Fat: The New "F" Word?
Did you know that its Fat Talk Free Week?
The Reflections Program is running a campaign this week to encourage women to remove the word "fat" from their vocabulary when talking about themselves and others.
Also, in London Kathryn Szrodecki is fighting back by demanding legal protection for overweight people who are discriminated against and abused.
Laws have already been passed in San Fransisco that legally protect overweight people from being discriminated against and it is even illegal now for doctors to hassle patients about their weight.
So where is all this headed? Well many proponents of this new legislation would like to see the word fat be declared as hate speech, in the same category as racial slurs. They want the diet industry to quit preying on them to make their millions by marketing schemes that proclaim "fat" as ugly, unhealthy, and undesirable.
I think we should treat everyone with respect and dignity, but perhaps some of this might be a tad overboard. Is not saying the word "Fat" really going to give a woman a better body image? Or does it stem from deeper things within that only real hard soul searching work can fix?
A few months ago in our Forum we published a post "Why do Skinny People Hate Fat People". This post has 89 comments and continues to get very emotional responses. We definitely have a problem in our society when anyone feels hated based on their physical appearance.
Now the hard part, how do we fix it?
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Okay, so I don't agree with discriminating against fat people, but equating the word "fat" with racial slurs is taking it just a TAD too far in my mind. What if I find the word "skinny" offensive? Because I do; I don't want to be called "skinny" any more than fat people want to be called "fat". I prefer the word lean or muscular or svelte, just as I'm sure fat people prefer the words curvy, etc. to "fat". But it's just an adjective; some people may embrace the term "fat" just like some people may embrace the word "skinny".
As far as doctors not being able to "hassle" patients about their weight, I don't think a lot of doctors actually do that; they may encourage their overweight patients to lose weight to improve their health, but I don't think many of them are abusive or anything.
ReplyPerhaps you shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the hassle fat patients get from doctors in regards to weight. Often symptoms are completely over looked or blamed on being overweight. The solution to all health problems is lose weight to some doctors.
While I think too it's too extreme to ban the word fat, I do think equating it with laziness, greediness or being ugly is a problem. I also have a problem with the diet industries opportunism on the overweight to make a buck at the expense of their health. I bought into every fad the diet industry had until 2007 and it only got me fat. When i focused on good nutrition and being active my weight started to come off without it being painful.
ReplySometimes I think this blog should change it's name from diet-blog dot com to 'let's look 4 lame stuff and cause our readers to act like lemmings dot com'.
Calling someone fat isn't very nice, but equating it with racial slurs is absurd. I can think of a lot of words that are more derogatory than 'fat', but still aren't in the category of a racial slur.
ReplyI used to BE fat, ok? Obese, actually. And my doctor always told me that I could lose a few pounds, but I didn't need to worry too much. Truthfully, I was obese and it was causing me to have severely painful periods. I thought I had PCOS, but once I lost about 60 lbs, my period symptoms got a LOT better. I told my doctor this and she said "Oh, yes, well weight loss does help with those symptoms, but we don't like to tell people that because we don't want to accuse anyone of being fat". I WISH they would have told me that losing weight would have eased my symptoms that much...that in itself would have been motivation enough for me to lose the weight.
Replywell i appologize. you've been lucky to be spared those type of doctors. I have flat feet, I've had them since i was a little kid... and I was skkkkiiiinnnyyyy until I hit puberty. One time I went to see a doc about heel spurs, which can be caused by being flat footed they refused to believe my weight didn't cause my flat footedness which was the reason I had heel spurs(that and going on 6 mile walks) I wanted an insole so I could continue walking. He told me to lose weight. I'm not obese anymore and I still have to ice and tape my heels and use insoles to prevent heel spurs...just as I knew losing weight would not fix. Try to tell a prejudice doctor that.
ReplyThis is f**king stupid, the word that REALLY needs to be eliminated from everyone's vocab is DIET. Short term thinking, no result-giving diets.
Replace diet with "eating lifestyle" or "eating habits" and you're already half way there. Getting a ripped body is 70% mental and 30% execution. Point Blank Period.
ReplyMore like 90% mental and 90% execution. Do the math, it works.
ReplyBTW, I read your comment on the other referenced post, and thought it was actually beautiful. Yes, the language was harsh, but you were advising that person to take charge of their own identity and stop letting others define them, and that they had choices they were making. I thought that was great.
ReplyReferring to me? Harsh language... yeah you probably are. Thanks doc, yeah sugar coating or softening the blow isn't my thing.
ReplyGood point & 70% mental & food! If you ain't eating right, it ain't happening. But that takes mental fortitude!
Now, not saying fat is not going to necessarily give a woman a better body image because it is in the mind but I do think we should be respectful of each other & stay away from "cruelness" like on the entertainment shows when anyone over a size 2 is called fat or cruelness in everyday actions. And of course, we should not discriminate if they can do the job....
ReplyWell many proponents of this new legislation would like to see the word fat be declared as hate speech, in the same category as racial slurs.
Since commenters seem to be getting undergarments all tied up about this, do you have a citation?
Replyso if this new legislation were passed, "fat" would be banned, but "obese", "heifer", and "pig" would all be okay, right?
this is ridiculous.
more importantly, banning the usage of a word will not make the problem go away. that's akin to sticking our collective heads in the sand. the truth is that the proliferation of the overweight and obese in such a short period of time is a serious issue. not allowing people to discuss the dangers of being FAT will not magically make people lose weight and gain health.
not allowing doctors to "hassle" patients about their weight is outrageous. not alerting a patient about an imminent health risk is malpractice!!
this is a case of political correctness gone awry.
ReplyGuys, i just hate to think of any doctor being legally constrained from giving medical advice. I totally understand how that can become a negative experience or an easy out for the doctor, but still--to be completely banned from even broaching the subject seems to be going way too far.
ReplyHow about instead of thinking in terms of "negative" instructions or rules, we switch to positive ones?
Example here: Instead of concentrating on what word people are called, let's put our heads together, and PROMOTE BY EXAMPLE healthy eating and exercise.
I do agree that there are some lazy doctors who just say "lose weight" and don't do the work of a differential diagnosis.
But I think that our problems have a lot more to do with what we value. If we stop valuing money and excess as a culture, people will also be less likely to eat more. But we never want to look inward, it is always about pointing fingers at society. Society is made up of people all of whom are responsible for themselves AND each other. Some of these things must be conscious decisions and require difficult choices.
Finally, I do think that we should look at bullying in any form. This is harmful, and doesn't help anyone. And what is the point in calling someone fat? To make you feel better about yourself? Just call them "john" or "jamal" or "susan" or whatever their given name is.
Replyonline bullying is De rigueur... Some people take special pride in their bullying, evil words designed to inflict maximum pain and harm. Sort of like what Barry does.
ReplyYou have a real thing for Barry, don't you? What did he do to you?
ReplyHe made him cry. So now Arrow has turned bitter. He walks in the shadow of berry, er... BARRY.
Replythis has always been a peeve of mine. i am fat. feel free to call me fat. it a perfectly good adjective. it seems like we are having to become very politically correct using adjectives that we will no longer be able to describe any one whether its color, race, or body size.
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