To not understand how this different from putting an anorexic model on the cover

[Spinderelle]

Cosmopolitan have a morbidly obese model on their cover this month. I am absolutely behind the idea of body positivity - after children my body is far from perfect and it’s nice to see companies like ASOS use larger women and not airbrush stretch marks etc.

But this model is dangerously obese and risking her health. How is that any different from having a dangerously thin model on the cover?

Don't be silly, everyone knows that MN Fatties don't have feelings.

LadyDeadpool

What you have been through sounds awful, but I think what people on this thread are trying to point out is that this is promoting an an unhealthy lifestyle choice,The same way that extremely thin models promote an unhealthy lifestyle choice, but you rarely hear people say that models with eating disorders which make them painfully thin are a good image to present to people, so why should it be different with an eating disorder that makes someone obese?

It's ludicrous.

She doesn't look good - she looks horrendously overweight and unhealthy.

I really can't believe that anyone would say that someone with an eating disorder has made a lifestyle choice. It beggars belief.

I’m about the same size as Tess Holliday. A lifetime of essential disassociation and denial has enabled me to function. I try to like myself and accept myself for who I am. Which is a fat woman who cannot change that without unpicking many things that i’m unable to unpick. So I prefer to try to like myself and accept i’ll die young. If it helps others to accept me too then I promise to kill myself before I burden the NHS. Ta

WellThisisshit, what a brave and heart rending post. Your son might see the look in others eyes but he’ll always know you are his mother and love you for that.
I believe the illness came first. I have a wheelchair bound, morbidly obese sister who first lost mobility through an accident cycling 15 miles to work in the snow. She changed from a healthy, active employed person to a severely disabled person in a matter of months.
Just do your best and know your size doesn’t define who you are.

Bluelady

Ok the. Maybe not a choice but why is it being promoted ad a good thing? Please enlighten me?

Like I said women and girls with eating disorders that make them painfully thin are never told they look good and they are promoting a good body image for women yet when a morbedly obese person promotes their unhealthy lifestyle they are to be commended for it. Why?

Also I would just like to point out, I did not mean people with medical conditions that make them overweight were making a choice to be the weight they are.

Anorexic women and girls maybe aren't told they look good, but there aren't threads upon threads on MN telling them that they're disgusting, lazy, stupid, ugly, etc etc.

Originalsaltedpeanuts Sat 01-Sep-18 19:20:36

"I've reported the thread and asked HQ to consider deleting it as it has upset a lot of people."

Then i will say what i said on the loose skin removal thread PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THE THREAD MNHQ This was tried on the skin removal thread Do NOT erase the truth about how overweight people (especially women are treated.) this was tried on the skin removal thread. I KNEW it would happen again!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes the same tactic was tried on the skin removal thread once the smug fest was over ...............rinse and repeat rinse and repeat.

a really ugly pattern is starting to form here.

Agree all this faux concern for health doesn't help.
I had a surprise pregnancy whilst pushing a BMI of 39. As soon as I found out I ate sensibly and lost a few pounds.
Cue booking appointment with midwife who told me I shouldn't gain any weight during pregnancy and would need anaesthetic consult etc etc. Well actually I would need that anyway as having a c section. Did I feel good after her lecture. Did I fuck?
I think I ending eating a load of crap as the was how she made me feel.
I did end up weighing less at the end of mg pregnancy than I did at the start but my weight will always be an issue.
I begged for help to loss weight and got no help from NHS.
Knowing that people think that every issue you have is down to your weight and that you are a drain on NHS etc does not help.
I find that in my case my eating is to a certain extent down to how I feel emotionally.
So kindness goes a long way.

This is one of the issues I think, the help (or lack of help) available. To get to the morbidly obese stage generally a pattern of disordered eating has emerged, for a variety of different reasons. For some it goes back to childhood, others have developed issues later . The reasons need working on, they are possible to overcome but it’s hard , it takes a lot of mental energy . Also I’d like to see the figures for those that have had the 12 week referral to WW or SW through the NHS, have been, lost the weight and kept it off - suspect it is a tiny amount.

What the answer is I don’t know but I refuse to believe that as a society we can’t somehow come up with something that will help. In cold financial terms an effective solution at the stage where someone needs support to change their lifestyle will be very cost effective to the NHS in the long term and clearly the way things work at the moment is basically that they aren’t working and people get told to lose weight so they can be referred for treatment but with no support it is incredibly different to know how when when you’ve a history of many failed diet attempts.

Being morbidly obese makes you feel shit, it is bloody hard work carrying the weight of another person around with you. I guess if you look at it in one way it’s actually quite an achievement to do that plus carry out everyday life. But it’s physically and mentally knackering and there’s often no headspace to work out how to make changes to lose weight. And it’s not helped by the fact there are so many different ways of eating now advocated if you come online to have a look that it gets even more confusing.

I see the fast food marketing people are out in force on this thread! (Oh no, I'm getting confused with the ridiculous claims about Nestlé marketers on BF threads, sorry).

Tess is dangerously overweight. Putting her on the cover of Cosmo doesn't make people aspire to be like her. There are already millions of women like her. What it does is help normalise obesity, which then encourages people not to address the issue. 'Oh look, Tess is obese and on the cover of a glossy mag, so it's not so bad that my BMI is 35+ after all'. That's the message it sends.

We have an obesity problem, not an anorexia problem, so most of the comments about anorexia are red herrings and more blurring of the issue to avoid the unpalatable (excuse the pun) truth; being fat is bad for your health.

Since so many being are overweight these days implies it isn’t their choice.
Lifestyle, many illnesses and medicines cause a massive increase in weight.
It should not be normalised for children as they will have a lifetime of debilitating illness ahead of them. That is a tradegy.
However this model looks great.
We need to have a better discussion about weight. If it was just about willpower then people wouldn’t be so overweight.
We have a culture that snacks, too much screen time and way too many treats. To change this behaviour is the challenge.

I agree with deltag

I don’t like this magazine cover because I feel it normalises and celebrates being morbidly obese. It’s really dangerous and totally irresponsible. The mag havent done this cover because they care about her, it’s to cause controversy and boost sales.

It isn’t aspirational to be morbidly obese. Ive been that size where I couldn’t play with my daughter in the park, cinema seats were far too small, and I struggled to walk. That should never be made to look normal. It’s so wrong.
I also hate that we still treat women based on their looks alone. Why not feature an athlete, a female CEO, a humanitarian on the cover of Cosmo...oh yeah because that won’t sell

Not a particular fan of Cosmo, but isn’t it a bit reductive / patronising to assume that their cover should feature a woman who readers will then aspire to look like? Perhaps there’s something to be said for trying to promote strong, interesting, even challenging images of womanhood, reminding us that not everyone’s the same. Perhaps it’s possible to look at a woman and not focus on her weight first.
As for the debate about obesity and healthy eating, I think there are quite a few information sources now on this and people don’t have to focus solely on the cover of a glossy magazine to find out what society thinks about it all.

So, like most Cosmo covers then?

It is different as many have pointed out.

Also, I’ve seen men’s magazines with people lile Jack Black, Jonah Hill (pre weight loss), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Louis CK etc on the cover. Firstly, no men give a shit if the actors / public figures they like are overweight. Secondly, no one is concerned that men might suddenly aspire to being overweight because they’re fans of Jack Black. To even suggest it would be hilarious and insulting. Why does society have such a shallow perception of women? If people genuinely think women will aspire to being morbidly obese, which is viewed so negatively, because of a very small number of models, they’re delusional.

There are plenty of successful / famous overweight men because men’s primary function isn’t how attractive / slim they are. Women’s value is disproportionately skewed to their appearance. Perhaps if we started celebrating women for their actions and abilities rather than their appearance, this would become a non issue.

But you don't see them working as models or on the cover of GQ in their pants.

Horridhenry88 but if some harsh comments from that midwife immediately drove you to eat a load of junk, then why don't a few supportive comments immediately make you want to eat small amounts of healthy food

postnotinhaste there's absolutely nothing confusing about how to eat in order to lose weight. Aim to consume roughly 400-500 calories less per day than you need (most women need roughly 1800-2000 calories per day).

It is simple physics.