Why We Shouldn’t Accept “Fat Acceptance”

I'm on my way to Vegas today, so I'll leave you with this.  I didn't write it, but I definitely agree with it.

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Why We Shouldn’t Accept “Fat Acceptance”


Some tidbits.  But the whole article, while long, is so very worth the read.

The very name of the “Fat Acceptance” movement is exemplary of what’s wrong with identity-politics rhetoric: it muddles dispassionate conceptual arguments with overtones of personal, emotional stuff.  In other words, if you say “I don’t support the Fat Acceptance movement,” and what you mean is “I believe obesity is not genetic and it’s possible for fat people to lose weight,” it’s going to be heard as “I think it’s okay to be mean to fat people.”  And this is by design: the aim of the movement’s rhetoric is to render scientific arguments culturally unstable, so that they instantly degenerate into arguments about personal prejudice.  As a general rule, you should stay away from movements that make a habit of this sort of thing.

 What more proof do you need that obesity isn’t wholly — or even predominantly — genetic than the fact that it’s happening in America?  America is, as you doubtless learned in elementary school, a “melting pot.”  People have been coming here from all over the world for as long as we’ve existed.  There’s no such thing as being genetically “American” — so how the hell could something genetic be happening in America and nowhere else?  And don’t tell me people in other countries are all malnourished.  I’m not comparing us to North Korea and sub-Saharan Africa here — I’m comparing us to Europe, where most Americans’ genes sailed over from within very recent history, and freaking Canada, which is right next door.  Why would people in Minnesota be genetically fat and people half an hour across the border not be?  If two-thirds of Americans of, say, Irish or French ancestry are “genetically” fat, then roughly the same proportions of people in Ireland or France should also be fat, but they’re not.  The only way wildly disproportionate obesity rates could be both genetic and uniquely American would be if aliens are altering our DNA by bombarding us with gamma rays or something — in which case, I should really not be writing this article, because I wouldn’t like two-thirds of Americans when they’re angry.

Yes, it is true that you need personal trainers and dietitians to look like Gwyneth Paltrow or the dude who plays Thor.  But you don’t need a personal trainer or a dietitian to look like a reasonably attractive regular person.  It’s not like there’s no middle ground between “celebrity” and “big fat pig.”  In fact, I’ll map out that middle ground right now.

    10:  A-List celebrity who is one of the most attractive people on the planet
      9:  Incredibly hot person whom most people would still give their right arm to date
      8:  Damn good-looking person who has no trouble getting dates or attention
      7:  Totally cute person anyone would marry assuming they are compatible in other ways
      6:  Marginally attractive person
      5:  Marginally unattractive person
      4:  Fat
      3:  So fat your coworkers make faces when they hear you eating
      2:  So fat you need one of those fat-person canes with the three prongs at the bottom
      1:  So fat there’s a reality show about how fat you are

If I let myself I'd sit here and quote the whole article, which does a disservice to the author, so just go read it, okay?