Isn't about Fattism was added to the list of prohibited 'isms'?

[Fideliney]

I've read one too many rather squawky assertions recently on MN that 'skinny bashing' has the same socio-cultural connotations and (ahem) heft as fattism. It doesn't.

Isn't fattism the only socially widespread discrimination/ hatred NOT specifically banned on MN now? Have I got that right?

I've been mulling this overnight and things are routinely posted about overweight people on MN which, if the words 'asian' or 'gay' were substituted for 'fat' or 'obese', nobody would even attempt to defend.

I know haterz gotta hate or whatever the expression is but could we just leave them something insipid and harmless like nylon hating or persecution of cockroaches to get on with and make a clean sweep of the 'isms'?

[Fideliney]

Erm yes Nerf. Is there a reason people keep pointing out the obvious?

[Nerf]

Your post 12.55

[funnyossity]

Fitness/ body building types bemoan being a "hardgainer". Many very thin teens in particular would like to change shape.. It isn't necessarily "nice" to find it hard to put on weight. In fact I find the idea that everyone must necessarily think it nice odd.

This is why I don't engage in body shape talk in RL!

[PetulaGordino]

some people don't seem to perceive as human and sentient those who don't conform to their specifications of how other people should appear and behave

[BloominNora]

Hedge So being able to eat what I like and effectively having very little control over my weight, despite all the associated problems I've pointed out is 'nice'?

Do you also think it's nice that people who put on weight easily from food have the option to control their weight by adjusting their food intake to suit, can buy clothes that fit properly and have lovely curves?

[Fideliney]

My post 12.55 didn't say thin = anorexia or fat = MH disorder did it??

It was saying (in reply to inthedark's 12.51 post) that nobody has the right or need to know or examine or judge the details of anyone elses food intake. inthedark seemed to think the thread was pointless w/o examining food intakes and I was saying the point was respect, not food intake.

[Fideliney]

Bloomin you're just being goady

[BloominNora]

Anorexics have a mental health disorder, not a physical one. They also have very little respect - especially when they are being sectioned, and denied privacy while in hospital (being followed to the toilet to make sure they don't throw up their meal). And yes, their food intake is looked at in detail before they are given the respect of their freedom / being seen as a person rather than a condition.

Why are you bringing anorexia into it anyway? Unless you are suggesting being overweight is an equivalent mental health disorder to anorexia?

[BloominNora]

No I'm not - but you are.

[Inthedarkaboutfashion]

Why? Do we insist on being allowed to rake the exact food consumption of anorexics before agreeing to extend them respect?

People who have anorexia are a very small minority of thin people. 68% of the population are not overweight due to a mental health disorder. So let's not play silly games.

[funnyossity]

It's not a meeow moment. Sorry if it came across that way.

And maybe I am the only person left in the developed world who doesn't see being very thin or even slim as a great thing. (Just as being overweight doesn't preclude being fit.)

A young friend in RL has some of us very worried, she no longer looks blooming as she did last year for example and is restricting her food choices. Scary.

Other teens I know are of the super skinny body type and not that happy about it and they do eat a wide variety of stuff. I remember eating reasonably and wishing I wasn't so bony looking! So no, I think like most stuff, if your experiences are different you will think differently.

[Inthedarkaboutfashion]

Food consumption is an important part of the discussion when people want to deny that they are fat because of reasons other than what they eat. An 'ism' is defined as a characteristic of people that they have no control over. I believe that the vast majority of people have a reasonable level of control over what they eat and therefore there is no such thing as fattism. I therefore feel that food intake is a relevant part of the discussion.

[AnyoneForTennis]

Horrible maybe, but it's how I feel

We have been warned that the Nhs is unsustainable and that obesity is the biggest drain on resources

Most people are able to change that themselves. But they don't. There is enough information out there to know how to eat properly.

Guess it's easier to blame others like food manufacturers and accept the obesity epidemic and let it do it's worst.

[Fideliney]

Well if you're going to ignore the last 100 posts....

[PetulaGordino]

i don't think being overweight (without MH problems) is comparable to anorexia nervosa, but arguably bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder may be, as they have a horrendous impact on quality of life and are equally as difficult to overcome

however, there is of course less immediate risk to life with BN and BED, as there is in the case of those with AN who may be very close to a heart attack for example

however, this can mean some HCPs are less likely to take BED in particular seriously because it can seen as a simple problem of overindulgence. it can be very difficult for sufferers to get help, and compounds the view of them by others (and crucially, by themselves) as "greedy pigs" etc

[Fideliney]

Tennis I missed the post blaming food manufacturers - who was that?

[PetulaGordino]

"how i feel", "i believe"

this is what i mean. people really really don't understand eating behaviours

[PetulaGordino]

anyonefortennis, how do you think your scorn helps these overweight people? do you think it is a positive and productive response?

[Fideliney]

I think tennis is another poster conversing with themself - noone mentioned blaming food manufacturers

[Fideliney]

anyonefortennis, how do you think your scorn helps these overweight people? do you think it is a positive and productive response?

That is exactly the point Petula

[funnyossity]

7 days I can assure you that there is still a lot of disapproval of "skinny" kids and women who are "too skinny" amongst many men and women. There is stigma to any difference.

[Inthedarkaboutfashion]

this is what i mean. people really really don't understand eating behaviours

When I go shopping with my relative who is morbidly obese and she puts full fat and full sugar everything in her trolley and reacts to my suggestions of buying more healthy food by saying 'I want to be able to taste my food' and then constantly tells me that she doesn't eat much and can't understand her size, I understand perfectly well that for her and people like her it's a case of denial, blaming others and not taking any personal responsibility.

[PetulaGordino]

Inthedarkaboutfashion, if you haven't already read it, try "fat is a feminist issue" and "on eating" by susie orbach

[Fideliney]

So you think all overweight people are that clueless and self deluding Inthedark?