"They want so-called "fat-ism" to be made illegal on the same grounds as race, age and religious discrimination. "
Now, I am not a supporter of discrimination in any way, but fat-ism? Really? Of course we should not pre-judge people who are overweight, excuse me, kilogramically challenged, but is legislation necessary to support this? At best, maybe.
The article goes even further into the absurd though. It also wants to create "a law [that] bans "fat-ism" in housing and employment and stops doctors pressing patients to slim down." Stops doctors pressing patients to slim down? Is that not related to their job? If a person has a medical condition which causes them to become fat, their doctor will surely know about it and recomend the healthiest option for them. But if they have no such condition? Are they still not allowed to be pressured to lose weight? This makes about as much sense as telling dentists not to pressure people to brush their teeth.
If you want to actually be healthy and follow the best diet plan for you, you consult a doctor or nutritionist. If you want to feel better about yourself, maybe a therapist is more what you need.
Next time you're in a supermarket, remember it may well be a hate crime to yell "Move out of the way fatty! Well person coming down the aisle!"
That article was awesome. The quote: "I have been punched, I have had beer thrown in my face, I have had people attack me on the train." is pretty classic; Brits must really hate fat people to go so far as to physically harass them.
ReplyDeleteBut in seriousness, I think obesity has earned itself a really weird immunity in society. Contrast overeating with smoking. The anti-tobacco industry has done an impressive job making smoking taboo: nobody talks about the societal factors of smoking, everyone knows the health risks, you smoke in spite of that.
But with overeating, there's this weird shield. Maybe people don't choose to be fat. Maybe they're unaware of what's going into their body. Maybe they're big boned. Whatever it is, somewhere along the line, obesity got removed from the personal choice argument in debates like smoking (or alcohol, drugs, etc).
Doctors not allowed to tell their patients to slim down. That is ridiculous. It is unhealthy to be FAT. It's not offensive, it's just the reality. If you ban this then you might as well also make it illegal for people to be called to skinny, and doctors should not be allowed to tell their patients they are anorexic because it may hurt their feelings.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the picture with it. Also, there is a website, fatism.org. And no, I didn't google that, it was in a magazine.
ReplyDeleteI think it is ridiculous to prevent doctors from telling patients they're overweight and need to slim down. It's one thing to discriminate against someone and other thing when it's your profession to look out for someone's health in a doctor-patient confidentiality zone. What I DO find discriminatory is airlines charging overweight people for two seats. That is just downright humiliating.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that, Taylor. While it may be embarrassing for them, it's also not fair for someone who pays for a full seat to have another person in their seat. It sounds cruel, but there have been times when I haven't even been able to sit in my seat on an airplane because the person next to me is extending so far into it. If you can't fit into a standard size seat, you really should buy two, or at least a first class seat (since they're larger). If our society decides to be sensitive to those needs, then airlines need to start making planes to fit people of a larger size.
ReplyDeleteI don't really believe in fat-ism, and I think its existence is an insult to groups that have faced true discrimination because of their race, gender, class or sexual orientation. Discrimination is usually typified by treating someone differently due to an immutable characteristic. Being overweight or 'kilogrammically challenged' is not an immutable characteristic. Though, it's a difficult and trying process, I know from experience, losing weight is the best and healthiest option for any overweight person. Yes, society should be less judgmental and superficial in the way it uses appearance to treat people, but if these outward pressures make morbidly overweight people want to slim down a bit, creating a healthier life for themselves and setting a precedent for the overall healthfulness of American society as a whole, that certainly something that I cannot object to.
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