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.”

I also said neither is ok in my OP.

This is where we as a forum/society have got to.

Trying to decide which way of treating people badly is more acceptable?

Seriously?

People really want to engage with this kind of warped thinking - that one or more or less OK than the other. I despair.

Some of the fat shamers?????

All people are saying is that obesity has related costs to us all. The colour of someone's skin does not. They are not related.

Kewcucumber

Who has said one or other is OK?

Everyone knows neither is ok.

But, a lot of overweight people could change it. But they don't.

You can't change being black.

And obesity doesn't have the horrific history of abuse that being an ethnic minority or a different skin colour does.

Look, I'm no supermodel myself. I'm just saying; neither is acceptable, of course not. But one is definitely worse than the other.

No, I really didn't, please check back - there is a distinct lack of quotation marks.

That para you quoted was my own words, taken from previous threads about the idle fat (cunningly enough this is not the first).

All I asked was that you acknowledge that it is not as simple to not be fat as has been suggested and that sometimes ill health causes obesity rather than the other way round.

I also think it is inflammatory to try and 'grade' discrimination of any type.

Please point to those fat shaming posts Kitten.

*funnily, not cunningly - sorry.

Kewcumber where did you read those comments?

Both are shitty!

The effects of one are far more dangerous than the other and to ignore that would be ahistorical and frankly quite stupid.

Scarlett

I started this thread mentioning that obesity was sometimes caused by an addiction. How is that not acknowledging it is difficult for many people to stop overeating.

I have also related it to smoking, another addiction.

My point is that smoking is just a vilified if not more so within society and therefore the reporter was wrong to use the racism comparison and would have been more accurate to use the smoking argument.

Kitten
Because, just like smoking and other addictions, overeatiing cost our society greatly. Although you don't seem to think it does.

No your right kitten I can't tell any of those things and frankly I don't care about any of those things because prejudice against a persons size is never going to be equivocal in my mind to racism regardless of the reasons behind somebody being the size that they are (whether very thin or very fat)
My post that you refer to is simply making the point that being slim is not down to luck as was mentioned upthread. Being slim is usually down to net calorie consumption being no more than a person requires; that doesn't involve luck.
No type of prejudice is okay, but I find certain types more unacceptable than others, in particular racism, disablism, ageism are ones that I just don't think equate to sizeism.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius Thu 11-Sep-14 15:46:41

I am considering hiding this thread - it is simply too destructive and damaging to my fragile mental health

I'd give you a huge hug but this is MN!

I stopped reading at this point and I too think I am going to hide it. When you're already fragile it doesn't take much to push you over or put you back weeks/months/years. It just doesn't. So could you fucking perfect fucking thin 'oh it's so easy to lose weight' people please please just shut the fuck up. It's not always about overeating (but even if it was - please - shut the fuck up). It can be about so many things. It's about an unforeseen medical accident with me and the subsequent medications I take daily. I'm already fucking miserable. Please - don't shame and blame.

so why should fat people accept it from the general population?

Who said that people should accept it from the general population?

No Scarlett I dont think we need to grade discrimination this isn't the struggle Olympics.

But it would be disingenuous to compare them.

Yes a lot of fat people "could" change, but why should they for any other reason than they want to?

They shouldn't! Not if they don't want to.

But, say a black person in an otherwise all white community is getting vilified for his skin colour, there is absolutely nothing that he can do. Nothing. He cannot change his skin colour.

Now, say an overweight person is being vilified, there is a way to change that (usually). No, he shouldn't have to, of course not. But he can. He has that choice.

But then, I disagree with all discrimination so I'm not even sure why I'm arguing the toss!

Yes. Fat shaming is as bad as racism. Because fat people have been lynched, segregated, and enslaved.

This is as bad as that "Thin Privilege" crap going around. People need to stop letting Tumblr kids write articles for reputable websites.

There's never a reason to treat a person badly. Ever.

But comparing fat shaming to racism is like comparing a twisted ankle to a severed foot.

Nobody is saying racism is OK, but that doesn't mean that fat shaming is OK because its not as bad as racism.

Nobody said it IS ok! Or at least most people didn't!

There's never a reason to treat a person badly. Ever.

Exactly this. I do sometimes wonder at these people who have, up to now, perfect lives with their perfect figures and perfect mental health and so on ad nauseam. You do know, don't you, that it could be you next? You never ever know when your life is going to change from one thing to another.
Anyway - enough now because this is veering a bit from the OP. Just please - be nice. You'll feel so much better for it!

Kitten

Staing that obesity costs the NHS money is NOT fat shaming. You directly asked me how obesity affects others after you described how smoking affects others and I replied

So how do you feel about stating facts about how smoking can cause others to have an asthma attack. Is that not the same toward smokers as stating that obesity cost the NHS £X.