking too little exercise, which is entirely within their own power to remedy. It’s a first-world problem, caused by an abundance of cheap, trashy food products and our instant gratification lifestyle. Don’t see a wave of fat people in the third-world. Unless you’re into the “don’t judge me and my lifestyle” thing in which any criticism of other people’s habits in any forum is off-limits, then they are legitimate targets for criticism and remonstrance.
Having said all that, being rude to fat individuals who you meet is just bad manners. No excuse for that, either.
I think much of it is the contempt pinkfreud spoke of, but it’s not contempt directly for the fat person in question - it’s redirected contempt and frustration over the recent blameless state of our society. Personal responsibility’s taken a big, perhaps fatal hit over the last couple of decades, with everything from frivilous lawsuits to ADD and the Ritalin Solution (band name!), and I think a lot of people are frustrated and exasperated by it - and people (over)claiming medical reasons for a mostly disciplinary problem are an easy target. Throw in all of the other factors already mentioned and it gets even more overt and vicious.
I suspect that the reasons are actually fairly mundane:
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It’s one of the few insults left that is still PC to say (…as much as an insult can be PC.) You would get more hounding for saying “dumb blonde” than “fattso” So given that people like to be insulting on the internet and that this is the path of least resistance…there you go.
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It is short and begins with F. Fat, fatty, fattso, fat f***, flubber butt, et. al. just roll off the tongue in a pleasantly insulting manner. While as say, “blonde”, just doesn’t lend itself to playfulness. Pretty much after “dumb blonde” you’re stuck for permutations.
I was going to try to stay out of this…
When I was 20, I was a US Size 9, and weighed about 130 lbs. I was too skinny for my height (5’8"), although according to the “actuarial tables” I still weighed 20 lbs TOO MUCH. I also worked for a weight loss company at the time; had a certain amount of training in diet & exercise (although most of it was related to the program & its suppliments, not true diet control.) I got older, I had a daughter, things happened. At 35, I weigh approximately 100 lbs more than I did at 20.
The thing is, I KNOW what the right things to do are - I’m also a cook, so I know a lot about portion size, etc. However, I also have an eating disorder. So, this could go 2 ways…I can obsess about the portions I eat (which I do to a point) and spend all my time focused on losing weight TO THE POINT IT’S UNHEALTHY, or I can try to eat healthier in general, try to get myself in the habit of exercising more, and ACCEPT MY SIZE.
I choose the latter. Yeah, I’d like to lose about 50 lbs. Yeah, I hate going clothes shopping…but Himself loves me & finds me sexy, I’m (usually) comfortable with my body, and while I’m not an apologist, isn’t that important too?
Maybe it’s the path of least resistance, but the only current health problem I have that would be alleviated by my losing weight is my blood pressure. You know what? That’s not so bad, really.
So, maybe I choose to be fat. But frankly, that’s nobody’s business but mine, my lover’s, and my doctor. But there are other disorders that can cause obesity besides a “glandular disorder” or “being crippled”. People tend to forget that.
You don’t sound like an asshole at all. I would take exception to this last line, however. As a retired EMT, it was my experience that I had to bend over and pick up my half of an obese person for non-obesity reasons PLENTY of times. They may take care of themselves, be watching their diet and cholesterol and all of those good things- and still be obese. It takes a very long time and a serious amount of care and monitoring to move from morbidly obese to healthy in weight and body chemistry.
I know without even knowing you that you’ve shown up at an MVA or two…or sixty… and groaned inside because you realized that the person you need to immobilize and board out is obese and may well put you and your partner at risk.
I’m a pretty big guy. When I broke my back, I apologized repeatedly to my friends, the EMT’s and Paramedics who took my call cause they had to immobilize and board me out. I get it, from both sides now.
I did find your post to be honest and accurate. 
Cartooniverse
kinoons: * Everytime that myself and my co-workers have to lift an obese person, there is a chance I could have a career ending back injury. *
This is indeed a cause for concern. But it sounds as though the place to channel that concern, short-term, is into your work safety policies.
I mean, you’d be facing the same risk with a non-fat 6’6" 325-lb burly football player as you would with a 5’6" 325-lb fat person (though admittedly, there are a lot fewer of the former kind). Sounds like you need a general policy of, say, no more than 50-100 pounds per medic when it comes to lifting patients. So you’d have two people on a stretcher for an average-sized patient, four or six for a big one. (And yeah, if this means having the dispatcher ask “About how much does the patient weigh?”, so as to know how many stretcher-lifters to send, that seems reasonable.)
This example, I think, illustrates a widespread problem in how we deal with obesity as a social phenomenon: instead of thinking up sensible policies to alleviate the practical inconvenience it causes, we just refuse to deal with it, and instead let the inconvenienced individuals suffer.
Of course, the best long-term policy for dealing with obesity, as a public health matter, is to change our lifestyles so we have less of it. But that doesn’t alter the fact that right now, and for the immediate future, we’ve got a very large and increasing number of people who can’t fit into an ordinary airplane seat or can’t be safely lifted by a pair of medics. Saying “well, those people shouldn’t be so fat” is useless as a way of directly addressing these immediate problems.
If we stopped being so puritanical and moralistic about the evils of fatness, we’d probably manage to come up with more sensible and effective ways to alleviate its problems. That doesn’t mean that we have to like obesity or deny the problems and dangers it causes; just that we have to spend less time fuming about the issue and more time dealing with it constructively.
You can’t tell why a person is fat just by looking at them, though. I can guarantee you nobody looks at me and thinks, “She’s fat because surgery f*cked her body up, but at least she tries her best to stay healthy by jogging, doing yoga, weightlifting and cycling, she doesn’t have a car and walks everywhere, and she eats healthy foods and small portions.” No, they just look at me and think, “Look at that fat bitch, I bet she eats like a pig and lies around all day.” THAT’S what the problem is. Yes, much obesity is caused by overeating and sedentary lifestyle, but some isn’t. And yet everyone assumes that fat always equals unhealthy and lazy when they see someone who is overweight.
Wow. Some very interesting perspectives have been presented in this thread. Thanks.
I too can be counted as one who is often shocked by peoples hate and disgust for fat people.
A wonderful job has been done by others explaining why exactly this might be the case but I feel one important area has been overlooked.
From my perspective I believe it’s really a sign of deep polarization within our society concerning all weight issues.
While I would never argue that the overweight/obese are roundly denigrated I have come here from the perspective of one who was stick thin most of my adult life. There is, of course, no more virtue in being thin than in rising early no matter who wishes to convince you otherwise.
As a young woman my experience was that people called me, to my face, all sorts of nasty names, in jest, of course, and as long a they were prefaced by the word ‘skinny’ this was acceptable. People I barely knew, had only just met. Any guesses how many times people said directly to me, “I hate you, you’re so skinny.” I was constantly asked what I ate, if I dared to eat anything fattening everyone within sight got to wade in on how they hated people like me. Yeah, that never grows old.
Do I think this is as awful as the way the obese are treated, no. But it was no joy ride either. People say things all the time to skinny people, straight out - but pussy foot around a friend that has put on a few pounds. Comment on what you see going into their mouths? I don’t think so.
After many years, at middle age and after quitting smoking, I finally and thankfully started to round out a little bit. Not overweight, just some padding all around. I couldn’t have been happier. Parts of me actually jiggled! When I got together with some old friends I could not wait to be widely complimented on my new weight gain, lovely roundness, my jiggly parts. All evening, no one said a single word. I couldn’t take it any more and demanded to know why no one had noticed my weight gain. The answer was universally the same no matter whom I asked, “Oh, I noticed, I just didn’t want to say anything.” WTF? These persons roundly abused me for years about being underweight (like I chose this somehow?), now I was a healthy weight and they didn’t want to say anything. That experience has really stayed with me. It tells me how very twisted society’s view of weight really is.
Do I have a problem with fat people? It depends on what “level” you’re talking about.
On the surface I couldn’t care less if someone is fat provided they do not stick me with their medical bills. Want to be fat? Fine. But if your unhealthy lifestyle results in higher-than-average medical bills, do not ask your neighbors (i.e. the taxpayer) to foot the bill.
But on a deeper and subtler level… yea, I admit I have a negative bias against fat people. To me, fatness is indicative of laziness and a lack of self-control. I don’t like laziness and weakness, hence my bias against fat people.
For 99.9% of cases, you can conclude why a person is fat.
A fat person is fat because:
- They eat too much, and/or
- They eat the wrong kinds of food, and/or
- They do not get enough exercise.
Very simple.
Assume this —
---- is true.
This ----
---- does not follow.
- Is obesity the only possible consequence of laziness and lack of self-control?
- Is an absence of obesity a guarantee of non-laziness and non-lack of self-control?
- Would eliminating obese people remove from society all lazy people and all those people lacking self control? Indeed, would eliminating obese people remove from society any significant proportion of lazy and non-self-controlling people?
- Do you maintain an equal negative bias against people who are lazy and lacking self control but whose laziness and lack of self control do not manifest as obesity?
Even accepting your premise as true, your negative bias is unjustified.
Just wanted to say that when I read the thread listed in the OP, I definitely noticed the ‘fat’ references.
And it hurt.
I understood the vitriol based upon the man’s attitude – but wouldn’t Seven have been just as upset if the person was a skinny, normal-looking woman? The descriptive references seemed unnecessary.
When I first read Seven’s thread, I thought about starting a thread like this, to discuss what to me was a real dissonant attitude. I decided I didn’t want to deal with all the negativity that would result. I still don’t want to deal with it, but I’ve been reading this thread, and felt I finally had to post.
I’m 6’4" tall, and I weigh 340 lbs. I’m obese mainly because of lack of exercise. Being tall helps – it’s not like I’ve got sagging rolls of fat all over. I’m just huge. But fat jokes, and gratuitous insulting remarks, and staring, and coping an attitude all hurt.
Stop.
My personal hypothesis is that there is a negative attitude towards “fat” people because on many different, but effective levels we are taught to see it as a bad thing. It is a hypocritcal thing, to hate the symptoms but blame the disease.
I think it is funny that people tend to have only a few reasons to hate the obese. They are lazy, it is a sign of gluttony, or they are an eyesore. Ok, there are probably other reasons, but these tend to be the prevelant ones. It is hypocritical because being overweight is only a symptom of a disease (not a real disease, call it a disorder, a flaw, etc.), that is EVERYWHERE. Skinny people are just as gluttonous, just as lay, and can be just as much of an eyesore. Bones sticking out of tight leathery skin is just as disgusting as rolls of fat sticking out of a tight shirt.
Family, friends, the media, everywhere you look there are subtle undercurrents that all together teach us that it is ok to hate fat people. Society helps us foster our hatred of those that are obviously different, and everywhere you look people’s actions say it is OK to insult fat people. Or it is ok to laugh at bald people, or insult ugly people, or push around little people.
Simple, eh? Then you tell me why my husband, who is very nearly sedentary, who NEVER excercises, who eats cheeseburgers, fries, grilled cheese and steak as much as he can, is, at 5’8" and 120 lbs, as skinny as a rail. And why am I, who exercises every day, who walks to and from work every day (20 minutes each way), who eats almost no meat, sticks to grains and veggies and small portions, who has a physical job which includes lifting 40lb boxes of clay and sheets of lumber several days out of the week, why am I overweight? If it’s so “simple”, Please explain that to me.
You are not immune to the laws of physics. If you remain overweight despite making positive changes to your lifestyle, then you are still eating too much and/or not getting enough exercise. And yes, it’s as simple as that.
Hey, Crafter_Man, are you a multi-millionaire yet? If not, I can’t imagine why. Lots of people have gotten filthy rich with weight-loss methods and you seem to have one that is fool-proof! Wow!
Also, to the fat haters out there, JUST WAIT (just weight?). When I was 20 I was skinny. When I was 30 I was skinny. At 40, I was average weight for my height. Today, at nearly 60 I am about 40 pounds overweight. You get older and you keep on doing like you always did and before you know it YOU ARE ONE!!! And I for one am looking forward eagerly for all the haters to look in the mirror and say ohmygod, I’m…I’m…FAT!
Ah, well, I think the OP has its answer. The reason for vitriol and hatefulnes toward fat people is apparently the same reason that there is for any kind of bigotry indulged in by humans. Bloody-minded ignorance.
acsenray: There are plenty of normal-weight people who are lazy and lack self-control. And there are plenty examples of the opposite. But (in my opinion) the same cannot be said for the inverse, i.e. it is my opinion fatness is indicative of laziness and a lack of self-control.
BTW: A thousand apologies to the mods, as this is not the right forum to be expressing opinions.
Crafter_Man, you owe an apology to more than just the mods; you owe an apology to the logo at the top of this Web site.
Well, here’s a news flash for you. If you had read my previous posts, you would have seen that I said I had my gallbladder removed a few years ago. And before that, I was at a decent weight. I was never “skinny”, but I wasn’t fat, either. The surgery screwed up my system so much that despite the fact that I could no longer eat fatty foods after the surgery because it now makes me sick with diarrhea, I still started to gain weight. And, I also eat less than I did before the surgery. My doctor was following my nutrition and fitness closely for months after the surgery. And guess what? She said I’m in great shape and I’m doing everything right. But my system is screwed up and there’s simply nothing they can do to help me - this is the simple answer for you. YOU. ARE. WRONG. You don’t know me, and you don’t know anyone else here who you would call fat. So please take your ignorant (yes, it is extremely ignorant) attitude, and send it elsewhere.
And as I stated before, you don’t have to live in my body, so why do you have any right to comment on it, or anyone else’s?