Good Fats -v- Bad Fats
May. 19th, 2009 08:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
polimicksHere's the thing. I speak at length about how I eat right, exercise, do active stuff and take care of myself. I go to the doctor regularly, all of my numbers (blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol) are great, if not a bit on the low side. I like to work out. I enjoy being active. I am, what is often referred to in the Fat Acceptance Blogosphere (Fatosphere) as a "Good Fattie." I do everything right, short of starving myself, and still don't lose the weight.
On the other side of the coin are "Bad Fatties" who eat nothing but bon-bons and baby donuts (thanks to Kate Harding and the other ladies on Shapely Prose http://kateharding.net/), who never, ever exercise or do anything. Of course, their numbers (blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol) are NOT good, and they are OBVIOUSLY dying from their DeathFat.
But how can you, the casual observer, tell the two apart?
You can't.
This isn't City of Heroes/Villians, or WoW or any other MMORPG where people's stats and life bars float above their heads telling you how healthy you are.
Not to mention, IT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!!!! Seriously. It isn't any of your business. Not even a little bit. And I don't care if you HAVE to sit next to them on the bus, or stand near them in a bus shelter, or look at them in public. It remains none of your fucking business. As I've said before, fat people know they're fat, and if shaming people into losing weight worked, we'd all look like Kate Moss. But it doesn't. So knock it the fuck off, asswipe.
Also, just to throw this in the mix there are *gasp* skinny people out there who eat like shit, whose numbers suck, who have diabetes, heart disease and all that crap that is supposed to zero in on the ZOMG FATTIES! And you can't tell by looking at them either.
So, here's an idea. Instead of your default being "Treat fat people like shit because they are OBVIOUSLY killing themselves with their unnatural appetites and willful destruction of the world," why don't you change your default to, "Treat ALL people like human beings regardless of what they look like." That way you don't have to look like an asshole, and I don't have to raise my blood pressure by restraining the urge to slap some sense into that empty melon you have sitting on your shoulders in lieu of a head.
On the other side of the coin are "Bad Fatties" who eat nothing but bon-bons and baby donuts (thanks to Kate Harding and the other ladies on Shapely Prose http://kateharding.net/), who never, ever exercise or do anything. Of course, their numbers (blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol) are NOT good, and they are OBVIOUSLY dying from their DeathFat.
But how can you, the casual observer, tell the two apart?
You can't.
This isn't City of Heroes/Villians, or WoW or any other MMORPG where people's stats and life bars float above their heads telling you how healthy you are.
Not to mention, IT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!!!! Seriously. It isn't any of your business. Not even a little bit. And I don't care if you HAVE to sit next to them on the bus, or stand near them in a bus shelter, or look at them in public. It remains none of your fucking business. As I've said before, fat people know they're fat, and if shaming people into losing weight worked, we'd all look like Kate Moss. But it doesn't. So knock it the fuck off, asswipe.
Also, just to throw this in the mix there are *gasp* skinny people out there who eat like shit, whose numbers suck, who have diabetes, heart disease and all that crap that is supposed to zero in on the ZOMG FATTIES! And you can't tell by looking at them either.
So, here's an idea. Instead of your default being "Treat fat people like shit because they are OBVIOUSLY killing themselves with their unnatural appetites and willful destruction of the world," why don't you change your default to, "Treat ALL people like human beings regardless of what they look like." That way you don't have to look like an asshole, and I don't have to raise my blood pressure by restraining the urge to slap some sense into that empty melon you have sitting on your shoulders in lieu of a head.
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-19 07:48 pm (UTC)You can ask her if she'd like to work out with you, as a social thing if you're so inclined. But if she says no, leave her alone about it.
Seriously, no one who is fat has not heard about a brazillion times that exercise will make them feel better, etc...
However, she may have a medical condition she isn't comfortable sharing. Gods, the number of times I've gotten shit from people who tell me I need to do more leg machines at the gym, and then when I patiently explain that no, I have chrondomalacia (which I'm spelling wrong) and arthritis, and that those machines will hurt me worse, only to get told I don't know what I'm talking about ... Yeah, because neither I, nor my orthopedic surgeon have ANY idea what I'm talking about here...
I shouldn't have to explain to people why I don't run (knees), don't use the leg extensions (knees), don't a lot of things.
Be prepared that she will rebuff your offer and leave it at that.
Holy crap, after the butt surgery when I could barely shuffle around, I had people lecturing me on not taking the stairs. They didn't see a cane or cast, so I must have been fine, right?
So many conditions and illnesses are "invisible" in that there are no obvious signs that lay people can pick up, even when they see you day to day.
I'm sure tons of people who see me out dancing at the clubs like a maniac, have no idea I have chronic arthritis in my knees, hips and ankles. Yes, I CAN dance for hours, but I pay for it the next day. Oh, do I.