Is fatphobia a real thing?

[AnxiousApocalypse]

Having watched the Panorama documentary on the Met Police and the police officer making rude comments about a fat woman and how "she was so fat she had two pussies", I'm wondering how much hate and disgust most people truly have against fat people? I'm not excusing it and saying it's not dangerous for your health to be overweight or obese, but surely being rude and ignorant isn't the answer?

No it isn't, if it were life would be impossible, people would die immediately they are born. Think about the logic for a minute. Death is inevitable for anyone alive but the cause of death can be numerous things.

@SabrinaDontYouKnowDevin I don't know if obese people always make it a race to the bottom. What you see a lot of on threads is the claim that no one is looking at you and thinking anything bad, it's all imagined and not a real concern. So obese people post about all the times they have actually been abused in public, not that it's worse than anyone else gets, but that it is actually real and actually abusive. For example, I have had abusive comments shouted at me multiple times by men driving past in cars, because of being obese. Does that genuinely happen to slim women just for being slim?

All women regardless of size get harassed and abused by men. I've had men drive past and make the legal sex sign at me with their mouth and hands. Women are targeted as a whole, my disgusting men. Irregardless of size and weight.

just because some of those women are fat it doesn't make it worse.

I was bullied and skinny shamed throughout my whole schooling life. From men and women. It's everywhere and it's rife.

90-95% of overweight and obese people are that weight due to eating habits. Only 5-10% are from secondary or medical reasons.

on threads like this and what I find IRL is there's always an excuse for being fat. Whether is be medication or other factors.

obesity rates now compared to 60-70-80-90s is huge. People had medical problems back then too but no where near as many people were fat.

the lack of accountability and the eagerness to blame external factors is probably what winds people up. When factually only a small % of fat people are like that due to other factors.

no one should comment on anyone's bodies ever. But the race to the bottom and the 'it's soooo much worse being fat shamed than any other bullying / comments' is so tiresome and self absorbed. (Not aimed at you, just in general from what I've experienced)

My friend had a flatmate who had a fat phobia. She was a particularly shallow young woman in many ways. She told my pal once that she would never sit beside a fat person because they are disgusting and one of the reasons she stopped swimming was because of fat women changing in the dressing room. When they got into the pool she would immediately leave because she refused go share space with them. This was about 20 years ago and it still shocks me to think of her. My friend. who was very slim, was obviously expected to nod along and agree but she was horrified.

So you were skinny shamed... surely you were skinny because of your eating habits...so why didn't you change your eating habits then that wouldn't have happened to you?

Obviously I don't actually think this....but you have basically said the same thing about overweight people haven't you?

I specifically said that it’s not about claiming that it’s worse than other abuse.

Yes, at other times, I (and other women) have had sexist abuse shouted at me, when I was not obese and more conventionally attractive. That’s different to the abuse specifically shouted at me, derogatory and hateful, just for being obese. Do thin women get derogatory abuse shouted at them in this was just for being thin? Not sexist or intimidatory due to being a woman, but specific hate for being slim?

I was obese because I overate. Nothing else to it. It’s very very easy to overeat in our society and it’s difficult to consistently manage to under eat for long enough to go from being obese back to being a healthy weight. It’s taken me 15 months and I’m still in the overweight category. No way could I have achieved that without the help of WLI, as stress, life, etc etc would have derailed me for a while and the yo-yo-ing would have happened. None of that is an “excuse”, but a simple explanation of why it is hard to lose weight.

if it was as easy as people like to make out then there wouldn’t be the levels of obesity that we see. Anyone with a tiny amount of brainpower knows that to lose weight you need to eat less and move more. Everyone knows it. Yet…..

While obesity does increase the risk of a number of health problems, being underweight is actually more dangerous to your health than being overweight is, but people don't realise that.

Love this argument 🤣

Yes, all those millions of underweight people and their associated illnesses that put strain on the NHS.

I will admit that my attitude to very fat people is mainly negative. I'm not proud of that and I would never, ever abuse someone because of their weight but yes, I absolutely do make judgements. I work with a woman who is the kind of 'fat' that they make US tv programmes about. She's very clever, capable, good at her job, etc but undoubtedly her size is the first thing I silently focus on whenever I see her. I'm working on it because as a pp said, it's a failing in me and I dont like it in myself.

I grew up in the 80s/90s, with a mother who was underweight for much of her life, and proud of it. I've always thought I had a reasonably well-adjusted attitude to food and weight but it's got worse as I've got older. I do definitely have a proper fear of putting on weight now I'm menopausal, and I work really hard to stay within a healthy weight. I have also worked in the NHS and undoubtedly the rise of obesity-related conditions is a huge issue and a drain on resources. But fundamentally it's an unpleasant character flaw that I would never admit in public!

The most obvious thing disgruntled customers notice is my weight, so that’s what I get the most abuse for (public transport). I find it tedious. I don’t think they are phobic of fat people, they just use my weight as leverage to try and hurt me. It’s so unoriginal. They are more phobic of me not giving a shit about what they say.

The term obese conjures up all sorts of images of people incapacitated by their weight, struggling to move, unable to be active, a myriad of health problems...but I only have to be 2 stone overweight to be in the obese category and a size 14.

Oral sex sign*

Because I didn't want to change my eating habits. I've always liked being slim and my health wasn't at risk. I was never too skinny.

note, I have only ever been skinny shamed by fat people.

It it was easy enough only a few decades ago when the amount of obese people were tiny.

the nation had got lazier and greedier. and that is on the consumer, nobody else

Yes I got called “that sad fat girl texting in the entrance” by a group of lads - I checked and I was the only female in the entrance to the shop texting.
Im a woman not a girl. But I’m on the bigger side sadly.

Yes, also wheezing whilst speaking slightly out of breath plus discomfort in movement, simple walking and getting around that can be hard to watch without wincing. I think the evolutionary aspect of greed and taking more than one’s fair share is part of it.

I’m not greedy I just take certain anti psychotics that make me hungry all the time and alter my metabolism. I do count calories and walk everywhere as I don’t drive. With one anti psychotic I put on a stone in a month!!
I rarely eat a proper cooked meal. Never have takeaways crisps or fried food.

When someone has an illness or is on medication which causes them to lose weight.... people are overwhelmingly sympathetic and kind to them. Yet if they have an illness or are on medication which causes them to put on weight they are often told they are lying or they're just greedy and treated terribly.

Yes. I’ve been both ends of the weight spectrum and I can say I had more abuse slim. Different type of abuse, but abuse all the same, disgusting sexual comments, on my body, on me. I could not bring myself to jog outside again due to it. The shame I felt having men hurl obsentities put a stop to it.

As said up thread, abusers abuse. It can be weight, gender, religion, skin colour, even the car you drive, any manner of things, abusers will abuse.

That’s such a subjective comment, if you’re over weight you’re fat. Maybe not hugely fat or obese, but still fat. I understand you prefer the word chubby, but others will not sadly.

Sorry to hear about the abuse you've received @TheRealGoose especially as it made you stop going out to exercise. It is awful to be the subject of that kind of behaviour, just so intimidating.

I do not look fat anymore I know what looking fat is for me

I am aware of this, I am aware of being treated differently and I look slimmer that what my bmi is (bizarrely as i am a small build)

I am aware of how differently I am treated as many others are

of course there are a few people who think being anything other than a size 8 is being fat but the majority do not

Lots of people are fat phobic.

Of course fatphobia is a real thing. People think you shouldn't exist and that you are a lesser kind of human for being fat. They sneer at you in disgust, make negative assumptions about your intelligence and behaviour.

Privilege is relative to the society one lives in. Very few people in the UK don't have the resources to consume more calories than they need, so in our society it doesn't make a person privileged. What is a privilege is the money, time, head space, education and practical resources to consistently balance diet and excercise to ensure we recieve the nutrition we need without consuming excess calories. Many people don't have that privilege which is why obesity is linked to poverty.