To think Prejudice against fat people is NOT as bad as racism.

[goodnessgracious]

To think the article in the Times today claiming that prejudice against fat people is as bad as racism and that it is one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice is ridiculous.

Firstly, obesity is normally caused by an addiction and has health implications for the obese person and further implications on society as whole. How can this be compared to racism in any way?

Also, it is not the last socially acceptable form of prejudice because I believe society is just as (if not more) prejudiced against smokers, alcoholics and gamblers and all people with addictions which have costs toward society.

AIBU to think that although it is not right to be prejudice against obese people it is ridiculous to compare it to racism.

Copied article extract below...

"Prejudice against fat people as bad as racism, say scientists "Dr Jackson said that prejudice against overweight people pervaded society and needed to be challenged. “People think it’s one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice. You just have to look at the comments section on media reports on obesity to see that obese people are subjected to labelling and even abuse and attack.”

Am I invisible? And my comments?

Cleqrly seeing someone who is obese in the street does not effect me personally any more than seeing someone who is disabled or of African origin ever has a negative effect on me.

I started reading this thread in agreement with the op but I'm coming round to changing my mind. No, fattism does not have the long history of racial oppression but it does have similar associations with social stereotyping and prejudices about personal beliefs, inteligence and hygiene that come with racism.

Society forgets what a healthy weight is.

This is also true. I'm 5' 5" and 13st, which is clinically obese, but people are already saying to me "you must be nearly at your goal now!" and are horrified when I tell them that my goal is between 9st 7lbs and 10st. Several people have told me that I'll look ill and I should aim for 11st at the lowest, which will still see me as overweight on the BMI chart. 10st will be a BMI of 23.3 for me, which is pretty mid-range.

I think peoples' view of "normal" and "healthy" have been skewed and size 12-14 is now seen as perfectly slim and healthy.

What would you like us to do STDG? Not talk about it?

Twostucktogether. I do a physically demanding job. I can be on my feet for up to 13 hours with maybe the odd 5 minute break here and there (no time for set break as I'm alone). I'll not only be serving pints but moving barrels, stocking up, carrying crates up and down stairs, cleaning and keeping the club clean and tidy. Also I regularly get abuse shouted at me. Not just the odd "hey fatty!" But real personal stuff. Twice when I've been with my kids I've heard " ugh. Who would fuck that?" I'm not exaggerating. If you are fat and have never suffered discrimination then you are one of the few lucky ones. I always cringe when passing a group of teens or a car full of lads drives by. It's usually 50-50 if they insult me. All because I'm a size 26 and have the gall not to be exiling my fat self to my bedroom. I'm fat, work in a physically demanding job and am subjected to abuse. I would carry around photocopies of my medical records and let people know exactly why I'm fat and the struggles I have to try and not be but frankly it's no ones fucking business.

STD the way you are being ignored actually helps to prove the point about prejudice. Your opinion is of course valid but everyone here is far to busy reassuring themselves that their prejudices are justified.

Great post vbd

I agree with making sizes bigger to fit in with the - growing - population.

People are taller and healthier with bigger bones not just heavier. It would be ridiculous if clothes hadn't changed to accommodate that. It's bad enough as it is as well. Apparently the average size is 16. I am a size 12-14. So why am I branded as "Large" when I buy clothes that come in XS, S, M L, XL etc? Should be a Medium at most! Also quite often I'm in the top size in sports wear, they don't do any bigger. So if you are bigger than me you shouldn't be out jiggling your bits around apparently. What chance have people got?

OH good, I haven't seen any fat bashing on MN for at least an hour a day.

Racism is bad.

Hurling abuse at people because they dared to not be sexually attractive to you , also bad (no, not bad as racism, but still really wrong if you need to tier it).

Starting goady threads on mn, really just annoying.

I'd like a bit more sensitivity, and understanding.

Threads like this make me hate myself even more than I do already. If that is what people think is e best way to help me lose weight, they are wrong.

But I am a burden on society, some people hate looking at me, and I have doomed my kids to multiple health problems too, so why would anyone give a damn about me?

size 12-14 is now seen as perfectly slim and healthy

It is healthy unless you are very short. If you can honestly fit into a size 14 waist you are below the risk for diabetes and other illnesses via waist measurement, which doctors pay more attention to than BMI. How you carry weight is very important.

Yikes. Now I find out I needn't have bothered quitting the fags and booze during pregnancy. I gave birth to 3 perfectly healthy babies. I had normal pregnancies. No health issues at all. Fat people really do get it from all angles.

The classification of racism would make conversations taboo, with doctors, nurses, teachers afraid to speak out with the fear of being labelled similar to being racist ( Rotherham) which in turn will not help and could leave those wanting help not receiving it. Fat shaming is verbal and emotional abuse and should be seen as that and dealt with in the same way.

A friend of mine who is about 6ft was a 14 and a yoga instructor and very slim.

YourMa, my Mum smoked through 5 pregnancies and we all turned out very healthy.

It's still not recommended though.

I had a diabetes check the other day and was told that ideal waist size for a woman is below 80cm and any higher increases diabetes risk.?sonebody who takes a 'modern' size 14 is not going to fit into an 80cm waist skirt unless they squeeze themselves in and force up the zip.

I completely understand where people are overweight and their kids are too- families all eat the same things, have the same genes etc.

What I find harder to understand is well off slim parents who look quite fit and active but all their kids are carrying plenty of extra weight. Fair enough when they are older and choosing what they want to eat/making their own meals, and also of course the kids could have a medical condition which makes them overweight. But I saw this so frequently recently that couldn't have been the case for everyone. I felt sorry for some of the kids as they clearly couldn't run around as much as they ought to be able to at their age and didn't look used to moving about in general. I really thought childhood obesity was overstated until this year.

Kitten, you asked a couple of times how seeing a fat person on the street affects other people. There is evidence that if you see a lot of overweight people, overweight becomes normalised and what you think of as a healthy weight changes. So it does affect people.

Someone upthread also said that people who have mobility problems can't control their weight. Years ago I knew a bloke who was a paraplegic. He kept the weight off rigorously, because he knew that if he didn't, his arms would have an even harder time than they did already.

SDT, you haven't doomed your kids if you love them and feed them sensibly. But this is actually a hard topic to talk about sensitively. I certainly don't want to upset you - it genuinely saddens me that you say you hate yourself - but I think it's something we need to talk about honestly.

That said, I think prejudice against overweight people is wrong and unpleasant and must be horrible if you're on the receiving end, but I don't think it's as bad as racism.

80cm is about 31 inches, I'm about 29" waist and take a size 12-14 in clothes but mostly a 14 which tend to be lose at the waist but fit on the bum/legs/bust.

Quick squizz at Next/Dorothy Perkins says size 14 = 31" waist.

Worra my mum smoked and drank with all of us. I think it's debatable as to whether we actually turned out fine. My brothers are total knob heads. My sister is ok ( she just has an excessive look at me personality and is very vain). I'm the normal albeit fat one. :o

Actually while upsizing may mean that a 12-14 is bigger than it used to be, it is really not an unhealthy size to be. You have to be rather bigger than that before there is any real noticeable, quantifiable difference in your health outcomes.

You are far more likely to suffer from poor health if you are far too thin, than if you are moderately too fat. There are plenty of very, very obese people living for donkey's years with their obesity and coping ok with the limitations and associated problems that obesity brings, whereas people who are severely anorexic would appear to be far less robust in the long term and more likely to die young because of their weight issues. You don't have to go very far below a socially acceptable level of thinness before it will kill you, and let's face it, the same cannot be said of obesity.

YourMa, notice I said we turned out healthy and not sane!

If you get a serious illness that causes weight loss being slightly overweight actually helps you get over it faster as you less likely to become underweight in the course of the illness.

Also someone told me that normal BMI used to be up to 27, not sure if this is the case.

Thomyorke

great post

:o

Btw I hope you don't think I was having a go at you about the smoking thing?! I'm just pointing out that every week some new evidence that is always personally aimed at me comes to light. I'm all like for fuck sake. Go and pick on people who get diseases from being tattooed. Or sprain their ankles while bungee jumping.