I have struggled with this my entire adult life. Both of my parents died in their 50s from diseases commonly associated with weight/eating (Diabetes and Colon Cancer). I am absolutely terrified of leaving my daughter motherless, and afraid of the dire warnings I typically get from my PCP around weight and "predisposition" to disease. But I also think that my mom's colon cancer diagnosis was delayed by nearly a year because her doctor dismissed her symptoms and nagged her, yet again, to eat better and lose weight. Your work has been chipping away at decades of anxiety and my own fatphobia that has kept me tangled in dieting and compulsive exercise. Thank you for helping me to think critically about this issue.
This connected so many dots in my head around the moral virtue of health and its relationship to fatphobia. Society makes moral judgments about things like smoking, substance abuse and, yes, being overweight and then feel like people choose their own consequences. I'm going to need to read this over and over.
Yes! So glad. And the difference between smoking and weight that's important to keep in mind, of course, is that smoking is a behavior and weight is a physical attribute (and fatphobia is what makes us assume it's the result of "bad behaviors"). Of course there's also a strong argument not to shame smokers or folks with any sort of substance use disorder, since we also know that addiction is not just a matter of "willpower" or choice, and often a coping strategy/response to trauma/byproduct of other experiences in nuanced ways. So your analogy stands! But I do think behavior vs trait is a useful distinction there.
I agree that behavior vs trait is an important distinction. I was thinking that society treats being overweight as a behavior rather than a trait and I was realizing that I’ve internalized that message as well. Professionally I often represent individuals with substance misuse issues so it’s an issue I’ve thought a lot about.
This distinction is SO good - I'm sure you're written about it before, but for whatever reason it took this comment to make it sink in: That fatphobia itself is what leads to the assumption of "bad behaviors" or some kind of weakness.
These days, when I meet or hear about someone with an addiction, my mind immediately goes to a trauma response. I'm not sure I should be going around assuming that, but it does eliminate any judgement on my part about willpower or other BS.
Just subscribed and I love this post so much. You have articulated what I often can't because it's so personal and so emotional for me, and so exhausting, always fighting for dignity as a fat person in healthcare. Thanks for this!
None of the explanations actually address the fact that you can be agains fat shaming but being obese is still medically proven to lead to later life problems. No evidence to the contrary is being presented.
I have struggled with this my entire adult life. Both of my parents died in their 50s from diseases commonly associated with weight/eating (Diabetes and Colon Cancer). I am absolutely terrified of leaving my daughter motherless, and afraid of the dire warnings I typically get from my PCP around weight and "predisposition" to disease. But I also think that my mom's colon cancer diagnosis was delayed by nearly a year because her doctor dismissed her symptoms and nagged her, yet again, to eat better and lose weight. Your work has been chipping away at decades of anxiety and my own fatphobia that has kept me tangled in dieting and compulsive exercise. Thank you for helping me to think critically about this issue.
It’s so complicated and especially when the losses are so personal. Thank you for sharing this.
This connected so many dots in my head around the moral virtue of health and its relationship to fatphobia. Society makes moral judgments about things like smoking, substance abuse and, yes, being overweight and then feel like people choose their own consequences. I'm going to need to read this over and over.
Yes! So glad. And the difference between smoking and weight that's important to keep in mind, of course, is that smoking is a behavior and weight is a physical attribute (and fatphobia is what makes us assume it's the result of "bad behaviors"). Of course there's also a strong argument not to shame smokers or folks with any sort of substance use disorder, since we also know that addiction is not just a matter of "willpower" or choice, and often a coping strategy/response to trauma/byproduct of other experiences in nuanced ways. So your analogy stands! But I do think behavior vs trait is a useful distinction there.
I agree that behavior vs trait is an important distinction. I was thinking that society treats being overweight as a behavior rather than a trait and I was realizing that I’ve internalized that message as well. Professionally I often represent individuals with substance misuse issues so it’s an issue I’ve thought a lot about.
This distinction is SO good - I'm sure you're written about it before, but for whatever reason it took this comment to make it sink in: That fatphobia itself is what leads to the assumption of "bad behaviors" or some kind of weakness.
These days, when I meet or hear about someone with an addiction, my mind immediately goes to a trauma response. I'm not sure I should be going around assuming that, but it does eliminate any judgement on my part about willpower or other BS.
Just subscribed and I love this post so much. You have articulated what I often can't because it's so personal and so emotional for me, and so exhausting, always fighting for dignity as a fat person in healthcare. Thanks for this!
Oh I’m so happy to know this is helpful. Thank you for subscribing!
Thank you so much for laying this out so clearly! I will be linking this article when appropriate.
None of the explanations actually address the fact that you can be agains fat shaming but being obese is still medically proven to lead to later life problems. No evidence to the contrary is being presented.