Long, long ago, I had another blog, one where I mostly rambled about random stuff, but I also started writing about fat acceptance there. One of my very first fat posts was called Diary of a Mad Fat Woman. Earlier today I was re-reading some of those old posts, and lo and behold, I found out I had trolls! I don’t know how I missed it earlier. SInce I am feeling rather snarky today, I feel the need to respond to their comments, but first, the text of the original piece, for your reading enjoyment…
I am fat, and I am angry. Unlike most of the women I know, I am not angry at myself for being fat. I am angry at my culture that says that because I am fat, I am not an acceptable human being, that somehow I should feel compelled to apologize for my body. I am angry that a beautiful woman like Kate Winslet is more famous for being unapologetically “fat” (she’s not) than for her amazing talent, or that any woman over size 4 has a better chance of getting struck by lightning than getting an acting job. I am angry that there are eight year olds who say they would rather lose a parent than be fat. According to a poll by Prevention magazine, Fifty-eight percent of women and 54% of men say they’d rather be unemployed than gain 75 pounds. And 63% of women and 55% of men say they’d rather be poor with no extra pounds to lose than rich and substantially overweight. Twelve year olds are getting liposuction, and no one bats an eyelash. I have sat and listened to size 2 17 year olds talk about how fat they are, and watched some of those same girls pass out in my classroom because they have not eaten in three days. Americans’ obsession with weight has gone from sad to ludicrous, and there seems to be no end in sight. If it were just a matter of appearance and social pressure, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. I have no problem telling someone who thinks I am ugly to kiss my fat ass. But the problem is bigger than that (no pun intended). According to the Chinese government, my weight makes me an unfit parent, and the British government is on its way to agreeing. Not too long ago, a teacher in New York was fired for being obese. 40% of doctors surveyed in the UK said fat people should be denied treatment;, and 93% of HR professionals say they would hire a candidateof “normal” weight over a obese person with equal skills and experience. Clearly the problem goes much deeper than just appearance. The bottom line is that as a culture, Americans think fat is disgusting, and fat people are disgusting by extention, but most people aren’t willing to admit it, so they hide behind words like “healthy” and “fit” when the word they want to use is thin. The message is crystal clear: be thin, or else no one will ever love you, you will never be pretty, and you will never, ever be accepted as a worthwhile human being. I am not the only one; sit in a room full of talented, intelligent women, and sooner or later the conversation will venture into the realm of dieting or weight loss. It makes me sad to have seen so many of my friends throughout my life wasting their energy obsessing over their weight. If women spent the same amount of time and energy trying to change the world as we do worrying about our weight, we could end poverty, create world peace, and eliminate starvation. Our culture is being ruled by the iron fist of the diet industry, and we, the fat people, are being squeezed to death. Don’t believe me? Do the research. This is a good place to start. Almost all obesity research is funded by those somehow connected to the weight loss industry. Marketing 101: to sell a product, you have to create a need for your product. What’s the easiest way to create a need? Fear. Clearly the weight loss industry people have taken Marketing 101, and now they are taking our whole culture on a ride designed to make us hate our bodies and buy their lies, and then their products. I can’t change culture, and I cannot make anyone else comfortable in her body. I know that there will be some people who read this and get offended. I realize that by taking this stand, and refusing to conform to my culture’s artificial beauty standard, I may face rejection, or ridicule, or I may spent the rest of my life alone. That is a risk I have to take. I agree with Abi Stone of Pretty, Porky, and Pissed Off when she says of fat people like me “these are the bodies we have and we are sick of a lifetime of feeling shame and trying to alter them through unhealthy practices”
Hi, my name is Erin, I am fat, and I am not ashamed. Above all, I am not sorry.
Now, for the trollousity…
Originally posted by anonymous coward, my thoughts in italics.
Well, here goes.
I do NOT hate fat people. Yes, fat people. Because that’s what they are. FAT.
No shit dude. That’s why we don’t call ourselves purple or something.
However.
I am angry about their condition. I am angry about most of their predispositions. I am angry about the fact that 98% of the fat people of America blame it on “medical conditions”, heredity, “my thyroid gland”, or one of a myriad of other excuses.
It’s sickening, and it’s wrong. Take off the damn feed-bag, get out, walk around. Take some fucking PRIDE in yourself. Allow yourself to be what was intended for the human body – a fairly efficient, lean, toned machine. Not some big, hulking, heavy-breathing, sweaty olfactory menace that can’t wipe his/her own ass, but can reach into the refrigerator to grab another Krispy Kreme. I don’t care who you are – you have NO excuse to be fat unless you have PROVEN MEDICAL DOCUMENTS that actually outline your family medical history with some sort of disorder that causes such things – like Diabetes, or an actual Thyroid problem. NOT just saying “Yup, I have Diabetes ~Stuffs food into mouth~, I just can’t help being so fat” or “I can’t help my weight, it’s my Thyroid gland ~dives into cake~”…
I think we should play a rousing game of count-the-ridiculous-stereotypes in that paragraph, or at least a game of fat bingo. My favorite part of this section is how he assumes that not only are fat people fat, they are all LIARS.
I guess to summarize this…fat people are one of the things that’s going wrong with America. This IS an epidemic, people. You ARE unhealthier for it. No one in their right mind thinks you’re pretty, because let’s face it, you’re diseased. (And I’m not talking about Heart Disease, though that’s probably there too.) You’re either diseased with a compulsion to eat, or a compulsion to be lazy…and keep eating. Point is, it takes activity, lifestyle, and (a lack of) 300 extra pounds to be healthy or attractive.
It’s an EPIDEMIC!!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Dude, AIDS is an epidemic. Malaria is an epidemic. The “obesity epidemic” is an artificially created moral panic designed to sell weight loss products and suppress women. I’ll tell you like I tell my students — don’t believe everything you see on TV.
Sweetpea, let me explain the definition of risk factor and correlation. Maybe not though, I think I might be wasting my time. I will, however, point out the idiocy in linking healthy and attractive. Attractive people aren’t always healthy, and healthy people aren’t always attractive, because health is pretty objective (that means you can measure it pretty consistently) and attraction is COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SUBJECTIVE.
I don’t give a fuck WHO you are, you can not say honestly that you can look at some 450-lb fat chick (or guy, to be fair) and be like “Oh, baby.” And part of this might be due to stereotyping over the years, models and such, yes. But Jesus Christ. Don’t blame it on the healthier, thinner people just because you can’t walk through fucking Dahl’s without jumping on a motorized cart that’s SCREAMING because of your weight.
Again with the “fat people are ugly” point of view. I love the assumption that every person in the whole entire world shares the same aesthetic sense. If you don’t find my body attractive, that’s your prerogative. I don’t find your brain attractive, and who knows if I would like the rest of you. Attraction is subjective, and no one is asking you to be attracted to fat people. In fact, the only person telling anyone who to be attracted to here is you.
Don’t blame it on the models, don’t blame it on anyone but your own damn self – thin people are thin for a reason, fat people are fat for a reason.
**** DING DING DING! **** You got something right! There is a reason thin people are thin and fat people are fat! We in the scientific world have three letters for it….DNA!
I’m 5’6″, 170. 17% body fat. And I eat healthily, do my share of work, etc. Who else do you know who actually maintains a healthy diet, works every day, actual physical activity (not opening a candy wrapper, mind you) – and is fat?
Ummmmmmmm……let me think……oooh, so hard…..uhhhhhhh…. ooooh! oooooh! I know! I know! ME! And Kate! This chick comes to mind. And all those other women out there who practice HAES!
I know, it hurts to have your little stereotype bubble popped. I bet you think all poor people are just lazy too, right? And women who get raped were asking for it, hunh?
In contrast, look at all the slobby, nasty, just plain fucking disgusting heifers of the U.S.A.. It’s what we’re getting known for. Lazy, good-for-nothing-except-weight-in-the-back-of-your-pickup fucking fat people. Bitching about it, on top of it.
Now we get to the real reason this guy is so angry (I assume it’s a guy, but I suppose women can be assholes too). Not only did I dare to be fat, I dared to speak up for myself. I am supposed to be somewhere being ashamed, not standing up for what I believe.
I implore you to go to Europe and take a look at the population en masse, and then compare it to America – no wonder people live longer, healthier lives over there…most all of them don’t walk around with an extra 5 pounds of fat hanging from their face.
Any person with five pounds of fat on their face undoubtedly does have a medical issue.
The only reason I say all of these things is because yes, I used to be fat too. Not excessively fat – because I realized what was going on, and quite frankly, was disgusted with myself – but I got up to 220lbs, on a 5’6″ frame. Hardly ANY muscle, just “blegh.” Then, I decided to Hell with that. I sweated, I worked, I ran, I wrestled, I lifted weights…and now, I’m happy with my body. I know I can go up a flight of stairs without risking a big fat embolism, or bend down and pick up something without getting so winded that my lungs want to just hara-kiri.
Eureka! Another reason behind the hate! This person hated HIMSELF when he was fat, and he is pissed that I get to be happy with my body without torturing myself! I would love to hear from him in 5 years to see if he is part of the 3% that keep the weight off, but he probably won’t, and will be all wrapped up in hating himself again. Poor guy.
So yes. Some of you just may have some sort of disability. Some of you may have a thyroid problem, Diabetes, or whatever else may cause Obesity in certain people – but seriously. Grow the fuck up already, those of you who don’t. (Or, actually, shrink down.) Unstrap that feed bag, take off that Mu-Mu, get on a goddamn treadmill or lift weights or something, make yourself an acceptable example/specimen of your species – not as if you’re from the planet Shoulder Rolls. Be better than you are. Lose some damn weight, quit bitching about no one liking you for being your fat, greasy, over-eating, health-problem ridden, medical disaster-area asses.
Once again we land in the giant morass of sterotypes, plus his real feelings — despite his earlier statement to the contrary, this guy does hate fat people. We aren’t talking about whether anyone likes me personally, although I assure you plenty of people do, the point is that people are being discriminated against and mistreated solely because of weight, and that is no more acceptable that someone being mistreated because of their skin color or sex or orientation or car or shoe preference, for cripe’s sake! The whole not an acceptable example of your species — that’s the DEFINITION of hate, in case you missed it.
It’s sad that anyone would come to someone else’s blog and spew such vitriol. It’s sadder that they can’t do it intelligently. I doubt he will ever see this, but I sincerely hope that somewhere along the line he learns about respecting other people, and a little science wouldn’t hurt either.
