Bodies and Fat Phobia

Fat shaming not only affects adults, but children too! This teaches youth that they’re bodies are not normal and opens up the doorway to bullying. Peer victimization has been linked to depression, loneliness and general anxiety. These are not the types of things children and adolescents need to deal with during the most critical stage of their lives! How could a teen concentrate on school when they are being bullied, humiliated and rejected for their body size? Children who are being bullied have a lower success rate at school because of preoccupation or not attending school at all. At school, teachers should promote a “health at every size” perspective and create a supportive class-room environment. 

Fat Positive

Being fat positive means loving your body the way it is. You accept your weight because there is nothing wrong with it. You don’t let fat shaming stop you from being you. Fat positivity not only reinforces the concept of loving your body no matter what size you are, but it also trickles into common myths pertaining to sexuality and social equality. For instance, not all fat women are lesbians. As Lunette puts it, “the[re is an] underlying assumption that queer women can ‘give up’ on their bodies because they don’t ‘need’ to attract men”. Or fighting the belief that it’s one’s body that has a problem, not society. For example, paying more for an airplane ticket because the seats are built for “normal” size people. (Why I’m Fat Positive, 1) Being fat positive is acknowledging the barriers and overcoming them. It’s acceptance of all body shapes and sizes.

Privilege is an unearned advantage granted to a person or group. You cannot chose to have this privilege or deny it. You simply have it or you don’t. Most of the time, if you are benefitting from privilege you don’t even know it. There are white privileges and male privileges and yes, there are thin privileges.  Here some example of thin privilege:

·      You’re not assumed to be unhealthy because of your size

·      When you’re at the grocery store, people don’t comment on the food selection in your cart in the name of “trying to be helpful”

·      You’re health insurances rates are not higher than others

·      You can expect to find your clothing size locally

·      People don’t assume that you are lazy based on your size

·      The media doesn’t describe your shape as part of an “epidemic”

The discrimination against someone’s size is called sizeism. It is widely accepted by society, unlike racism or sexism. So what makes sizeism so different? Well it is commonly believed that being fat is a choice. An unhealthy choice. Fat people are simply being lazy. They have the power to change their body image but they just don’t feel like it. For many people, this perspective justifies fat shaming. Some may think “if fat people don’t want to be humiliated anymore than they can just loose the weight. I’m doing them a favour. They’ll be healthy!” And then there is the belief that thin and healthy go together. Over weight people are categorized into “overweight”, “obese” and “morbidly obese”, terms that have negative connotations. Because people are afraid to be perceived as unhealthy, they fear these words. Whether you are fat or thin, being overweight is believed to be shameful. However, thin isn’t healthy and fat isn’t unhealthy. A fat person can have a healthy life style by eating right and exercising. Unfortunately they are oppressed by this social construct. By acknowledging thin privilege, we can begin to transform sizeism from acceptable to unacceptable.

 Wann (2009). Fat Studies: An Invitation to Revolution.

Fat phobia. By definition, fat is having an excess of flesh. Phobia means an extreme fear of something. But together, fat phobia does not only mean being afraid of fat, it also describes the oppression and discrimination against those who are perceived to be fat. Thanks to society, a large number of people harbor anti-fat attitudes.  Unlike other oppressive systems within society that have been exposed and challenged, fat phobia remains widely accepted and normal. (Fat Youth as Common Targets for Bullying, 124)

Today’s standards of beauty include your waist size and those who do not fit a size two are stigmatized: dirty, unhealthy, lack of self-control, lazy and unattractive. Fat people are being judged solely based on their appearance. However, fat phobia goes beyond inner judgments and opinions. Many people perceived to be fat are shamed for their bodies. They may experience exclusion, inconsiderate and unwelcomed comments and humiliation. Some research suggests that fat shaming is more harmful to a person’s health than being over-weight. An outsider’s comments can affect the self-esteem of a person being victimized by fat phobia.

Fat phobia isn’t uncommon. In fact, we are exposed to it every day! All you have to do is watch a talk show on TV or look on the cover of a tabloid magazine. Images of celebrities and their bodies are constantly being criticized. Especially around summer time, when celebs head to the beach, social media is blowing up with people sharing their opinion on someone else’s body! On top of the hurtful comments circulating the web, fat shaming in tabloids trickles down to the readers. Many people will identify with the celeb being targeted and can feel shamed themselves. Social media sets the standards on body image norms.

What many people do not realize is that your weight isn’t necessarily a choice. For some, excess weight is the result of a medical condition, for others they’ve always been fat. Weight is not always mutable and negotiable! (Fat Studies, ix) By the way, who determined the ideal body weight anyways? Most people follow the Body Mass Index weight chart, which mixes height and weight to determine the ideal number, but who is to say what is “normal” when the world is filled with such diversity? (Fat Studies, xii