A Case For Shaming Obese People, Tastefully

[jesskat]

One bioethicist's modest proposal to combat obesity through socially motivated self-hatred

People don't hate being fat enough, basically, according to Hastings Center bioethicist Daniel Callahan. In an editorial published in the Hastings Center Report, he argues that nothing -- not diets, drugs, sugeries, nor appeals to our health -- is working,

Comments

[wikilobbying]

People who are overweight, he contends, remain hopelessly unaware of their plight.because it's not like we're told over and over and over and over and over and over etc that we're fat, that we're all obese, that we're all whales. not like we don't constantly have to hear about the "obesity epidemic." not like we're constantly assumed to be a bunch of stupid, lazy, over-eaters who just turn our noses up at healthy foods. not like we're constantly assumed to never eat anything healthy, anyhow. not like when we develop disordered eating habits that we're congratulated on them as long as we're trying to drop pounds and "look good" by their standards. not like clothes shopping isn't enough of a pain in the ass already. not like we never lose out on job opportunities because employers don't think our fat asses look good representing their companies

[ahzuri]

I love everything this comment is.

My husband is astounded that I'm as overweight (309 atm Lost 11lbs over the last few weeks though!) as I am because I'm picky and tend towards lean meats, fruits, vegetables and other healthy food rather than junk. Thankfully he loves me and all my fat.

[hey_kayla_jay]

Congrats on the eleven pounds :)

[curseangel]

..seriously, in a post like this could we not with the bragging about your weight loss? I mean, seriously? That is fucked up.

[tilmon]

Why do people listen to these self-styled "ethicists"? They are always bastards.

[ahzuri]

You know losing weight isn't exactly a walk in the fucking park. Almost everyone who does lose any large amount of weight ends up gaining that shit back if they slack on their "diet". I totally haven't been conscious of my weight and trying to do something about it for the last oh 5 years and yet here I am up and down with my weight the entire time. I hate people who think its as simple to lose weight as cutting calories, bitch please that shit doesn't do anything but fuck you up.

[lone_concertina]

I've lost almost 75 lbs in the past 1.5 years. Now that I'm "thin"(ish), I get people asking how I did it. I want to shake them and slap them for all I had to put myself through over that amount of time. I exercised almost two hours a day, six days per week, and meticulously monitored everything I ate. It's the only way to lose weight and keep it off and it's the hardest goddamn thing I've ever done.

[celtic_thistle]

Exactly what I did to lose 50 lb in a little over a year, and exactly how I want to react. IT IS FUCKING HARD.

[ahzuri]

I did the same thing 3 years ago and lost 50lbs in 6 months only to gain it back in 9months during a pregnancy but congrats on your loss. Shit is hard to do and even harder to keep off, I've never managed to get down below 250lbs. I've been struggling for the last year with my weight just keeping going up even though I watch what I eat and all that. Only thing to stall/make it go back down was nausea from pregnancy :/

[kaelstra]

Yeah, it's not like we live in a culture where fat people are shamed every fucking day, or made fun of, or bullied, or our loved ones make shitty comments about how we're terrible people with no self-control or any of that. No, that's not where we live. We don't live in a culture that sells us weight-loss and surgical procedures constantly just so we can be thin and loved and so forth. Nope, nope, nope.

Fuck this guy

[kyra_neko_rei]

On top of the multitude of other problems with bullying people "for their own good," there is the fact that, if on the odd chance it happens to work, the bully tends to be the one who gets---and takes---the credit for the accomplishment