ENRAGE.

[zendequervain]

Grrrr motherfucking ARGH

I feel sick. Read this to find out why.

I found it on a favorite community, fatshionista. The people commenting there have much more articulated responses than I can even think of right now.

Comments

[phoenix_singing]

Jay Zagorsky, a sociology researcher at Ohio State University, is convinced that society would adjust. We might lose an awful lot of people to pick on, but he concludes: "They will find something else. If it's not the size of your waist, it may be the size of your nose."

This is probably the only genuine, true, non-stupid thing in that entire pile of fail.

/punt >:[

[zendequervain]

Bitch needs to get outta the gene pool. =\

I'd be happy to perform that public service!

[phoenix_singing]

I bet she's one of those scarily skinny people who look like they'll crumble to dust if anyone over 100 pounds sat on them. I'm on the small side myself (4'11", 125 pounds) and I hit like a girl, but I bet I could take her!

I should make a "Hey. You. Outta my gene pool!" icon. And then help her out of said gene pool. :3

That article is so blatantly discriminatory, I'm surprised that woman was even allowed to post it. Her editor needs to lrn2sayno.

OH OH OH, and look at this. I clicked on her little name linky thing:

Shirley Skeel is a print and radio journalist based in Seattle who has written for Bloomberg News, The Seattle Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph in London. She has also produced radio features for National Public Radio and its affiliates.

WTF NPR?! Damn! D:

[zendequervain]

Booo.

I'm tempted to send an email reply to the article, but I can't write something coherent enough.

[theguindo]

I like the immediate assumption that the statistics are correct. Do you know why so many adults are in the overweight category? Because the parameters we have set up for healthy weight are wrong. It's actually been discovered that people who are "overweight" are healthier than people who are "normal." The ranges are ridiculous.

Productivity in the workplace would jump as people took fewer sick days and spent less time at work feeling unwell. Ross DeVol, the director of health economics at the Milken Institute, says the loss of productivity due to people showing up at work sick is "immense.".

Uhhh somehow I don't think being overweight has anything to do with this one. People take sick days because they HATE WORK, not because they're FAT.

This whole thing is just so incredibly stupid. Makes me want to punch this person.

[zendequervain]

Exactly!

As I just said to ryumaxwell via email, it's quite obvious that the "journalist" did jack diddly fucking squat in the way of research.

[yashakizu]

What a bunch of bull. Let's all shame fat people and smokers and queer folks and any other marginalized group for the problems of mainstream, straight, white, rich America.

Perhaps American's wouldn't all be struggling to pay the bills if, you know, credit card companies and other rich corporate types weren't more invested in making money than looking out for middle and lower class Americans. >< Grrrrrrr!

[corvus_animus]

I personally didn't see it as the article blaming fat people for financial woes, so much as just a "what if?". It is true that America has a large amount of obesity due to our lifestyles (I've been to other countries and there is a noticeable difference). That said, I don't believe weight matters so much as how healthy someone is. Problem is, a lot of people aren't healthy and that seems to negate all of the healthy people who are perceived as over-weight.

I think what this country needs is a higher focus on personal fitness to be healthy and not such a humongous focus on weight. And don't think skinny people don't get it from their doctors. I've been harped on every time I go to the doctor's office to gain weight...despite me being at the weight I'm at for the past 7 years of my life. I get called anorexic a lot and it's frustrating as hell :/ Thing is though? I know I'm healthy and that's what counts.

Sorry, I babbled a lot. I dunno, I just don't think you should be too offended by this article.

[zendequervain]

I guess my biggest problem with it is the sheer lack of research, the glaring blanket statements, and the assumption that all fat people are lazy slobs who eat and eat and eat and consume everything

[corvus_animus]

those are rather silly assumptions :/ I can see where those would be upsetting. I want to nut-punch every person I see driving a Hummer.

I wish society could see things in shades of gray. It's a 'people' thing, and as long as good, healthy food is more expensive than bad, filling stuff... not much is going to change.

I've had this conversation several times with my adviser. I would love to support organic, earth-friendly products, but as Zack and I were standing there contemplating getting the compact fluorescent lights for our apartment...our biggest hesitation was the cost (we did get them in favor of a hopefully lower energy bill).

I kind of wish that the celebrities would quit whining at people to be earth conscious and actually donate money to make "green" products more affordable for most of Americans.

Poor grad student! OMG!

[zendequervain]

I think we understand each other, then. :3

My bedside lamp does have the nice compact flourescents in it, but that's cause Dad gave them to me. He's replaced nearly all the lights in the parental homeplace and says that they last way way longer, which is great.

I'd love to go much more 'green' than I do, but I just can't afford it most of the time. We make do with obsessively shutting off lights and recycling.

[sareth]

How... absurdly simplistic. If it were just that easy, then he wouldn't have anything to say this stupid shit about.