I am against fat acceptance

[hypothetical fact]

Fat acceptance is an anti discrimination movement aimed at creating laws that punish people for discriminating against the overweight, I am completely against this.

Advocates of fat acceptance protest that some fat people are born fat and can not change their overweight appearance. I feel that they are using this as a scapegoat; the percentage of the population that is overweight for their genes is nowhere near the percentage of the obese that are fat because they eat unhealthy or don't exercise.

They also claim that diets don't work (which I agree) and state that nobody that goes under a diet for five years will come out healthier while fat discrimination originates from the weight loss companies. I can sympathise that these people have tried and failed many diets but to be a member of their organisation you do not need any proof that your weight is the result of genes and not a lack of exercise and poor eating. I believe that these people are demonizing the weight loss industry without taking the alternative of five years of healthy eating and regular exercise.

As soon as the fat acceptance movement makes it compulsory that members must prove that they can not lose weight I will give them credibility; but until then I believe that many disheartened obese people will use this as an excuse after they find that they don't have the willpower for regular exercise, after all a lack of will power is why so many people are obese in the first place.

I know that discriminating against the few who are legitimately fat is wrong but I would rather that than give the majority of fat people a false belief that their condition is not destroying their body.

Do you agree that fat acceptance is wrong or am I discriminating?

Now for something completely different...

Sex selection where a mother chooses the gender of their child is allowed in the U.S and banned in Australia. The Australian government has banned it on the grounds of avoiding a disproportionate population such as the case of China. Advocates of sex selection believe that it is a personal freedom the government is robbing from them.

There are also extreme cases where mothers would end up with eight children before they got the gender they wanted or would abort their child because they were of the wrong gender. The other side of these cases is that some mothers believe that they want a gender for their child but when they receive the wrong gender find that they are happy regardless and managed to avoid paying thousands of dollars for gender selection.

So should gender selection be legal or banned?

 

[Danglybits]

Fat acceptance is an anti discrimination movement aimed at creating laws that punish people for discriminating against the overweight, I am completely against this.

Advocates of fat acceptance protest that some fat people are born fat and can not change their overweight appearance. I feel that they are using this as a scapegoat; the percentage of the population that is overweight for their genes is nowhere near the percentage of the obese that are fat because they eat unhealthy or don't exercise.

They also claim that diets don't work (which I agree) and state that nobody that goes under a diet for five years will come out healthier while fat discrimination originates from the weight loss companies. I can sympathise that these people have tried and failed many diets but to be a member of their organisation you do not need any proof that your weight is the result of genes and not a lack of exercise and poor eating. I believe that these people are demonizing the weight loss industry without taking the alternative of five years of healthy eating and regular exercise.

As soon as the fat acceptance movement makes it compulsory that members must prove that they can not lose weight I will give them credibility; but until then I believe that many disheartened obese people will use this as an excuse after they find that they don't have the willpower for regular exercise, after all a lack of will power is why so many people are obese in the first place.

I know that discriminating against the few who are legitimately fat is wrong but I would rather that than give the majority of fat people a false belief that their condition is not destroying their body.

Do you agree that fat acceptance is wrong or am I discriminating?

Now for something completely different...

Sex selection where a mother chooses the gender of their child is allowed in the U.S and banned in Australia. The Australian government has banned it on the grounds of avoiding a disproportionate population such as the case of China. Advocates of sex selection believe that it is a personal freedom the government is robbing from them.

There are also extreme cases where mothers would end up with eight children before they got the gender they wanted or would abort their child because they were of the wrong gender. The other side of these cases is that some mothers believe that they want a gender for their child but when they receive the wrong gender find that they are happy regardless and managed to avoid paying thousands of dollars for gender selection.

So should gender selection be legal or banned?

I don't think that we should hate fat people. I know that some people are just fat and that it's not easy to lose weight but being obese which is different than being simply fat isn't healthy. And if people aren't happy with themselves they shouldn't feel like they should stay the way they are anymore than a person should feel they should have to change. If you want to eat and be fat, sure I don't care but don't act like you don't take up two seats on an airplane and make me sit next to you, my hips can't take it anymore.

And about gender selection, again do what you want but I think it's kind of sick to set up that kind of designer child for purely whimsical reasons. Your kids are going to be their own people no matter what you do, don't try to shove them into a preconceived mold before they have been, well, conceived.

 

[KaZZaP]

Theres some new study that says that some cases of obesity could be caused by a virus. So be against them all you want till some fat guy coughs on you then BAM you'll be one of them!

 

[Limos]

I think fat people are icky. I don't care if they choose to be fat. But don't expect special treatment.

If you're too fat for one seat then you'll just have to pay for two.

If we went by weight you'd have to pay for two tickets anyway.

 

[Flying-Emu]

This fat acceptance movement you're talking about almost seems like a joke.

Spoiler: snark

Diets don't work, hrm? Well, maybe they should try exercising instead of living off of romaine hearts and unsalted air.
The key to diets WORKING is a willingness to exercise. You cannot lose weight without lipo, starvation diets, or exercise. Sorry.

They're sponsoring acceptance by demonizing the things that are trying to help these people. They're not forcing anything on people, they are doing nothing wrong. If anything, they should go the route of Rachel's Challenge and just get people to pledge to not discriminate against overweight people.

Sex selection seems illogical and wrong. I myself am on the fence of the abortion issue, but abandoning a kid based on whether it has a penis or not is absolutely, irrefutably evil.

Advocates of sex selection believe that it is a personal freedom the government is robbing from them.

I refuse to believe in a freedom if it impugns the right to another, even if said 'another' has no comprehension of the world around it.

 

[jim_doki]

meh, let them be fat

heart attacks are the wakeup call these people need, not new laws

 

[Squeaksx]

There are also some people who consider the Polar Bear to be an aquatic animal. Scientist tend to not be an immediate sell for me. I think obesity, while conditions such as diabetes and the like might make it more difficult not to change, is based on motivation. Just like smoking, someone WANTS to be able to quit/lose weight if they are going to.

Secondly (I blame popular culture for this,) a lot of people don't know HOW to lose weight besides going on (Programs) that don't even tell you WHY the food your eating is healthy or how it is. "Eat our food and you'll lose weight." "OK great, but what do I do after I don't want to pay for your food anymore?" "What if I want to go out to eat?" "What if I want to eat food I like?" I think the media needs to start popularizing degree holding dietitians so people can learn HOW to eat healthy and not just how to jump from diet or eating plan to eating plan.

 

[Lucifus]

Choosing the gender of your child is not a right its a lottery. I think it should be allowed to a point however if your getting IVF.

And whats wrong with fat people? I actually like the movement to a degree as being thin is pushed too much by the media. In fact i hate skinny people more as most willingly let themselves get like that yet people think thats fine? However i dont see why we should tell people they should gain or loose weight. Its their bodys at the end of the day.

 

[mkb07a]

I'm sorry, I disagree with your first point almost in its entirety. I want to give point-by-point reasons but I feel that I would become incredibly nasty and so, refrain from doing so.

Your second point alludes to being able to choose features of your child, and it seems like the people you cited are the same throwbacks to Medieval England, and it wasn't okay then and it's not okay now to do that.

 

[thiosk]

suprisingly, fat people are healthier than we are led to believe. healthy enough that there is in the medical field the so called "obesity paradox." This is that when we have an illness associated with obesity-- like heart disease-- and you look at the survival rates, its the obese people who tend to survive the conditions better. Sure, they are fat, so they probably have good nutrition and enough body fat to survive any wasting illnesses. but its interesting none the less.

in other words, its not a massive health epidemic, not the epidemic its made out to be. Now im not talking about morbidly obese 800 pounds need a forklift to get them to the bathroom, im talking about the chunky kids and tubby folks. I see no reason to accept in society those folks. But im tired of listening to people calling america a land of unhealthy fat people... HECK NO we are a nation of the healthiest fat people you'll ever see.

 

[curlycrouton]

Theres some new study that says that some cases of obesity could be caused by a virus.

Source please?

 

[curlycrouton]

Theres some new study that says that some cases of obesity could be caused by a virus.

Source please?

It's obviously from Fake Medical Science Monthly, you need to become better acquainted with important scientific literature.

I see, well at the moment I read Blatent Lies Weekly, along with The Hysterical Wailing Over Nothing Express, so I'll look into it.

 

[hypothetical fact]

suprisingly, fat people are healthier than we are led to believe. healthy enough that there is in the medical field the so called "obesity paradox." This is that when we have an illness associated with obesity-- like heart disease-- and you look at the survival rates, its the obese people who tend to survive the conditions better. Sure, they are fat, so they probably have good nutrition and enough body fat to survive any wasting illnesses. but its interesting none the less.

in other words, its not a massive health epidemic, not the epidemic its made out to be. Now im not talking about morbidly obese 800 pounds need a forklift to get them to the bathroom, im talking about the chunky kids and tubby folks. I see no reason to accept in society those folks. But im tired of listening to people calling america a land of unhealthy fat people... HECK NO we are a nation of the healthiest fat people you'll ever see.

But are these fat people in better condition than they would be if they eat less and exercise more?

I'm sorry, I disagree with your first point almost in its entirety. I want to give point-by-point reasons but I feel that I would become incredibly nasty and so, refrain from doing so.

Your second point alludes to being able to choose features of your child, and it seems like the people you cited are the same throwbacks to Medieval England, and it wasn't okay then and it's not okay now to do that.

Feel free to be as nasty as you want as long as the mods are cool with it so am I. "The people you cited are the same throwbacks to medieval England", which people I cited, I used arguments from both sides of the debate and what do you mean by throwbacks to medieval England?

Choosing the gender of your child is not a right its a lottery. I think it should be allowed to a point however if your getting IVF.

And whats wrong with fat people? I actually like the movement to a degree as being thin is pushed too much by the media. In fact i hate skinny people more as most willingly let themselves get like that yet people think thats fine? However i dont see why we should tell people they should gain or loose weight. Its their bodys at the end of the day.

I would like to point out that I am against starving yourself and am advocating exercise and healthy eating, which should not leave you skinny but toned.

meh, let them be fat

heart attacks are the wakeup call these people need, not new laws

The obesity paradox disagrees with you; however, that paradox does not cover all of the disabilities provided by being overweight such as arthritis and joint pains. I would also like to point out that obesity related medical costs are a drain on the economy.

Funnily enough googling fat people and hospital yielded the first result as an article ranting that hospitals aren't adapting to the "needs" of fat people. http://www.bigfatblog.com/node/1216
The author complains that hospitals need larger doorways, beds, gowns, hoists etc. But they make no reference to accepting the rise in taxes that these changes would bring.

 

[KaZZaP]

I watched a special on the Nation Geographic channel but I found a link thats about it,
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=cad12482-584b-4319-bc15-cd0953e313a9

And obviously all fat people aren't infected but some super size me virus but it is interesting to think about, what if some weight issues could be cured by some kind of antidote.

 

[hypothetical fact]

I watched a special on the Nation Geographic channel but I found a link thats about it,
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=cad12482-584b-4319-bc15-cd0953e313a9

And obviously all fat people aren't infected but some super size me virus but it is interesting to think about, what if some weight issues could be cured by some kind of antidote.

That is interesting but we need more evidence on that before we use that as a significant cause of obesity rather than a one in a million type of disease.

 

[Goon165]

Say's the Man with a Sandwich for an Avatar...

Ok sorry I couldn't help myself BUT ANYWAY. The hole "zomg yur fat, u gonna have Heart Attack cus your Fat" stereotype has really bin jammed into our heads by the media and it really gets annoying sometimes when you have someone like my Grandmother who has nothing to do but sit at home all day and watch daytime television. you know the garbage I'm talking about and the endless news story's about 800 lb people and their health problems and the horrendous over hyping of this "health epidemic".

I'm fat, I've always bin fat and as it stands I'm perfectly fine with always being the fat guy. my problem is the people around me haven't excepted this fact and still hold fast to the idea of "your fat, theirs something wrong with you!" as long as this idea still exists in peoples minds this argument will continue without end and these fat acceptance laws are an incredibly misguided attempt to forceful change peoples opinions. what we really need to be doing is trying collectively to move past these shallow ideas of not just fat people, but of the appearance of all people and truly make progress.

 

[mkb07a]

Okay... I'm just going to say, before I (hopefully) turn in for the night (now morning... damn) is that the OP comes off as... Okay. Here's the thing. I understand your point. It's aggravating for people who chose to eat six pizzas a day to then demand that someone accomodate them, rather than take responsibility for their actions. I understand that it's difficult to understand how someone can get up to a 6X shirt and not think there's a problem. I really do. I know where you're going with your argument but I still disagree because it comes off as intolerance. You don't have to accept it, but you tolerate it like you tolerate a smoker or crying infant.

I say all this because my boyfriend, at his healthiest weight, weighs 275 pounds. This was two years ago, at the peak of football season- he was working out every day, taking in a lot of protein, and was incredibly in shape. However, about a year ago he tore his meniscus (he didn't know he tore it till this past August, though), and due to the unholy amount of pain he felt had to quit the college track team he'd been on. Due to the pain (which makes it difficult for him to even walk upstairs), he was unable to continue his usual active lifestyle.

When he went to camp last summer (he's an instructor at a BSA camp for six weeks in the mountains), he weighed 330. Over the course of the summer, he lost only about ten pounds but had gained his muscle definition back. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about his meniscus (the doctor's advice was, see if the cyst in your knee goes away on its own), and once we returned here, he was back in pain (mind you, he was in pain the entire time he was at camp but the food there was... well, they didn't get enough calories for the amount of physical activity they did). As such, I'm not sure his weight now BUT we've committed to a program (together, as it helps to have a buddy and I'm female and thus hate my body) to get back to a healthier weight, and keep down his health risks.

I say all this because even if he got back down to his weight and size senior year (which... oh man, his shoulders *drool*), he'd still be twice my size and bigger than most average people. This isn't to say that every person who weighs that much (and I assure you, that's the weight he's supposed to be) got there because that's just how they are instead of sitting on the couch, playing Wii and eating cheesey-poofs, but not all people that are overweight (by your standards) are in that category, either. As such, he'd need a bigger gown in the hospital, and it's always been uncomfortable for him to sit in a standard school desk, and there's nothing he can do about it.

The reality of the situation is people in developed nations are gaining weight (Australia just beat the US as the fattest nation, so I don't want to hear it), and there will have to be accomodations that're made. Frankly, I, as a female, am saddened every day when thin models are embraced and my only solace comes from Renaissance paintings of nudes that, once upon a time, my body shape was the ideal, but that's not for here.

I dearly hope that I haven't offended you by the previous statements (the sheer length probably did it), and that you take my arguments in stride. I don't negate that their is a bit of a problem, but I also think the treatment of smokers like they were pedophilic Nazis is also a bit extreme. However, there is a comfortable middle ground that can, and should, be reached by all people.

As for the second point, "There are also extreme cases where mothers would end up with eight children before they got the gender they wanted or would abort their child because they were of the wrong gender." That's a throwback to the days of Henry VIII, minus the sheer amount of divorce because back then, they thought it was the woman's fault that males weren't born. That's all I was saying, not outright attacking your point.

Again, I hope I haven't offended you and I assure you I meant no personal attack.

 

[Frizzle]

You know how to cure the fatness? Ban clothing. I bet you people would get to how they're supposed to be in a heartbeat. Yeah i know cold climates etc. but think about it: If you were huge, and you had to walk around naked, how long before you tried to unhuge yourself?

Also, i blame society itself for making "white collar" jobs, better paid than the "blue collar" jobs. If you got paid more to work for a living, more people would work for a living instead of sitting around.