primitives discuss fat people

[franksolich]

http://sync.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8835848

Oh my.

It's a very big campfire.

Hello_Kitty  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jul-28-10 08:01 PM
Original message
 
Why so much fat bashing in a country where a majority are by some definition overweight?

I'm overweight. 5 foot 7 and about 180 lbs. I'd like to be 25 pounds lighter, which is what I was 4 years ago. When I look at most of the people around me, particularly around my age (42) or older, I'm not out of the ordinary at all. I'm actually on the small side many places I go. But I consider myself a fat person, realizing of course that it's all relative, and I'm astonished by some of the ugly venom spewed on threads here about weight. IMO anyone who denigrates, shames, ridicules, or patronizes fat people ought to put up a recent photo of themselves in a bathing suit.

I not interested in discussing whether or not the increasing weights of Americans (and people in other countries) is a good or bad thing. What I don't get is the amount of vitriol flung at fat people these days. Often by people who are, themselves, not exactly svelte. It's truly bizarre to me. Is it because Hollywood promotes thinness incessantly? Every time I'm in line at the grocery store, usually in line with people at various degrees of obesity, I'm faced with the latest tabloid splashing THE SHOCKING WEIGHT GAIN of some celebrity. Usually it's women (gotta keep up the obligation to be decorative, ladies) but male stars are increasingly under bodily scrutiny.

The cognitive dissonance on this seems off the charts to me.

seabeyond  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jul-28-10 08:05 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. i am not fat. i dont care if someone is fat. i dont care if someone isnt fat. but a real hoot to hear a fat person criticize a fat person. it is one of the few things that make my mouth drop. yes... it happens. and often. i am always amazed and surprised by the person that will criticize when they are in the same shoe.

a persons weight is truly.... one of those things, that are absolutely none of my business what so ever. and i simply dont care. it is their life. and i hope all enjoy. fat, skinny and in the middle

Curmudgeoness  (567 posts)      Wed Jul-28-10 08:10 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Why indeed. I suppose that people who are into bashing...have to find someone to bash. Right now, there are few things that are not out of bounds. So they are focussing on things that are (presumably) in our control. Weight, smoking, unemployed/lazy. Some folks just need to look down on someone.

I got an email once with pictures of skeletal thin people showing just how disgusting skinny can be. Very unattractive. The point was "so you think fat is a problem". I could have revelled in bashing these women, except that I realize they have just as many issues as the rest of us.

City of Mills  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jul-28-10 08:59 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
19. That's a whole different bias...skinny/disgusting

I have sympathy and understanding for overweight people, but I come from the opposite spectrum - I've been skinny my whole life, at times really skinny, and the prejudices are very similar. At 5'7", I'm not a tall guy so couple that with being skinny and you have someone who's not very appealing to the opposite sex. Plus the never ending unsolicited comments, 'Wow, you're so skinny' 'You need to eat more' 'You're so thin, are you sick?'.

I have an ectomorph body type, slim build, fast metabolism. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I have to eat constantly, whether I'm hungry or not, if I want to maintain weight. A few years back I was sick for awhile and not very hungry, and I dropped down to between 130-135. I looked pale and sickly. It's taken me almost four years to put some weight back on, and I'm currently at my highest weight yet, 155. I work out pretty much every day to try to put on some muscle, but it's tough. If I don't eat enough, I end up burning muscle tissue and end up looking skinny and weak again. It sucks! But like you said, skinny can be unattractive, and I think especially for males this is true. I'm hoping to put on another 10 pounds (healthy weight aka muscle not fat), but again I have to eat constantly and avoid too much simple carbs and sugar, otherwise the weight I do put on goes right around my waist and then I look like a skinny guy with a tire.

Diet and exercise will help those who are overweight, but it's not some simple formula. You have to work against your body's genetics too. People try to make it sound so easy, but in reality it isn't.

Hollow Shells (202 posts)      Wed Jul-28-10 08:22 PM
Response to Original message
 
6. Because hurting people's feelings is really fun. 

Woodchucks are fun. "Guns are penises" is fun. "Smokers stink" is fun. "Bible Spice" is fun. Ponies are fun. Magic wands are fun.

Sometimes the obvious reason is the right reason.

Nye Bevan  (1000+ posts)      Wed Jul-28-10 09:17 PM
Response to Original message
 
32. I'm fine with people of more ample proportions except when they are sitting next to me on a plane and intruding on the space that I've paid for (belly fat oozing over the armrest and thigh fat oozing underneath the armrest). Just like I'm fine with people smoking as long as I don't have to smell the disgusting second-hand smoke.

quinnox  (1000+ posts)      Wed Jul-28-10 09:25 PM
Response to Reply #32
 
35. agreed

Lets face it, some of these people need to have two seats to fit their bulk.

jdlh8894 (1000+ posts)      Wed Jul-28-10 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #32
 
37. So let's put all the fatties and smokers in the back of the plane,bus,whatever.Rosa Parks anyone?

Nye Bevan  (1000+ posts)      Wed Jul-28-10 10:19 PM
Response to Reply #37
 
40. NO!

Smokers *used* to sit in the back of the plane in the "smoking section". Needless to say the smoke drifted everywhere, especially on a long distance flight.

It's actually amazing these days to think that smoking used to be allowed on planes.

JoeyT  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jul-29-10 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #32
 
43. I wonder if you realize your comment sounds an awful lot like a racist describing how they don't hate minorities, except when they're filthy criminals. Which they all are, of course. Oozing? Really? Fat people "ooze"?

Missy Vixen  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jul-29-10 02:39 AM
Response to Reply #32
 
48. I don't think I'd like to sit next to you, either

The stench of smug self-righteousness is a lot more repugnant to me than someone who may possibly brush my arm or leg as they adjust to get a little more comfortable in a 17" seat.

I wonder how you'd feel if you sat next to Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings on a plane, for instance. He's 6'6" and weighs 270. I'll bet you'd be asking for his autograph, instead of bitching about his thigh or belly "oozing" into your "space".

KT2000  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jul-29-10 03:16 AM
Response to Original message
 
50. Lots of bashing these days

I believe it is part of the RW scourge of this country. They taught Americans to resent, judge and dislike other Americans. The list is long - overweight people, non-Christian people, smokers, non-white people, immigrants, outsiders etc.

Hekate  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jul-29-10 03:24 AM
Response to Original message
 
51. Are you up for the flaming-fat-bashing to come from "progressive" DUers?

I've seen it over and over, and it ain't pretty. Why even go there, except to pad out your Ignore list?

[Karin]

There is nothing like a fat thread to build a really big bonfire at the DUmp.  They squabble and scratch each others eyes out.  It's like at Moonbattery, to build a big fire, you just post a headline like "Sarah Palin Chooses New Shower Curtain."  The trolls come swarming in, frothing at the mouth, and soon you have 100 comments. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

Hello_Kitty  (1000+ posts)        Wed Jul-28-10 08:01 PM
Original message
 
Why so much fat bashing in a country where a majority are by some definition overweight?

I'm overweight.

Somehow, I knew those first two words were coming from the thread title.

 

[Ralph Wiggum]

KT2000  (1000+ posts)     
Thu Jul-29-10 03:16 AM
Response to Original message
 
50. Lots of bashing these days

I believe it is part of the RW scourge of this country. They taught Americans to resent, judge and dislike other Americans. The list is long - overweight people, non-Christian people, smokers, non-white people, immigrants, outsiders etc.

Project much?  Take a look in the mirror, dip-shit.

[Chris_]

Who let all these Fatty McFattersons in here?

[DumbAss Tanker]

Well, they'll have lots to discuss.  Tons, in fact!