Awesome quote
I finally got around to reading that awful article that came out recently in which the author said that she couldn't stand to see fat people being in relationships, being on television, or for that matter, doing anything else either. The article itself can be found here.
I might have posted my own thoughts on the matter either on the site itself or on here, but someone else pretty much summed up one of the biggest problems I have with fatphobia (as well as several other kinds of "-phobias" and "-isms," such as ableism and prejudice against asexuals), which is that it so often flies under the radar due to seeming like concern rather than hatred or exclusion. I figured I'd post the quote I read here instead. Thank you, "theimmoral," for saying it better than I could or did:
"We care about their health. We care so much. That's our problem, is caring too much. We care enough to write self-important lectures, because we're disturbed and repulsed at the very idea that fat people are human beings capable of giving and receiving affection. We care enough to tell the fatties to put down the fork and go for a walk, because it's almost certain they've never thought about that before, or heard that before, from anyone. We care enough to make ersatz claims that we "understand" their struggle, even as we do everything we can to imply they're simply not trying hard enough. We can't let them rest on their laurels and stop struggling even for a moment. Their health is at stake, and we care about that. We care because fat people should always remember that they should be ashamed of who they are, and constantly be trying to change it. Being integrated into normal, thin society will only encourage more sloth and gluttony, so we have to make sure they're never allowed to see anyone like them on television or in the movies, save as a grotesque caricature. We can't allow them to forget for one moment that society considers them weak, immoral monsters. Because we care. We care enough to show empathy and genuine concern when we see anorexics go into the hospital, or when we reflect on our own problems with being thin, because anorexics are victims of the beauty myth and fat people are just weak. We care because if we didn't frame this as a health issue, that would just mean we're making a bunch of shallow judgments based on appearances, and that would make us superficial and vicious. And of course, we're not. We care. We care so much. "
I might have posted my own thoughts on the matter either on the site itself or on here, but someone else pretty much summed up one of the biggest problems I have with fatphobia (as well as several other kinds of "-phobias" and "-isms," such as ableism and prejudice against asexuals), which is that it so often flies under the radar due to seeming like concern rather than hatred or exclusion. I figured I'd post the quote I read here instead. Thank you, "theimmoral," for saying it better than I could or did:
"We care about their health. We care so much. That's our problem, is caring too much. We care enough to write self-important lectures, because we're disturbed and repulsed at the very idea that fat people are human beings capable of giving and receiving affection. We care enough to tell the fatties to put down the fork and go for a walk, because it's almost certain they've never thought about that before, or heard that before, from anyone. We care enough to make ersatz claims that we "understand" their struggle, even as we do everything we can to imply they're simply not trying hard enough. We can't let them rest on their laurels and stop struggling even for a moment. Their health is at stake, and we care about that. We care because fat people should always remember that they should be ashamed of who they are, and constantly be trying to change it. Being integrated into normal, thin society will only encourage more sloth and gluttony, so we have to make sure they're never allowed to see anyone like them on television or in the movies, save as a grotesque caricature. We can't allow them to forget for one moment that society considers them weak, immoral monsters. Because we care. We care enough to show empathy and genuine concern when we see anorexics go into the hospital, or when we reflect on our own problems with being thin, because anorexics are victims of the beauty myth and fat people are just weak. We care because if we didn't frame this as a health issue, that would just mean we're making a bunch of shallow judgments based on appearances, and that would make us superficial and vicious. And of course, we're not. We care. We care so much. "