To think this is offensive and makes me sad?

[SuffraJenny]

A "friend" (male) has just shared a meme on Facebook.
AIBU to say something to him? If so, what?
I'm a significantly overweight woman. I find it demeaning and must surely now assume he thinks stuff like this about me.

Do you really equate being fat with race, sexuality, gender issues?

Do you really equate being fat with race, sexuality, gender issues?

No one needs to do that, all one needs to do is equate fatism with racism, sexism and disablism. And one can do that because they are all forms of discrimination based on irrelevant characteristics. Just like it is wrong to treat someone differently and unequally because of their race, sex or gender, it is wrong to treat someone differently and unequally because of their body shape, or disability or species.

Saying this doesn't stop one from admitting to degrees for each case of unequal treatment but there is nothing in principle that makes fatism less bad than racism (even though in practice most instances of racism are worse than most instances of fatism).

Not a same thing at all...

Some people have a visceral disgust for fat people, thinly disguised as concern for their health.

I thought it was funny and I'm a good 2-3 stone overweight

The problem with being obese is that it’s visible. You can’t spot addict by looking at someone. People are commonly addicted to lots of things. None sit in evidence like a food addiction does. Their weakness is there for all the world to see. That’s why horrid people feel at liberty to shame them.

I have been obese. I am not now. I am slim. I think the photo there is setting a low bar for humour. Point and laugh. Duh.

@pictish - how did you get from obese to slim if you don’t mind me asking?

I changed my way of eating to a much healthier and more nutritious diet and eased myself into taking regular exercise. I know it sounds flippant to say that but it really was that simple. No clubs, no fad diets, no shakes, bars or soups. The diet industry didn’t make a penny out of me.
If I looked to anyone for inspiration it was the vegans. I’m not a vegan but I eat a lot of vegan meals.

I’m outdoorsy so I started exercising by going hillwalking as much as possible. As the weight dropped I progressed to trail running and mountain biking too.

Over two and a half years I lost about eight and a half stone at an average of a pound per week. Some weeks I didn’t lose anything, others I lost loads. I plateaued at times as well. Weight loss can be pretty erratic. I just kept the faith that I was doing all the right things and it would pay off.
It did. I’m a healthy weight now, look trim enough at a size 10 and enjoy and maintain an active lifestyle and good diet, with leeway for the odd treat.

It was the 'faith of the dog' part that cracked me up.

I saw the meme and reported it
For being hilarious I presume?

That’s very inspirational Pictish. Thank you and bloody well done!

Most jokes are at someone else’s expense, no matter how harmless. The woman’s face isn’t shown, and lets be honest it’s a joke about basic physics the stool is tiny the woman is large the dog is under the stool . I think if this offends you in any way then perhaps you need to look at your own self confidence.

Yabu

I think it's hilarious too But then again nothing much offends me.
It's like living in a blizzard these days... 🌨❄

There's loads out there, it's just a joke

Surely if it offends you then you need to ask yourself why? Either make peace with your weight or do something about it. I've got things I dislike about myself but I'm not going to tell people what they can and cannot joke about. People need to loosen up a bit, I'm sick of everything being offensive these days.

I thought it funny

I wonder if OP was slim would she be so outraged??
Why is it a cardinal sin to say someone is overweight but acceptable to comment someone is too slim, needs a good feed etc?
Regards PP obese ppl DO cost the NHS more, with the increase in equipment needed to care for obese patients and the related health issues; most of which wouldn’t be there if they weren’t obese.

Agree JKScot4 and of course she wouldn't be outraged if it was a joke at a skinny person's expense! Because too many think thin shaming is fine. I've seen plenty memes with pictures of slim females vs 'curvy' saying stuff like the latter is what a "real woman" should look like "share if you agree." Or posts celebrating larger women basically saying it's fine if you're fat/love your body etc. Which there is nothing wrong with in the latter case though there is a difference between being curvy and clinically overweight. But it does often come in the form of taking the piss freely out of slim women. There's a variety of female bloggers of a larger size who make a career out of mocking women with model type figures posts by parodying them. Again all fine I'm not offended by this and some are funny. Just find it interesting the level of hypocrisy of what is acceptable and what causes "offence."

@pictish congrats!

It is really that simple in majority of cases. I am doing the slow change too. Problem is that people want it now so turn to diets rather than change of lifestyle. I have been actually turning back to how I used to eat over a decade ago when I had no access to all the ready meals and takeaways. For example I recently realised that we never had crisps at home just like that! We had them for parties, special occasions. Not just for snacking. It's things like this which make a difference ime. I feel much better and with more energy already.

I have just listened to the follow up interview in the 'how does fat feel' topic. Jane Garvey interviewed an amazing , searingly honest woman about how she feels having had Bariatric Surgery on the NHS..

... before the interview they played her interview pre op. My god what a difference in health, outlook, attitude and most of all CONFIDENCE..

The One Thing the interviewee kept stressing is that 'just not mentioning someone is fat, doesn't make them thin. Obesity is a life threatening condition and should no more be passively 'accepted' than smoking .

I really recommend you listen to the piece. Womans Hour today at 10am think it was about 5/10 mins in.
How does fat feel ? Fucking hell on earth it seems.. for some others appear happy to let it happen.

I think it's bloody funny, I'm fat and it was the dog part that made me laugh most.

acceptable to comment someone is too slim, needs a good feed etc

It isn't.
But it's also said from envy. When you fit into the dominant image, it helps.