Why Slim People Don't Like Fat People
The UK Independent reports on an interesting "discovery":
...the immune system can be triggered into action at the sight of obesity because it doesn't like the look of what it sees, and associates it with infection.
The authors of the research (abstract here) believe that "obesity serves as a cue for pathogen infection".
Apparently - when someone sees an obese person - an evolved behavioral immune system triggers a sense of avoidance and disgust.
The researchers used various tests including word associations.
...people who agreed with comments such as "it really bothers me when people sneeze without covering their mouths" were more likely to agree with statement such as "if I were an employer looking to hire, I might avoid hiring a fat person". The greater the fear of disease, the stronger the negative feeling about obesity.
Personally I feel somewhat skeptical. I believe that prejudice is a learned behavior.
What do you think?
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This sounds plausable, but I still think its more learned. My understanding is that most people who have a fat prejudice see obesity as a completly self-inflicted desease. The more that people see obesity as something that happens TO people, the less likely they seem to be to have a fat prejudice. If everyone saw obesity as an "infectous desease" that could happen to them too, then there wouldn't be many weight biggots.
ReplyObesity DOES happen to people. BIG difference between overweight and OBESITY. I am a clinician in a General Physician's office. Only one obese person (obese defined as being 80 to 100 pounds over weight)was actually that way because of an inbalance. Every one else who comes into this clinic, and weighs 275+, is that way because they eat nothing but fat, and absolutely do not exercise. We have tried to get their weight down but they just don't care. It is a change you have to WANT to make. It does not just happen, you make it happen. The other very personal thing is that obese people smell bad. I personally don't want to go near them or use the bathroom after them. They smell really bad, no matter how much deodorant they use. The fat just permeates through their skin and frankly it is disgusting. I know this from dealing with obese people in the clinic for over 15 years. I feel really bad for obese people because I know they feel helpless. BUT COME ON, they OVER EAT, which makes you fat. Being over weight is one thing, being obese is very unhealthy!!
ReplyFirst of all Ducky I don't think that you should work in a clinic anymore if that is the way you think of your patients and I don't know what patients you are treating but I myself am overweight might even be classified as obese but I will tell you this I do not smell. My home is immaculate and very nicely decorated. I have a girlfriend that is bigger than myself and I will tell you this I have never detected any kind of odor on her whatsoever. How dare you for coming on here and talking about your patients like that I think you need to quit your job if that is the way you think of us we don't need someone like you saying how we choose not to diet or exercise it may be real easy for you and bravo to you but many of us have other issues at hand for instance I have issues with major depression, I have had about 3 or 4 suicide attempts, and some other really bad things have happened to me as well as other people. People that are overweight or Obese as you classify us we don't need yet another person telling us how shameful we are we already do that to ourselves.
ReplyOkay, let me begin by saying that Ducky sounds like an obvious jerk. I doubt he's a clinician, He's more likely just a troll. I think I've met smelly, fat people about just as much as I've met smelly, thin people. That said, fat people seem to always have an excuse as to why they are fat. Lemontree40 here says it's depression. Now I'm not here to abuse the guy, and I certainly feel for him if he has depression. But having an excuse for being fat isn't something new to obese people.
Now I'm not like Ducky here. I don't hate anybody, but at the same time, I don't have sympathy for you being fat. You've done this to yourself. I've always been in good shape, but I always stayed active. A few months ago, I noticed I was getting pretty chubby around my stomach. Although I was still going to the gym, I was not eating right and I drank entirely too much beer. I decided then and there that I would not let this happen to myself. I am now halfway through p90x, and am eating healthy and cut beer right out of my diet. I lost 12 pounds that I didn't think I needed to lose in the first month, and am getting my 6 pack back. No excuses from me, and I didn't try to hunt for that easy diet out. I put in the hard work, and cut out the trash I was eating, and I'm getting the results. Plain and simple. Don't cry. Don't make excuses. Just get off your butt and do it.
ReplySo I guess "All" clinicans know it all huh?
ReplyAll Fat people stink? Give me a freakin' break!
The Traits of Prejudice
In his book The Nature of Prejudice, Gordon W. Allport outlines five types of behavior spawned by prejudice. A person who is prejudiced usually displays one or more of these.
1. Negative remarks. A person speaks disparagingly about the group that he dislikes.
2. Avoidance. He shuns anyone who belongs to that group.
3. Discrimination. He excludes members of the maligned group from certain types of employment, places of residence, or social privileges.
4. Physical attack. He becomes a party to violence, which is designed to intimidate the people he has come to hate.
5. Extermination. He participates in lynchings, massacres, or extermination programs
Get a life, and take your head out of your _ _ _!
I am not morbidly obese but i am over weight, I have been trying to loose weight for over ten years. the 1500 calorie diet i have stuck to for 9 years. i excersise 4 hours a day three times a week. I am regularly active, i bathe regularly, my home is georgous, there is no odor. I have hypothyroidism and this causes me to be unable to loose weight when my meds need to be switched out, which happens about every 2 months. I do not believe that depression causes obesity but i do know that obesity can cause depression, also people like ducky who discriminate cause depression, which sometimes leads to suicide, so i hope ducky and many others are ready to carry that on their shoulders when it happens to some one close to them.
ReplyYeah, it bothers me when people sneeze without covering their mouth, but I wouldn't not hire a qualified obese person for a job solely on their fatness!
I think somebody read that "obesity is contagious" story from last week and is trying to ride the wave...
Reply"an evolved behavioral immune system triggers a sense of avoidance and disgust"?
What kind of weasel words are these? Do they even know what evolved means? We can't be speaking for the entire human population here, even today. There are lots of societies where being obese means being well-fed and healthy and rich, as opposed to being too poor to get enough food to keep oneself healthy. Even in America, there are some groups of Latin-Americans and Afro-Americans where being full-figured is no detraction from attractiveness.
It sounds to me more a matter of leading people to certain responses based on which questions were posed, in which order, and which possible answers were provided.
No, we as humans are NOT evolved to equate obesity with a sense of avoidance and disgust. It's just culturally the current fad in certain societies.
Replyi think most people have a problem with watching someone spread germs- but obesity is like heart disease- would you stop hugging a family member who has a chronic heart problem, would you?
ReplyIsn't it possible that it is the other way around? Maybe people are learning to accept obesity, rather than people learning to be afraid of it. There's a difference between cultural preferences that say being well-fed and nurished is attractive, and that being 400 pounds should be applauded.
ReplyAnd there is a difference between applauding it, and avoiding the person as if they had festering boils. You don't have to applaud someone just to treat them without outright disgust.
ReplyI am curious, what is the ratio between thin people have to work hard every day to stay thin and healthy and those who can eat whatever they want and never have to work hard at it at all - and yet are healthy and thin?
I have said it before, I am about 90 pounds overweight, although I am working hard to get healthy. I am fat because of laziness, emotional eating, and gluttony. I like the taste and flavor of food and have had very little self control. I have to be honest with myself if I am going to turn my life around. My mother was over 150 pounds overweight. She was for many of the same reasons. The only reason she lost weight was because she had cancer and it ate away at her.
As a fat person myself, I look on others who are fat and at times feel very empathetic towards them, and other times I feel very sympathetic toward them. I know what it is like. Sometimes I am disgusted at them knowing they may just be lazy and lack self control, just like I do.
Sure, fat people can get very down on themselves and blame it on willpower and how hard it is to say no. But a thin person who constantly says no to something they want to eat (isn't that part of staying thin?) or a thin person who takes the time out of their schedule to exercise and work out and puts forth so much effort to stay healthy instead of just giving in to the cravings of food and a lazy lifestyle - perhaps the feelings of disgust come from the fact that - they do work so hard and they know that an obese person has such a lack of self control.
As for an employer not hiring someone because they are fat, I am not sure I would want to. (remember I am fat too) I see it as a sign of laziness and lack of self control. Why would you hire someone who has that written on their resume?
ReplyI used to be slightly overweight and I was always exercising and on a diet. I struggled with my weight because everytime I came home from running for an hour I was so hungry that I would eat everything, I also used food to cover my emotions, and I would also diet in the morning and at lunch and then binge at night. People wondered how I could be gaining weight when I ate so little.
ReplyThen I observed my mom and my sister. My mom has had 5 kids and she is a great size 8-10 (what most guy would consider sexy). She never dieted. She rarely exercised. After struggling for 8 years, I decided to through caution to the wind and do what my mom did.
I wrote down what I ate, and weighed myself everyday. I never deprived myself. I only do "exercise" when I don't consider it really exercise, but fun. For example occasional salsa dancing. My other movement comes from walking here and there, doing chores, running errand, etc.
I am now one of those skinny people (size 6) that others think can eat anything and rarely exercises. But little do they know that I weigh myself everyday, everything I eat goes into a little booklet (I average 2000 calories), and I usually take the stairs instead of the elevator.
I am much happier now being effortlessly skinny and I am glad that I did not lose weight by diet and exercising 6 times a week.
What is funnier though, is people who are trying to get to my size tell me that I am this weigh naturally and that it is genetics, when I know what I looked like last year. They continue to do the same things that put them in the same cycle of weight loss and weight gain.
Dawn,
I can appreciate what you are saying. However, being thin does not mean a person is "healthy." You can have problems just like the next guy with a smaller frame.
I am about 50 pounds overweight. It is really difficult to lose weight because it is a daily adventure. Ironically, my mother is the opposite and tries to gain weight because she does not like her thin frame. I think there is a combination of things that happen in being thin versus being fat.
Most of the thin people that I know have a ton of energy. Some of them fear fat. I fear fat but it still remains on my body. Is it genetics, behavior, psychological amongst other things? I would say "yes."
Replyhello, I am new to this site and i really dont understand some of you guys. See i am spanish even my community and in the black community the fat racisim exist. See what skiiny people dont understand that even the ones who try to loose it it take time and its very hard. There another problem for some reason people think being thick, and big bone is fat or obese this is not true. See people people needs to read health book bueacus ethere are alot of big people who are helathy and there are more skinny people who are not healty usually beacuse the waythe loose waigth or ther where melnourish which is a big problem. making your self throw up,starving your self using drug or surgery are not thw way to loose weigth . see i was born thick and i have more muscle weigth then fat and alot of people confused that is is very hard to loose weigth and rember it al depends on your motabolism how fast it it. See most skinny people are so stuck up on how skinny they are they develop there own kind of diease. i exercise, i can run as fast as the average person. I am nor where lazy, i have labor job that requrie alot of labor. I HELL SURE DONT SMELL most pleople compliment me on how good i smell i try east halthy its just hard too loose the weigth and skinny who are usually born skinny fail to realize that and the ones who do loose the weigth they forgget how hard you have to work to loose it and maitain it off.If i was a owner of a company your are rite i would not hire some one lazy,incompetent but mind you to be lazy you dont have to be Fat
ReplyMy involvement with an obese family over a
Replyten year period leads me to conclude the extra weight they all carried was caused by lifestyle.
All family gatherings were in orbit around meals.
A favorite topic of discussion was food.
They were all way over weight, loved food and rarely
discussed the long term issues.
Culture plays a strong role. And as you stated lifestyle is also a factor. However, you have to remember that all the people sitting at that table may not be fat. There is more to being "fat." There are very educated people all over the world. They understand the concepts of their behavior may conclude that they will be fat. The stigma of the lazy, fat and useless to society mentality is ignorant.
ReplyI have to say that I do feel a mixture of disgust and fascination with the obese though this research fits in with my own view that people have a natural desire to eliminate negative qualities or mutations from the gene pool.
Not to pick on the obese in general. I have a feeling that the same range of reactions could be found in relation to other negative phenotypes amongst a human population.
ReplyOn the main topic, I think there's a big gap between overweight and obese. Even in the medieval era, obesity was seen as unattractive.
ReplyIt's true. There are definitely thin people out there who are lazy and eat whatever they want and never exercise ... and they're just lucky that it doesn't show in their outward appearance, so they aren't discriminated against for it.
ReplyIf I eat "whatever" I want, I weigh about five pounds more than I do now. That may not be true forever ... But the difference is that whatever I want is very different than what an obese person might want. I just had a chocolate chip cookie after lunch. I wanted it. But what was the lunch I WANTED? A salad with chick peas, tomatoes, and a light dressing (I don't really like the thick, creamy stuff). My food preferences are what keep me thin. It's just about figuring out healthy things that you LIKE to eat.
Obesity doesn't "happen to" people..sheesh, people, take some responsiblity. Also Quito is right, there's a big difference between fat and hugely obese...and people aren't bigots or phobics for finding it disgusting.
ReplyAlso, not everyone can be full-figured like Jennifer Lopez...I have 33" hips and a 29" waist...hourglass ain't me!
Too bad obesity isn't actually caused by pathogen infection.
ReplyObesity as a cue for pathogen infection?
*groan* *headdesk*
Yes, this is building on the "OMG! Don't give me your fat cooties!" attitude now coming to the fore.
Gotta agree with Dr. J on his statement that these divisions aren't helping us. The last thing our society needs to do again is to separate out a sector of the population and accuse them of being the collective boogieman.
ReplyI agree with Judy on this one. How can a negative reaction to obesity be an evolved trait when there are clearly plenty of societies that view overweight individuals as healthy? But as others have pointed out, there is a big difference between "obese" and "overweight". I personally don't think obesity just "happens" to people either. Everyone I've ever known who was obese got that way from poor lifestyle choices. Like Ann, when I want something, I'll eat it, but I think the foods I want (salads, spinach, baby carrots, etc) are quite different than the foods that say, my fairly overweight mom would want (big cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli, potato salad with full fat mayo, etc.).
I still think it's more of a learned response though...it's how you were raised and who you were raised with. Not every thin person hates fat people.
ReplyWhen I see fat people I am always disgusted.
I love it when at work, they would ask me how to lose weight and I have said, "You shouldn't be eating fried food and you should work out for at least 20 minutes a day 3 times a week" They laugh and continue to eat cake and fried chicken.
Then they tell me I am so lucky to be in shape like it was given to me and I don't work hard to stay in shape.
These types of people make me dislike fat people.
ReplyA fear of disease has nothing to do with it.
Yes, I agree. I lose a lot of time each week trying to stay thin. These people just seem like the most lazy greedy creatures on earth, sometimes they are shockingly mean if not an eyesore. Seriously, any fat person I know on a personal (associate, rarely friend, family member or whatever) is always eating the most fattening stuff and they like never workout. I am 5'10" and I sacrifice every day to stay thin. I am hoping to get down to a size 4, but it is tough. Then the women always think they are smarter than Einstein, and treat me like some type of Barbie, even though I worked my way through college and have science degree, spent 10 years in the military inspecting F-16s, work hard, have a mentally demanding career in research now, a demanding husband, and quite a lot on my plate. I had one obese pig, who is always smarter than everyone (we know the type) tell my husband and I that it must be nice to be genetically blessed. Ugh. Does she know that my husband and I workout all of the time and I could easily at this point in my life be at least 3 dress sizes larger if I did not have any discipline. My sister is fat and she is the meanest, worst controlling, judgmental, person I know. She tried to ruin my wedding and my overweight alcoholic mother-in-law is too lazy to pick her only child (my husband) up from the airport when he comes to visit her once a year as she demands. He like has to rent a car or make other arrangements. Nothing is wrong with this woman - she is just lazy, AND again controlling, mean, nasty and has never had to work a day in her spoiled life!! Even though I dress rather conservatively at work, the fat bwitches are always staring at me and making comments, however the attractive men never do, and only look at me I guess in a positive way. Thes fat women are so jealous, as it obviously is apparent in the way you can see the thoughts seeping through their cellulite, and then I am just stupid. Oh, and when you're thin you are always sleeping with your boss in their minds, bc they don't have a life and they are missing their soaps, so I have become their substitute character. I really can't stand them. I will have nothing to do with most of them. The parasites make me want to barf.
ReplyIncognita, I'm going to go out on a limb here, but you come across as a ditzy bimbo in your post. I would say it's the poor grammar, run-on sentences, and bad punctuation. You also think too highly of yourself. It's one thing to be proud of yourself for being in shape and another to brag about how fantastic your are and how provacative you dress. Finally, the real kicker is that you use the word "like" like a 16 year old bimbo from SoCal. Grow up and find some humility.
ReplyYou know, funny the more i read up on peoples comments. the more the majority of you all start to sound ignorant..
Reply1st off there are a percentage of obese people that do over eat for whatever reason and they choose not to exercise OR help their self out.. This is pathetic I agree!
BUT, What about the other percentage that has issues such as CUSHINGS DISEASE, HYPOTHYROIDISM, DEPRESSION, ANXETY,WHEEL CHAIR CONFINEMENT whether PERMENATLY OR SHORT TERM,MEDICATIONS..
All these are triggers in weight gain.. should people be looked down upon of discriminated b/c of factors that cant be changed.. I THINK NOT!
3RDLY I also believe genetics can play a role too.. If you come from a long line of family memebers being overweight chances are sometime in life you will be the same..
So the issue im trying to stress here is this.. DONT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER UNTIL YOU KNOW THE WHOLE STORY!
shelley u must be a fatty yourself since ur getting so defensive! maybe u should get on a diet
ReplyI used to be effortlessy thin, but then I got sick and the medicines are making me overweight. I used to think (if I thought about it at all) people were overweight from gluttony and found it immoral. Also, I got irritated with overweight people when I had to sit beside them on trains and planes etc. They sort of spilled over into my space. Well now I know better. I also, (a bit to my surprise, really), have found that I'm no less attractive to men than I used to be when thin! (I'm a woman).
Anyway. I think the stone age reaction might be something like this: "That fat person is making me uncomfortable - she looks as if she eats all the food and leaves nothing for me. She's bad for my survival so should be kept out of my territory. On the other hand the fat woman there looks like she knows how to nurture herself. She could probably grow me a big healthy baby or five. Look at that wonderful bigg a** on her! Irrestistable"
ReplyThe thing is that its attractive in some cultures to have some weight on you but it makes no sense that we (men) be more attracted to the OVERweight which we know both instinctively and from science is directly linked with decreased fertility, disease, organ and muscle stamina and increased age. I myself am from a Filipino family and I know that it is considered good for men to be above say 24 BMI but that is due in large part to the poverty in the Phillipines where thpusands starve to death yearly.
Being obese is BAD. There are NO benefits from being a weight which endangers your life and we are preprogrammed with this knowledge.
ReplyI understand this completely, if I'm being honest it makes sense that you would partner up with a man/woman that was on the same wavelength lifestyle wise - obese or underweight. It makes life easier. But I have a problem with... I don't know how to put this... It's dangerous for women to diet down to a weight that men find attractive. Because for some men, this weight is less than what is healthy. I consistantly go to the gym, I watch what I eat and as a consequence lost a bit of weight (I was only a bit chubby to start with so hard to lose a large amount). But for men I would still be too big. I know this for a fact. I see some women at the gym who are tiny and I see guys in town parading their tiny girlfriends. I'm not going to get into the debate of tiny/skinny hate. I just had to realise that I might not be that small, right now. Slashing the amount you eat to a pittance for the sake of someone else's approval of your sexual attractiveness is a sure-fire way to mess up your head.
Replysome of my best friends have been thin. they like me because they enjoy my company. we both recognize i am fat and it is a non issue in our friendships. even though most are thin (one even looks like a supermodel) some are black, gay, atheist, or gasp..... republican. these factors make no difference in how we interact. i would like to think a majority of the human race is the same way!
ReplyI have a good friend who is very slim, we bonded over the love of baking cookies. I had moments where I was bitter that she could eat junk and not be fat but she never made weight an issue. In reality, I don't think she ate enough junk for it to make her fat.
ReplyThere's fat and then there obese, and theyre very very different.
I dont often look at obese people in a good light, they almost always appear unclean, almost slobish, and have obvious health problems, specifically; obvious circulatory issues.
I understand obesity is a disease, but when i'm out somehwere and i see an obese person in the street, legs scaley and purpled from poor circulation, breathing loudly through their nose, with food stains across their shirt, i'm sorry, but i can't help but feel repulsed.
ReplyI breathe loudly through my nose at any weight - I have 40% breathing capacity in one nostril, and 70% in the other, from an accident. I pant all the time. So do asthmatics.
So, do asthmatics and people with poor breathing like me disgust you, too? What about young parents who have food stains from their babies spitting up on them, but are not fat?
ReplyOh sheesh, don't be pedantic, Jan74. You know exactly what the Ren meant when she described being repulsed by hugely overweight people. You're trying to mince words with her instead of looking at the whole picture. Ren stated that a person so large that they had trouble breathing and had food stains on their considerable girth would disgust her.
You pick and choose little tidbits from her post and manipulate them to make her feelings out to be unwarranted. I too would feel disgust at being near a person that would allow themselves to get in that condition. But to answer your question, no, I wouldn't be disgusted at you for your poor breathing. Although I might not like sitting next to you on a bus or train if I was trying to get some shut eye before my stop.
ReplyYeah, I get irritated when people say to me: "Oh, you are a skinny mini...how do you stay so thin?" Then I tell them I run 60 miles a week and eat lots of raw, unprocessed foods. I tell them I used to eat like crap and not work out and they still don't believe that I have to work my @$$ off to stay thin.
ReplyThis is a ridiculous assumption--I am slim (5'5", 132 lbs), but my entire immediate family and almost all of my friends are overweight or obese, as is my husband. I am sure that there are people who assume that fat people are lazy and/or selfish and/or whatever they think, but to make such a broad generalization that all thin people feel that way is as foolish as assuming negative things about all heavy people.
ReplyI also think a lot of this reaction has to do with prejudice and socially-imposed behavior. Up until very recently - and perhaps even today, albeit to a lesser extent - there has been a general social negative reaction to overweight people. Being overweight is, of course, an issue that needs to be addressed ... by the person who is overweight. Being singled out by others for being overweight is wrong. Just like this is probably learned behavior, it could probably be unlearned. Obesity has a lot to do with social forces/tendencies that need to be addressed (e.g. oversize portions in virtually all restaurants; enormous marketing for foods on tv and other media; etc.); stigmatizing those who - possibly because of preexisting health problems - were influenced by such social forces is not the right approach to solving this problem.
ReplyAll of you who think that fat or, yes, even obese, people are lazy and stupid should be ashamed of yourselves. Since when is stereotyping okay? How dare you make presumptions about people, thinking that your situation is so much better and you are so much more enlightened or whatever! I've struggled with weight my entire life. So has my mom, my grandmother, and my great-grandmother before she passed. My mother is one of the most hardworking individuals I know. I'm a student at a fine University and spend about 60 hours/week on work (at least). The times when I've been in the best shape were times when I was able to be "more lazy" and push that work aside in favor of giving myself more attention. Your presumptions are outlandish and unfair. Sure, I could eat less and exercise more. So could a lot of people. I don't see how it makes me a bad person to focus on other aspects of my life at this time. It certainly doesn't mean that I'm sitting around eating twinkies and watching tv (note: I haven't eaten a twinkie since I was a little kid and doesn't own a television).
ReplyI sort of understand where you are coming from, but I must disagree on a few points. I have also struggled with my weight my entire life. Few years ago, the nightmare happened when I finally went from being an overweight dude to an obese dude... and God did that feel awful. I guess it all boils down to a sedentary lifestyle and overeating. I finally picked up the courage to make a change, exercising 6 days a week and eating no more than 1200 calories a day. The result is that I lost 100 pounds and my body fat level at an atheletic 11-12% most importantly the weight stayed off.
ReplyI agree that fat people could produce quality work, I mean all you Christians only have to look at St. Thomas Aquinas to know that. Yet, when people refer to fat ppl as lazy, we dont mean to encompass their whole as lazy, we are simply referring to their lack of exercise and control as lazy. I work an average 70-80 hr week yet I still find at least 10 hrs a week to do heavy exercise... don't blame anyone else or society for your problems, and dont blame the bloody medicine. Obese people are simply out of control, and they need all the help they can get. You can't make a change if you dont accept the responsibility of being fat. I think obese people SHOULD be discriminated against, why shud healthy ppl who work their asses off to stay healthy, respect fat slobs who sit around eating cakes and chocolates? The whole fat acceptance movement is bogus as it tries to justify something that is wrong.
"Evolved behavioral immune system triggers a sense of avoidance and disgust"? If this is the case, wouldn't people's immune system NOT want them to visit sick people in the hospital? NOT want them to "rubber neck" at the scene of accidents? NOT want them to care for an injured animal? I find this one very hard to believe!!! I'm sorry, but hate and prejudice is learned (usually from an early age), not a response from the immune system. Will we want to free murderers now, because their immune system "made them do it?" Maybe if we spent more time & resources on teaching love and understanding, the world would be a much brighter, happier, & productive place. (Don't mean to rant).
ReplyJoanne-
ReplyAw come on, all of us Republicans aren't so bad- We struggle with the same weight issues as everyone else :)
People are fat because they eat too much and exercise too little, PERIOD.
People who are greedy and/ or eat crap food usually end up fat. I work with two obese people at work. You should hear the excuses. Then when it comes to lunch time, they are eating massive high fat/ sugary meals. Also, they drive everywhere, never walk. They are also accustomed to eating large morning tea meals and snacking on cookies and crap inbetween.
A friend and I have also noticed an interesting fact. Most fat people can be seen at some point of the day, hanging off a bottle of Coke.
The really fat annoying chick at work, who breathes real loud and orders everybody to do things for her because she is too unfit and lazy, is starting to have lots of illnesses that are all attributed to bad diet and lifestyle. The excuses.....
No kidding, fat people irritate the hell out of me. I am not the fittest person in the world but I avoid obese people whenever I can. They have lazy and greedy written all over them which I find disgusting. Fat people can not pull their weight in any job I have worked along side them with and they rely on normal people to help them out.
ReplyObese people are not like that by choice. Some of them are fat because of throid or genetic problems. Some are physically weak and the list is even long. When someone sneeze without covering his/her mouth is simply spreading their germs to others where they could simply avoid it. Obese people never try or attempt. The others may feel comfortable being around an obese because it makes him/her feel better about their body surrounded with people larger than them.
ReplyI once read that brain research had shown that people who look at something they were once prejudiced against will have those feelings of prejudice again immediately upon looking at it. But then the "reason" center of their brains would block those feelings out.
Perhaps it is, in fact, instinctive to be repelled by someone who is obese. If it's true, then denying it will not help anyone. Instead, we need to realize that this is a challenge, and make a conscious effort to see them as real people.
Is a bigot someone who thinks "That person is obese because she has an unhealthy lifestyle," or someone who thinks "I'm better than that person because she's obese?"
I think people can decide to control their weight, even if it's harder for some people than others. I see too many success stories to think that it's just impossible for some people.
Some people might be more sensitive, and gain weight more quickly than others, but that just means they need to be aware of that and find supportive friends and family members who can help them make good choices.
I think people who are obese probably have an unhealthy lifestyle. But I don't think I'm better than they are. I know how hard it is to try to live a healthy lifestyle when everyone around you is not. And I know how hard people can be on themselves when they're just doing what everyone else is doing, and it affects them more than it does other people.
ReplyThis has been a great discussion. It's brought up a lot of different attitudes we all hold about weight.
There's a great article by Jo Anne Cassell in the April 1995 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, titled Social anthropology and nutrition: A different look at obesity in America. She starts the article:
She gives a quick historical view of social attitudes towards being overweight and being obese (she confounds the two, which I think is unfair - a better way to look at it, if possible, would be to ask how much does one have to weigh for it to be viewed as negative? I think that this level has changed, and may currently be moving up. There might be a good paper there.) She spends most of the paper detailing attitudes in the US in the twentieth century, and brings up the stir caused when President Taft got stuck in a bathtub in the White House (he was 6'2" tall and weighed 355 lbs).She touches on research in the early 1900s that had an impact on actuarial tables, the impact of World War I on social pressures on the overweight, theories about weight, mood and genetics, the craze for thyroid supplements from 1911-1930, the growth of fad diets, the change in the 1940s towards measuring percent body fat, theories of obesity and psychology and the interest in self-help groups, the skyrocketing of low calorie foods in the 1950s, the explosion of weight loss books in the 1960s, the exercise movement in ther 1980s, and the growing anti-diet movement in the 1990s.
I like her conclusion:
It doesn't sound easy, though...ReplyI wanted to respond to this statment Dawn. While I agree it is important for you to face reality and recognize the need for change I am concerned with the lanuage you use to describe yourself. You say this about yourself serveral times and I wonder how much it is becoming a vicious cycle or a self-fullfilling prophechy? If you believe this of yourself and define your being as fat, lazy and glutton then you are bound to continue in that pattern. What ever we put out comes back over and over again. I invite you to consider how powerful a shift in your thinking could be. You have been keeping yourself in this particular box for a long time, maybe all your life. How about opening up the box and making room for a different perspective or belief about yourself? Create the space for you to move into a different way of being. I don't know if you are following me here. I can only tell you from personal experience as well as that of many of my clients, that changing your self defintion and self talk is key to success. Instead of being a fat lazy glutton working hard to change, be someone who is in the process of becoming fit and healthy everyday. Be aware of your challenges with emotional eating and activity but don't define yourself by them.
ReplyAnn-
Fine, you've found a way to fit healthy eating and fitness into your busy life. That's wonderful. That doesn't change the fact that someone who hasn't may not be lazy. Maybe he has different priorities. Maybe he has more going on in your life than you do and is a stronger person than you could imagine. Maybe not. Maybe he's not as organized or self-motivated in that area or maybe he's just not as strong as you. That doesn't mean you have a right to judge how he spends his time. That doesn't mean that he is a bad person or possesses the negative qualities you assume he would have just because he carries extra weight. Everyone has problems. Some people are unlucky enough for theirs to be more visible than others.
ReplyI totally understand this article. I used to be overweight 2 years ago when I was 15...5'4" and 157 lbs (I'm now 17, 5'6" and weigh around 118). I always felt like the skinny, beautiful girls were being judgmental on me because of my figure. Even though I'm kinda slim now, I still feel like there's always those stereotypical superskinny girls (like 90 or 100 something lbs) snickering at my fatass, making me feel like I'm not thin enough for society. In fact, I remember last year, one of my best guy friends was telling me about how one of my really worst enemies (dont ask how or why) was talking about how fat I was and how my calves were full of cellulite. Granted, he told me this in July last year, but she (the worst enemy) was saying that crap in January of last year, when I was still in the process of losing weight and weighed around 129-ish at the time. And this was coming from a really short, skinny girl who thought she was fat, backstabbed her "friends", whored herself out to all her guy friends at the local community college she attended, and felt that if you didn't believe in her religious or political views, she would deem you as "ignorant". Oh well, I really shouldn't worry about her because I'm never gonna see her again. And she also has no right to talk about my calves anymore; they are now lean, hard, muscular, and increased bone mass :)
Sorry for the long rambling...just had to post a thought and example to back it up.
ReplyIt works the oppisite too, though. I am 5'3, 100lbs., very petite frame, and outside the night club or a place where I am supposed to look that way...like a grocery store... I am labeled anorexic. It baffles my mind because it is a healthy weight for my frame size and the fashion/entertainment industry tells us this is how we are supposed to look...but in day to day life it is considered anorexic??? I guess we can never win.
ReplyYeah, I get the same thing. I'm 5'2 and 100 pounds and people always poke me in the stomach and say, "You need to eat!"
ReplyI do eat actually but I don't feel I am too skinny. It's weird, it seems like no one is ever right!
Hmmm.... I'm not sure you being overweight excuses this statement.
For the record, I'm overweight. No one would describe me as lazy. Been running for eight years now. It is prejudice and quite WRONG to judge someone you do not know on the basis of the weight. Thin does not automatically mean hard-working, and fat does not mean lazy. I suggest you reconsider your perceptions. And anyone here who feels that way, I suggest the same.
The article--- I think this hypothesis is BS and just searching for an excuse.
ReplyAlso want to add: My boyfriend is obese. He also works 80 hours a week, sometimes more. He'll go into work one day, work straight overnight through the next work day. Sure his company is glad they didn't judge him as lazy because of his weight.
ReplyDeborah,
Thank you. I truly appreciate your comments. I have always been very insecure with who I am, and was always told to let others compliment me, instead of me doing it myself. I guess that is why I always look to the not so good qualities. But my head really is okay. I am a mom of 3 wonderful boys (2 teenagers and one preteen). I have just gone back to work full time in the last year after being home for many years with my boys. I am a teacher, and due to my schedule, I am up at about 5 doing school work and am out the door by 715am. When I get home with my kids, it is rush to music lessons and their sports practices. There is very little time for family time meals, let alone preparation ( partly because of poor grocery choices). In the evening I just sit and enjoy my husband (of 20 years- I know in this day and age - that is success) and children's company, until I head to bed at 9. When others say they are up till 11 or later to clean and exercise - I just have never had the energy and so thought myself lazy. But I know stress plays a huge part in that. This year one son broke his leg and I sprained my ankle. Stress, little mobility and the pounds crept up even worse that what I was.
We are all on summer break right now and I am thrilled to have so much time to watch what I eat, exercise (I had 16,000 steps yesterday! alot for a 239 lb 5"6"" person who is getting over a sprained ankle!) and get healthy. I really feel great about who I am now and who I am becoming! Those who run 30 miles a week and more - I am inspired by them and I'm want to get there!
My comments were based on the blog thoughts - and I was just trying to say that perhaps it is the feelings people have about themselves that are a reflection of how they see others. But you are right - negative thoughts are never a good thing. Thanks for pointing that out.
ReplyWhen I see black people, I'm always disgusted because I used to work with a few and they would make comments about... (sorry coming up short here because I don't really store it, insert some stupid comments from the rap sub-culture here)
What? That's basically what you just said.
(Not true, by the way, just a comparison. ;))
I'm overweight. I exercise 15+ hours a week. I sure as hell don't eat fried foods or much processed junk. Eewww, disgusting. Way to judge a person based on a small sample without knowing someone, SCal.
You cannot judge a person based on some missheld stereotypes about the group. It is NEVER right. You shouldn't do it about someone's gender, you shouldn't do it about someone's race, you shouldn't do it based on someones accent or country of origin, and (here's the one a few of y'all seem to have more problem with) you shouldn't do it based on someone's weight.
Even if weight is something someone typically has more control over, that is NOT always the case-- and even where it IS the case, such social stigma has the opposite effect of helping the person into good health.
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