Dancing your @#$&* off!
Okay, I'm going to have a whinge here - and it's a big one, so you've been duly warned.
I am sick to death of television programs that hold fat people up to ridicule!
Last night I forced myself to sit through the first 20 minutes of "Dancing Your Ass Off". Why? Because I was honestly curious to know just how low our supposed civilization had sunk. Well, now I know. The way it scrapes its nails against the bottom of the barrel is sets my teeth on edge.
When I was a kid, making fun of people with physical disabilities or mental problems was acceptable. But then we learned that it wasn't nice so we stopped. We also learned that to make fun of somebody because of the colour of their skin or the religion they practiced was actually quite evil, so we stopped that too (mostly). We're still wading our way through the minefield of gender and sexual identity, and many people (hello Sam Newman) still get it wrong repeatedly, usually to the amusement of a vast section of the population.
But if you're fat you are fair game. And nobody says or does anything about it. Why? Because society thinks it's okay to punish, mock, torture and humiliate fat people because fat people are fat because they're nothing more than greedy fat pigs, who sit around all day feeding their greedy fat faces. So they deserve all they get and more.
Does it sound like I'm a little angry?
We get The Biggest Loser - which is all about torturing fat people through one round of ridiculous and grossly unhealthy physical challenges after another, deriving vicarious pleasure from listening to their sob stories about how they were picked on at school. We pat ourselves on the back because we were all picked on at school but we didn't stack on the weight because of it. But the Biggest Loser is a big fat lie! 85% of contenstants put all the weight back on and more within 12 months of doing the show. So despite all the hype and drama in front of the camera, their lives don't really get any better. Instead, we just see the instant, visible solution that makes good television. We see the weight drop off and it's amazing. What we don't see is any education about food - because that doesn't make interesting telly, and we don't see them put it all back on as they return to their normal lives. So the impression the audience is given is that if you torture fat people enough, they get their arses into gear and lose the weight. Problem solved. It confirms every prejudice against fat people that it's all their fault and they deserve what they get.
Here's some facts for you: 99% of diets fail. This unadvertised fact is supported by literally hundreds of clinical studies done by the world's most prestigious universities and foundations. What is the definition of failure? Either little or no weight is lost, or more importantly, any weight that is lost is regained within 12 months, plus 10%.
Yes, folks, that's right - diets make you fatter. That's not just me saying it, that's every scientist that's ever done a study into it saying it.
But the Biggest Loser is also about exercise isn't it? Isn't that healthy? Well, yes, anybody who's read my blog will know that I am a great advocate of exercise. But who - and please supply names here - can work out to that intensity for 5-6 hours a day while living a normal life? And what TBL doesn't tell you is that you actually need to work out that hard in order to lose any weight. They also don't tell you that if you are seriously obese and come from a lifestyle of sitting on the couch eating pizza, then you take a grave risk exercising that hard, even if you have a doctor's supervision. Again, they don't tell the audience any of this because it's not entertaining - and they don't want to admit the dangers. By not educating people on how the body actually works, again they set up a false impression of how easy it is to lose weight simply by exercising and 'eating healty foods'.
You know what? If it was that damned easy to lose weight - there'd be no fat people! If anybody had a solution that actually worked for more than five minutes - there would be NO obesity problem anywhere in the world. But the fact is that the diet industry is literally worth billions of dollars so nobody wants to admit the truth.
And what is the truth? Obesity is the result of a vast array of causes, some emotional, some physical and some chemical - and each individual person has their own particular combination. Consequently, a solution for that person will only work if those particular issues are addressed in a positive and productive way. Obesity cannot be eradicated by a single blanket approach. It just doesn't work that way. Look around you for the evidence of that statement.
Has anybody ever told you that you look fat? You'd be lying if you said no. We're all told this, day after day, by every image across the media. And let me ask you this - did that make you feel good or bad?
I'll let you into a little secret - at least, it appears to be a secret because the producers of TBL and Dancing Your Ass Off don't seem to be aware of it. Telling people that they're fat greedy pigs, calling them losers, making fun of them, pointing, laughing and otherwise lookinig down on them doesn't actually ever motivate them to lose weight. It just makes them feel like crap. Really horrible, nasty vicious crap. So crappy in fact, that they hate themselves as much as society seems to hate them. And because they have always done this, when they feel like crap, the first thing they do is try to make themselves feel better - by eating. A binge always follows, after which the guilt sets in and then more bad feelings which can only be soothed by more eating etc.
But nobody seems to give a damn about all this. Nope, instead we all just cram around the tv, lapping up idiot garbage like DYAO and telling ourselves 'Isn't it great that fat people are being allowed to dance and flap around all that fat, flabby flesh - it will be so good for them when they lose it all.'
You know what? Is isn't great. It's horrible. And I am sick to death of being told I'm inadequate, inferior and a waste of space. I'm sick of being told that I shouldn't be able to buy nice clothes because that would be an encouragement to stay fat. I'm sick of looking at one magazine after another where mostly naked bodies of women are so air-brushed that they no longer look human and could easily be replaced with plastic manequins and nobody would notice - but that because I don't look like that, I should be ashamed of myself. I should feel guilty because I have FAILED to live up to the expectations of a society that worships all things superficial and considers women mostly pointless unless they are sexually available and attractive to men (don't get me started on that subject!). A society that looks upon fat people as complete losers.
Obesity is a problem. My obesity is a problem. I get that. But 30 years of having it shoved down my throat hasn't made me any thinner. 30 years of having people laugh at me has only made me fatter. I don't have the perfect solution for obesity - nobody does. Not yet. All I do know is that the path we've skated down all these decades is not it. But until we start seeing fat people as human beings in need, capable of being hurt deeply by the callous attention of the media, we will NEVER find a solution.
We signed the Geneva Convention promising we wouldn't torture prisoners of war. How about we extend that right to members of our own community?
I am sick to death of television programs that hold fat people up to ridicule!
Last night I forced myself to sit through the first 20 minutes of "Dancing Your Ass Off". Why? Because I was honestly curious to know just how low our supposed civilization had sunk. Well, now I know. The way it scrapes its nails against the bottom of the barrel is sets my teeth on edge.
When I was a kid, making fun of people with physical disabilities or mental problems was acceptable. But then we learned that it wasn't nice so we stopped. We also learned that to make fun of somebody because of the colour of their skin or the religion they practiced was actually quite evil, so we stopped that too (mostly). We're still wading our way through the minefield of gender and sexual identity, and many people (hello Sam Newman) still get it wrong repeatedly, usually to the amusement of a vast section of the population.
But if you're fat you are fair game. And nobody says or does anything about it. Why? Because society thinks it's okay to punish, mock, torture and humiliate fat people because fat people are fat because they're nothing more than greedy fat pigs, who sit around all day feeding their greedy fat faces. So they deserve all they get and more.
Does it sound like I'm a little angry?
We get The Biggest Loser - which is all about torturing fat people through one round of ridiculous and grossly unhealthy physical challenges after another, deriving vicarious pleasure from listening to their sob stories about how they were picked on at school. We pat ourselves on the back because we were all picked on at school but we didn't stack on the weight because of it. But the Biggest Loser is a big fat lie! 85% of contenstants put all the weight back on and more within 12 months of doing the show. So despite all the hype and drama in front of the camera, their lives don't really get any better. Instead, we just see the instant, visible solution that makes good television. We see the weight drop off and it's amazing. What we don't see is any education about food - because that doesn't make interesting telly, and we don't see them put it all back on as they return to their normal lives. So the impression the audience is given is that if you torture fat people enough, they get their arses into gear and lose the weight. Problem solved. It confirms every prejudice against fat people that it's all their fault and they deserve what they get.
Here's some facts for you: 99% of diets fail. This unadvertised fact is supported by literally hundreds of clinical studies done by the world's most prestigious universities and foundations. What is the definition of failure? Either little or no weight is lost, or more importantly, any weight that is lost is regained within 12 months, plus 10%.
Yes, folks, that's right - diets make you fatter. That's not just me saying it, that's every scientist that's ever done a study into it saying it.
But the Biggest Loser is also about exercise isn't it? Isn't that healthy? Well, yes, anybody who's read my blog will know that I am a great advocate of exercise. But who - and please supply names here - can work out to that intensity for 5-6 hours a day while living a normal life? And what TBL doesn't tell you is that you actually need to work out that hard in order to lose any weight. They also don't tell you that if you are seriously obese and come from a lifestyle of sitting on the couch eating pizza, then you take a grave risk exercising that hard, even if you have a doctor's supervision. Again, they don't tell the audience any of this because it's not entertaining - and they don't want to admit the dangers. By not educating people on how the body actually works, again they set up a false impression of how easy it is to lose weight simply by exercising and 'eating healty foods'.
You know what? If it was that damned easy to lose weight - there'd be no fat people! If anybody had a solution that actually worked for more than five minutes - there would be NO obesity problem anywhere in the world. But the fact is that the diet industry is literally worth billions of dollars so nobody wants to admit the truth.
And what is the truth? Obesity is the result of a vast array of causes, some emotional, some physical and some chemical - and each individual person has their own particular combination. Consequently, a solution for that person will only work if those particular issues are addressed in a positive and productive way. Obesity cannot be eradicated by a single blanket approach. It just doesn't work that way. Look around you for the evidence of that statement.
Has anybody ever told you that you look fat? You'd be lying if you said no. We're all told this, day after day, by every image across the media. And let me ask you this - did that make you feel good or bad?
I'll let you into a little secret - at least, it appears to be a secret because the producers of TBL and Dancing Your Ass Off don't seem to be aware of it. Telling people that they're fat greedy pigs, calling them losers, making fun of them, pointing, laughing and otherwise lookinig down on them doesn't actually ever motivate them to lose weight. It just makes them feel like crap. Really horrible, nasty vicious crap. So crappy in fact, that they hate themselves as much as society seems to hate them. And because they have always done this, when they feel like crap, the first thing they do is try to make themselves feel better - by eating. A binge always follows, after which the guilt sets in and then more bad feelings which can only be soothed by more eating etc.
But nobody seems to give a damn about all this. Nope, instead we all just cram around the tv, lapping up idiot garbage like DYAO and telling ourselves 'Isn't it great that fat people are being allowed to dance and flap around all that fat, flabby flesh - it will be so good for them when they lose it all.'
You know what? Is isn't great. It's horrible. And I am sick to death of being told I'm inadequate, inferior and a waste of space. I'm sick of being told that I shouldn't be able to buy nice clothes because that would be an encouragement to stay fat. I'm sick of looking at one magazine after another where mostly naked bodies of women are so air-brushed that they no longer look human and could easily be replaced with plastic manequins and nobody would notice - but that because I don't look like that, I should be ashamed of myself. I should feel guilty because I have FAILED to live up to the expectations of a society that worships all things superficial and considers women mostly pointless unless they are sexually available and attractive to men (don't get me started on that subject!). A society that looks upon fat people as complete losers.
Obesity is a problem. My obesity is a problem. I get that. But 30 years of having it shoved down my throat hasn't made me any thinner. 30 years of having people laugh at me has only made me fatter. I don't have the perfect solution for obesity - nobody does. Not yet. All I do know is that the path we've skated down all these decades is not it. But until we start seeing fat people as human beings in need, capable of being hurt deeply by the callous attention of the media, we will NEVER find a solution.
We signed the Geneva Convention promising we wouldn't torture prisoners of war. How about we extend that right to members of our own community?