The World is Unfair to Fat People
obesity epidemic, dieting
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We hear the same things over and over. “America is overweight” and “We must stop the obesity epidemic.” There are millions of studies showing how people are generally overweight. But not only does the media want to point this out, but they want to place blame on everything and everyone. Fat people are constantly criticized for their figure, except for the rare times when the media feels like being nice and posts something about how it’s ok to be fat, and often times, they really can’t help it.
Let’s look at some other bodily features that humans have: Height, Skin Color, Eye Color, to name a few. We have little or no control over how tall we grow, what color our skin is, and what color our eyes are. Why? A well-known scientific aspect of life called genetics. We can try to eat the right things or hang upside down to make ourselves taller, but there’s no proof any of that make a difference. If we’re fair skinned, we can tan a lot (unless we burn easily) but skin color changes are only temporary. We can wear contacts to change our eye color, but in most people it’s an obvious fake.
So why, if all other features of our body are chalked up to genetics, do we put so much blame on those who do not have the ideal body type? My argument is, although there are definitely many people out there that could be lighter than they are, many people simply cannot help being overweight.
Oprah, who often goes on streaks of dieting, will always be overweight. She goes through periods of being slimmer, and I give her credit for that, but her genetic makeup will always be what society views as overweight. Just like WeeMan will always be short.
I know people who disagree would argue that people have more control over their weight than height, which I totally agree with. So let’s compare it to skin color. People genetically have a given skin color. Fair, medium, dark, and so on. Someone with fair skin tone, can tan often and acquire a medium/dark skin tone, but unless they tan all year round (which is hard for most people) they will go back to being medium toned. Do people look down on them for being medium toned? No, they can’t help it. Obviously it would be hard to go tanning all year long.
So now let’s analyze body fat the same way. People genetically have a given body makeup. Heavy, medium, skinny, and so on. Someone who is heavy can intensely diet/exercise often and acquire a medium/skinny body, but unless they can maintain this regimen all year round (which is hard for most people to do) they will go back to being heavy. Do people look down on them for being heavy? Yes, despite the fact that it is hard for most people to maintain weight loss habits all year long.
Notice that the two are very similar except for the way they are viewed by society. How ridiculous would it be if we heard on the news every day, “Society is pale as a ghost” and “Why can’t people get outside tanning so that they’re not so pale.” If you saw a headline about “The Pale Epidemic,” I think you’d laugh, yet you (who if you’re of the majority, you’re overweight) think it is totally normal when the media does the same thing about a very similar genetic feature.
So unless you’re ready to deal with the Pale Epidemic, the Body Hair Epidemic, and the Wrong Hair Color epidemic (notice the similarity to nazi germany), I suggest having more tolerance for the fat people of the world.
Disclaimer: I understand that there are lazy people out there that could be less overweight, but I am talking about those that truly want to lose weight and cannot consistently keep the pounds off.
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on 2/7/2008
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