Why should we accept and accommodate people being fat?

One More Solo

One More Solo

One More Solo

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This is back in the news after Jennifer Lawrence suggested calling people fat on TV should be banned which has triggered a wider debate. Obviously it is ridiculous that a size 10 actress has been called fat and that is given. Similarly, there are people that have unavoidable medical conditions (and I don't mean "being big boned") that lead them to have weight issues.

However, there are genuine campaigns now calling for wider acceptance of fat people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_acceptance_movement), and I heard a stupid woman on the radio this morning suggest that calling fat people fat is as bad as gender or race discrimination. I'll let you pick the holes in that one.

For me though, why should we accept or accommodate fat people (expanding seats, wider doors etc etc)? Isn't it about time someone put their foot down and said to people, sort it out, you are a burden on society just as smokers were told before? I remember being in America nearly ten years ago and seeing people that were disabled as a result of their size - it's an increasing sight in the UK now. As a society we are so quick to pillory financial greed but treat gluttony as if it's amusing and harmless.

Thoughts?
 
We shouldn't encourage people to be fat, in the same way we shouldn't encourage people to smoke. Both are unhealthy
 
This thread will be interesting.

I think you're seeing it as black or white, us vs them mentality. You REALLY seem to hate fat people, which is impressive as you didn't say anything hateful.

People getting outraged over stuff that has no affect on them... good times.
 
One More Solo said:
I heard a stupid woman on the radio this morning
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Same reason why you pointed out she was a 'stupid woman', when you'd be unlikely to pick out a man for saying the same. Sexist/Fatist, same issue.
Finding labels for people isn't helpful (or polite), providing help to reduce weight is the only sensible response.
 
bitslice said:
Same reason why you pointed out she was a 'stupid woman', when you'd be unlikely to pick out a man for saying the same. Sexist/Fatist, same issue.
Finding labels for people isn't helpful (or polite), providing help to reduce weight is the only sensible response.
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Don'cha know? if someone says something you don't agree with, they're stupid.

Thought everyone knew this.
 
I was 23 stone I am now 16.5 ( and still fat but not far to go now ) and I agree its better to make sure its a social stigma.

Accepting overeating is wrong, its a disease as far as I was concerned... I became so food oriented that I was not in control of myself. Society would have locked me up if it was self harm via cutting or attempted suicide but that's what I was doing, killing myself with eating.

I look back at what I used to eat in a "normal meal" and feel utter repulsion and disgust.... I used to put away a full special fried rice, a portion of soft noodles, a portion of chips, a portion of spring rolls... dim sum and prawn crackers AND a good helping of cheese cake with coke.... sometimes 3 times a week! I cant even eat a whole special fried rice now if I tried.

Its an illness... an addiction.. and should be treated as such in my opinion.
 
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I don't agree that the NHS should fund the treatment of people who have quite simply eaten themselves into oblivion and as a result have all sorts of health problems.

I'm with the OP to some extent - I don't think we should change things just to accommodate people who are fat or who can't say no to food.
 
I don't think we should accommodate for fat people, i.e larger seating, doors...etc, if they have got themselves to that point because of an illness or mental illness, that is fine i understand that and they deserve the wheelchair and allowances as their size is no fault of their own. However when people eat themselves to that size because they can we shouldn't reward them for doing so by changing things for them, they should be expected to either deal with it and face possible comments about their weight, or change and make an attempt to lose the weight.

As for calling people fat on tv that will not change, it wont just be about banning the word fat being used as an offensive term, it will ban all offensive terms used on tv. It basically sounds like an anti-family guy and south park movement.

Also, i love how it is called the "Fat acceptance movement" as far as im aware, people who are obeise, don't tend to move very often
 
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Calling people fat is not an insult. It's not discrimination. It's a fact.

People are black, people are white, people are thin, people are fat.

The only reason why fat people get offended when they're called fat is because they don't want to be fat.

How often do you find thin people getting offended for being called thin? Exactly.
 
We definitely shouldn't be changing basics to accommodate for massively obese people, such as widening doorways and seating as standard.

Though we also shouldn't think that it's okay to openly deride and belittle people for being large or obese. As you said, you have no way of knowing whether that person is battling psychological problems and/or physical problems such as a hormone imbalance that makes it incredibly difficult for them. Those situations are hard enough on those people without others being given societal carte blanche to ridicule them as they please.

Live and let live. But you're not using public money to alter buildings and whatnot.
 
Well I'm overweight by about 30kgs, I eat a fairly healthy diet and I lift weights 2-3 times a week, and I walk to work. Given up drinking beer I tend to stick to low carb alternatives like gin and wine.

I'm more active than your average skinny person and my diet is more nutritionally balanced and all home cooked, it's just my body type, easy to gain weight and a nightmare to lose it. Why should I be penalised compared to someone who just sits around in the soft stuffing junk in their face but never gains any weight?

Only time I ever got close to being a normal weight I was doing high intensity excercise 6-7 days a week and barely eating (under 2000 calories a day, around half of what I should have been eating given my height, weight and exercise regime), I was just tired and miserable, it wasn't worth it.

Know what I mean, mind you, I don't much abide by people who sit around overeating and never make an attempt to get some excercise.

What gets me though is these people who stay skinny without ever doing **** all getting all uppity.
 
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AtreuS said:
I was 23 stone I am now 16.5 ( and still fat but not far to go now ) and I agree its better to make sure its a social stigma.

Accepting overeating is wrong, its a disease as far as I was concerned... I became so food oriented that I was not in control of myself. Society would have locked me up if it was self harm via cutting or attempted suicide but that's what I was doing, killing myself with eating.

I look back at what I used to eat in a "normal meal" and feel utter repulsion and disgust.... I used to way a full special fried rice, a portion of sort noodles, a portion of chips, a portion of spring rolls... dim sum and prawn crackers AND a good helping of cheese cake with coke.... sometimes 3 times a week! I cant even eat a whole special fried rice now if I tried.

Its an illness... an addiction.. and should be treated as such in my opinion.
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Proof that if people genuinely and truly want to change, they can. Good work AtreuS :)
 
Yeah we shouldn't accommodate fat people or call it a disability. It's blatantly not that. But you can't start with this 'burden' on society stuff, because we're all a burden on society. Ever smoked? Cancer, burden. Like drinking? Liver damage, burden. Like running? Your knees are probably ****ed, burden. Good genes? You'll live longer in old age, burden.

It's a slippery slope.
 
Not everyone eats themselves in to oblivion, don't genetics also have a play in this? families or parents which are bigger, tend to give birth to their children who have no choice in the matter


What about the people who get bullied for being bigger, then end up becoming anorexic?
 
kissenger said:
Yeah we shouldn't accommodate fat people or call it a disability. It's blatantly not that. But you can't start with this 'burden' on society stuff, because we're all a burden on society. Ever smoked? Cancer, burden. Like drinking? Liver damage, burden. Like running? Your knees are probably ****ed, burden. Good genes? You'll live longer in old age, burden.

It's a slippery slope.
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This.

I'm not saying we should say fat people should get disability benefits or anything like that, but at the same time it's never a simple scenario.

And tbh i wonder how many people argue the legalization of drugs, because it's someones choice what they put in their body - but on the other hand are anti fat. That'd be interesting.
 
AtreuS said:
I was 23 stone I am now 16.5 ( and still fat but not far to go now ) and I agree its better to make sure its a social stigma.

Accepting overeating is wrong, its a disease as far as I was concerned... I became so food oriented that I was not in control of myself. Society would have locked me up if it was self harm via cutting or attempted suicide but that's what I was doing, killing myself with eating.

I look back at what I used to eat in a "normal meal" and feel utter repulsion and disgust.... I used to put away a full special fried rice, a portion of soft noodles, a portion of chips, a portion of spring rolls... dim sum and prawn crackers AND a good helping of cheese cake with coke.... sometimes 3 times a week! I cant even eat a whole special fried rice now if I tried.

Its an illness... an addiction.. and should be treated as such in my opinion.
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Well done, dropping 6.5 stone is a very difficult task, and you basically show the OPs point of what people who are obese should do.
 
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