To wonder if ‘body positivity’ has gone too far?

[WildUmberScroller]

While I fully accept supporting everyone for who they are, sometimes I feel like the body positivity movement is promoting unhealthy lifestyles. AIBU to feel like there should be limits?

And the reason we are getting bigger, is because we work more in sedate jobs. We are surrounded by unhealthy food. We are busier than ever with children doing more than they have ever done in terms of activities, convenience food is everywhere. Sugar is in savoury food. These are just some examples. There are so many more reasons to people getting bigger than just "fat people on line told me to get fat".

This, I used to be able to pack away thousands of calories as I’m naturally lean. But I was so active & now I’m older & in a desk job. I find it really hard to not eat what I want.

Also there are socioeconomic factors tied into health but no one ever wants to address them.

Do you remember posters everywhere in the 80s about smoking, imagine that about overeating and being overweight.

Smoking was touted as being good for your health. I have never seen a billboard saying obesity is healthy, can you link to one?

The think is that most people who are fat will always be fat, that's how obesity works. Once a person is obese the body actively fights to stay at the higher weight through a number of mechanisms. This is why people are so successful with the GLP-1 medications because these meds counteract the bodies response to weight loss and it is also why so many people gain at least some of the weight they lost back when they stop the medications. It can take years for the body to adjust to a new set point if it ever does.

So with this in mind and knowing that shaming people for being fat only results in poorer health outcomes then body positivity is a good thing. It can help people with obesity to accept their bodies and to make healthier choices in regards to their diet and exercise.

I'm not saying I think obesity should be glorified or aspired to but obese people are just people like anyone else who deserve the same basic respect you would give to anyone and they shouldn't be shamed. The science around obesity is growing all the time and we are growing in awareness of how peoples genetics interacts with our obesogenic environment to promote levels of obesity. If you really want to shame anyone shame the food industry that doesn't give a damn who they harm but focus only on profits and market share.

The body positive movement doesn't glorify fatness or obesity its just saying regardless of what your body looks like, you are worthy of love and acceptance and clothes that fit and make you feel good about yourself and job opportunities etc. Being fat is not the most important thing about a person and you deserve to not hate yourself for not looking a certain way.

It's a nice movement, it goes against the standard that specifies one type of body as being good and the rest being bad, and if a person has a 'bad' body they are also more likely to have other 'bad' traits, e.g. ugly, unintelligent, smelly, lazy etc. As a movement it just promotes that people of all body types are worthy of love and respect and care.

And its annoying when people have to jump in with wanting to talk over that conversation with how unhealthy being overweight is because they can't accept that you can still be worthy of love and respect even if you are unhealthy.
Like nobody is going around saying other people should strive to become obese, or that obesity is always healthy and an ideal, but the reality is that some people are and may always be obese and that doesn't mean they have to hate themselves.
Like thats all the movement really is- you are not worthy of hate because of how your body looks. And when people just have to shout over it with "but your soooo unhealthy" its missing the point.

But also body positivity isn't just about weight, it also includes things like disabilities and physical differences and scars. Just other ways a body might not fit the beauty standard. And many of those might also be relfections of a person not being 'healthy'. The people chiming in to nice positive posts about how your body doesnt define you with how 'it doesnt matter because that person is so unhealthy and it sends a bad message', just seems really shitty to me.
You can have your own conversation about the benefits of being an ideal weight loads of people are. I don't know why it has to be thrust on the one conversation about being kind to yourself and celebrating being positive about bodies.

Exactly. I don't see any of this 'glamour-isation' of obesity in real life. In reality, people are going about their day, not focused on trying to influence people that being fat is in any way desirable. They're active and getting on with their lives the best way they can.

If it's happening on social media (and I'm sure it is) then get off there, stop looking at it, stop clicking on it and these 'influencers' will lose their so-called power over the populace.

And these moronic, goady fucker threads will die a death too. Can't come soon enough.

Well if they do, they really are a loan voice amongst a cacophony of anti obesity messaging, aren't they? There is no evidence at all to suggest that this still niche movement has widespread influence on the general population. The only people who pay much heed are people who are already overweight who want to feel more confident about themselves. Obesity isn't exacerbated by BP, BP has simply emerged as a response to the issue as a means to make people struggling feel a little better.

What would be a good idea?

Also these threads seem to link being overweight with morbidly obese, it’s not the same thing.

Funny how you only briefly mentioned underweight people when you were called out on it. Where is your vitriol for all the VAST pro-ana content on social media? Which has just as many poor health implications as being overweight does.

Yet another dog whistle to round up the people who like to scream at the fattys!

Open dialogue in public forums

Is this just another way of saying the way that people interact with one another on social media?

No but it might make people think twice about living a healthier lifestyle if they are already in that camp!

Losing weight is hard and for many people, they are influenced by these so called "influencers".

I understand where you’re coming from. My concern is more about the discussions around health risks that sometimes get overshadowed by the backlash against those conversations. I agree that it shouldn’t be necessary to address health in every post about body positivity. Ideally, these discussions should happen in spaces that are respectful and considerate of individual experiences, rather than turning into a critique of people simply being happy in their bodies.

Smoking wasnt touted as being good for your health in the 80s

Of course theres no billboards about obesity being healthy, whats your point?

The messages normalise overweight and obesity as being 'ok' though
We are getting bigger and bigger as a nation, not smaller. The more of something you see around you, the less unusual it seems.

You are still an ok person if you are obese though. Should people hide away?

We are not getting bigger because an obese influencer on sm says “I love pizza & being obese” 🙄

100% gone too far.

Glorifying obesity or anorexia is dangerous.

But it’s more often done with obesity. Too many people think it’s okay and ‘everyone is beautiful’ and it’s not. The health conditions (and strain on the NHS) alone are awful - but if you even think that, you’re ’cancelled.’

You can be overweight (or underweight), and healthy and fit. But most people overweight aren’t. They are fat, unhealthy and damaging their bodies.

Perhaps if we hadn’t glorified it and made it okay to be obese, people wouldn’t feel it was acceptable to be so fat. That’s part of the problem - people think it’s normal and okay to be fat and it’s not.

Of course theres no billboards about obesity being healthy, whats your point?

Thank you for making my point 😆😆😆

I really don't think it's the case that people are not getting the message that obesity is unhealthy. We aren't lacking a dialogue about the issue of weight gain in society and the impact of it - I don't see how anyone could avoid understanding any of this.

The idea of 'open dialogue on public forums' is a tad idealistic - the internet is full of people yelling at each other. Anyone fat on social media is getting a ton of abuse, any woman of any size with a public platform is, for all sorts of reasons. There's plenty of fat-shaming out there if you want to see it, there's plenty of moderate voices, there's plenty of extreme ones and everyone participating is putting themselves in the line of fire to get shouted down. That's social media!

But there are a lot of messages about healthy lifestyles, there is an enormous explosion of interest in weight-loss jabs, there is no doubt really in anyone's mind that being very fat is bad for your health. I don't see the problem with some fat people existing online really, they aren't causing obesity in anyone else.

….and just like that … as predicted.. it turns into another fat bashing thread. What an enormous surprise.

Any chat of other “unhealthy lifestyles” disappear after page 1.

It’s so predictable, and so very very boring.

No, I don’t think it would.

I’m a bigger person myself. I know the health risks. I don’t think m/any people are fat without being aware of it and because they’ve chosen it when the world is so much kinder to thin people. It's honestly hard to lose weight (I am currently having success with weight loss medication but who knows how sustainable that will be). I don’t think shame helps.

I do think that a lot of overweight celebrities who say they are happy being fat suddenly lost weight when ozempic was readily available.

Go to any hospital & you will see obese health professionals. Is it because they don’t know the dangers & consume to much social media?

I don’t think shame helps.

Shame is not going to result in a healthier society. Problem is we aren’t a particularly educated one so some think shame is a motivator.

I remember a thread a while back.

The OP's friend had struggled with her weight but then latched onto this "body positivity" thing and stopped caring. It's one thing to try and feel confident in your own skin, it's another to put your health at risk.

She was out of breath after a short walk along a not-particularly-steep street. Was trying to insist that the group agree with her that it was a challenge before the OP ran out of patience and snapped back at her.

I think it's nice if fat people see some positive representations of themselves and feel better. It really won't make them 'think twice' about losing weight, it actually makes it easier to live more healthily. Feeling shame about being fat has been shown to increase weight gain. Sorry, but fat people get fatter when they hate themselves. Helping people to have better self esteem gives them better health outcomes.