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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Identifying other people as something they're not.

63 replies

Fatorthin · 16/03/2026 22:49

This happened to me recently, and I still feel disturbed by it. I landed in Accident and Emergency due to a health crisis that was very probably weight-related. I ended up being seen by a senior doctor - a consultant. In the discussion about what might have caused the health crisis, I said to the consultant that I realised that I was overweight... (in fact I'm well into the obese range and that is quite obvious to anyone who sees me, and of course to me). The consultant immediately interrupted me and told me that I was not overweight. They then repeated that. They even used the word "thin". I was speechless. When they told me that I was not overweight, I felt confused (it made no sense) and I also lost trust in that doctor. How can you trust somebody who says something so obviously untrue to you, especially when acknowledging that the obesity might well have caused or contributed to the health incident was so necessary? Where does the patient go from there? Afterwards, I started to wonder whether this was an extension of doctors being told to accept a patient's gender identity as fact. Have they now moved to accepting (or pretending to accept) everything a patient chooses to believe about themselves? And then gone from there to anticipating what a patient would like to believe about themselves?

OP posts:
Batties · 16/03/2026 23:59

VoltaireMittyDream · 16/03/2026 23:58

I have to ask, but… is this a body dysmorphia issue, and your medical emergency was actually due to anorexia fuelled by the delusion that you are obese? Because otherwise this is all very bizarre.

I think the fact that the OP wouldn’t even tell us their height/weight means there’s likely to be something like that going on.

VoltaireMittyDream · 16/03/2026 23:58

I have to ask, but… is this a body dysmorphia issue, and your medical emergency was actually due to anorexia fuelled by the delusion that you are obese? Because otherwise this is all very bizarre.

Batties · 16/03/2026 23:58

True. But what is your motivation for posting it in FWR?

Fatorthin · 16/03/2026 23:57

Batties · 16/03/2026 23:55

I’m not sure what your motive is here, but there is no way a doctor would tell a person with a BMI of 40 that they are thin.

It's because of the extreme oddness of what happened that I've posted this. As I was there, I know rather more about it than you do.

OP posts:
Batties · 16/03/2026 23:55

I’m not sure what your motive is here, but there is no way a doctor would tell a person with a BMI of 40 that they are thin.

Fatorthin · 16/03/2026 23:54

The doctor said it in front of a more junior member of staff too. Weird.

OP posts:
Fatorthin · 16/03/2026 23:53

Batties · 16/03/2026 23:48

What is your BMI?

Approximately 40.

OP posts:
Batties · 16/03/2026 23:48

What is your BMI?

Fatorthin · 16/03/2026 23:45

thetinsoldier · 16/03/2026 23:22

How tall are you, and what do you weigh?

i find it really bizarre that a doctor would tell an overweight patient that they weren’t overweight.

I don't want to go into details, but as I've said I am very obviously at the high end of obese. Nobody would not notice that, let alone a doctor. That doctor cannot possibly have thought that they were telling the truth. So what was it about? Is there now some kind of ethos that you have to make patients feel good about themselves?

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 16/03/2026 23:40

Sounds odd, I can only suppose that he’s seen so many patients way more obese than you that his perceptions of normal has gone adrift.

lcakethereforeIam · 16/03/2026 23:34

Bizarre. I hope you're recovering.

What if you desire help and advice to get to a healthier weight? That Doctor is obviously going to be no help if he refuses to even acknowledge it.

Toseland · 16/03/2026 23:28

Was his name Zack or Dave?

thetinsoldier · 16/03/2026 23:22

How tall are you, and what do you weigh?

i find it really bizarre that a doctor would tell an overweight patient that they weren’t overweight.