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America’s Real Weight Problem is the Burden We Place on Fat People
Fatphobia won’t create a thinner America.
Last week, several news outlets shared singer-songwriter Mary Lambert’s difficult experience of trying to get an MRI as a fat person. She addressed the story in further detail on her Instagram by sharing her activity level, dieting experience, and the failed weight loss attempts that consumed her life before she found self-acceptance and made peace with the fact that her body size is “75% determined by genetics.”
It is unfortunate that Mary felt the need to explain how she tried to get thin while sharing a story of size discrimination in a medical setting.
But this is what we, the general public, demand from fat people. We act as if they owe us the receipts of what they are doing to be ‘better’ (read: thinner).
It’s Not Your Job to Solve Fatness
We offer unsolicited health advice and make assumptions about what they eat or how often they move their bodies. Somehow, we find it socially acceptable to violate personal boundaries in the name of shaming people into losing weight. It’s like it’s some public community crusade, a campaign we all have a hand in: “Only you can prevent people from being fat.” What is the mascot for this, a giant…
