STOP Fat-Shaming
Fat shaming never helps a person lose weight. It can cause the opposite effect of causing so much unhappiness and stress to the heavier person that they actually seek relief in comfort food! Furthermore, bullying and harassing a heavy person as a child can cause chronic illnesses and earlier death in that same adult! The impact of verbal abuse is life-long and well researched in the ACE Studies of Adverse Childhood Experiences.
How To Stop A Fat-Shamer
Is it possible to stop people from bullying and insulting fat people because of their weight? It is difficult at best. The reason why, is because it is very hard to change people's minds. And the general population has become so brainwashed and gaslighted by the Diet Industry that they actually believe the claims that have been put forward for years. They think that people who are heavier are lazy and gluttonous. These fat-shamers don't even consider that people who are fat could have become that way from many other reasons, including genetics, poverty, and stress!
What is a fat-or body-shamer?
Fat shaming is the unjust mistreatment of fat people which may manifest as acts of bullying, singling out, discriminating, disrespecting and/or making fun of a person in a larger body. - Dr. Jamie Long
What the Diet Industry Has Taught you about Fat
The Diet Industry has been careful to cherry pick research from "researchers" they hire to do studies that will prove that being heavy is life-threatening. It's like Coca Cola's hiring scientists to tell you that soda is a health food. These researchers can come up with any outcome you want. And that is what has been done so many times to convince you that being fat is unhealthy.
Lindo Bacon, Ph D. in their highly respected book, Health At Every Size, outlined how independent scientists who actually read and try to replicate these studies end up and finding totally different results. Criticism of Diet Industry research has been put forward by other respected and acclaimed journalists, scientists and authors. One in particular is Paul Campos who wrote "The Obesity Myth".
Fake News and Crap Science
When unbiased researchers read this crap science put out by the diet industry you will rarely hear about it. The quack science is rarely exposed as fake by corporate news. Otherwise they would lose revenue from advertisers for diets! But some research and new studies are squeaking through. I've read articles recently in the New York Times that is supporting the anti-diet science. That's good news!
The Diet Industry has brainwashed you to believe essentially that you get fat from eating too much, and exercising not enough. They then tell you that the ONLY WAY to lose weight is to "eat less and exercise more". That's their mantra. And it's 100% incorrect!
They will even tell you it's a scientific "Law of Thermodynamics". The only problem is they are leaving out the most important part. The most important part is left out. Yes, you can lose weight- but it's virtually impossible to maintain any weight loss. In fact, weight cycling, also known as "yo-yo dieting" is more damaging to the body than simply maintaining your weight and doing moderate exercise such as walking to improve fitness.
A woman who lost 75 pounds from cancer treatment talked about how she was constantly complimented on her weight loss. She was dying from cancer and looked deathly ill- but she was thin!
Other Causes of Weight Gain
Who actually wants to eat so much that it becomes painful? Who would choose to be fat if they could just as easily have an average sized body? People don't over-eat for no reason! It's not like they can't stop eating because they love food. There is a credible reason that some people can eat like a sumo wrestler and never gain weight, while others look in the direction of a brownie and the weight appears on their belly! Only fat people are shamed for eating junk food while thin people who scarf McDonalds every day get a pass!
And it's people with thin-privilege who are the ones who will insult and demean heavier people.
Changing People's Minds
Fact matter very little when attempting to change people's minds. First, you will rarely hear the truth about weight related issues. And in actuality, there is very little actual unbiased research done about this "epidemic of obesity". If there is an epidemic, it's an obsession with dieting! In truth, dieting is purported to be one of the major causes of obesity!
Even with a failure rate of 95% the Diet Industry continues to flourish. Why? Because of their enormous profits they can continue to advertise diets that don't work to keep their money rolling in. Fear of becoming the focus of fat-shaming trolls, and being considered ugly is motivating even little girls in kindergarten to begin dieting!
Alternative information about the dangers of dieting and its extreme failure rate is rarely publicized. These views from actual scientists won't be seen because they cannot afford the lobbyists and advertising that keeps the diet myths in the minds of the public.
Dieting causes the condition is claims to cure!
Insulting Comments About Weight from Trolls
Fat shaming is one of the most common trolling and bullying found on the internet. People who body shame others are often cruel and shallow. The person being shamed may say it doesn't bother them. But our brain is actually programmed to remember these hurtful statements. These memories last a life-time. It's a protective method to avoid attack in the future.
Why is it that people feel entitled to make derogatory comments about another person's weight? What gives someone the sense of entitlement to judge another person's situation just based on their appearance?
Claim: They are Worried About Your Health
Fat shaming trolls are at best uniformed if they tell you they are worried about your health. They claim they tell you that they’re just trying to help you. Some will say their insurance premiums are higher because of all the illnesses fat people get. Biased research don't take into consideration the difference between causation and correlation. These researchers could claim that eating ice-cream causes drowning!
If fat-shamers were really so concerned about your health why aren't they protesting at football games where head injuries are so common? Why don't they yell at people on motorcycles who often get terrible injuries or die from riding their bikes? What about riding without a helmet? The truth is, they don't care about your health, they are simply judgmental insensitive people.
It's Still Politically Correct to Bully Fat People
It seems that even liberals have convinced themselves that bullying fat people is acceptable. They are not in a protected group, such as people of color, disabled people or others. Bullying and stigmatize people is so commonplace. If you try to defend a heavy person and ask the troll to examine their statements, you too will be attacked viciously.
And, if you're a fat woman, or fat woman celebrity look out! It seems that everyone thinks they have the right to denigrate them and their body. In fact, it's not enough for body-shamers to comment that they are fat and need to lose weight. Now it also implies a character flaw that has made someone weight and unable to lose it. They are no longer just ugly, now they also have are lazy and can't control themselves. Women politicians receive much of this trolling from even other politicians!
Liberals routinely shame the president for his body. Instead of focusing on the policies, behavior and actions they use the same kind of ad hominem attacks exactly like Trump uses to bully people he does like or disagrees with. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE on either side!
I haven't seen research on this subject but I'd be willing to bet that if two people made the same statements, the fat person would be ignored and the thin person would at least have people listen to their words.
These are some of the terms used to describe a fat Black woman talking about white privilege:
She looks like 10lbs of manure stuffed into a 5lb sack. - Just a ploy to buy more twinkies - Looks like she ate the lion, or a lion-sized MickeyDees, or two. Or three. - A sack of garbage. Of what benefit is she/it to anyone? - Orca - Disgusting!!- Ever hear of Nutisytems, Jabba? - There a fat line between stupidity and KFC.- It needs a nickname. Wokebeast? Wokewhale? - suck it, fatty.....
I could go on, but I won't. And this is just on ONE POST!
Does Fat-Shaming Motivate Someone To Lose Weight?
Someone may give you an excuse that they're just trying to motivate you to lose weight and that's why they're fat-shaming you. Well, nothing can be further from the truth. In actuality, un-biased research has shown that shaming a person about their weight is counterproductive. It makes them more stressed out and can result in depression. It can actually cause the person you are stigmatizing to gain additional weight! It can also cause eating disorders, a mental illness which is the most major cause of death in young women.
Fat-Shamers are Ignorant of FACTS
I'll give them one excuse: Most people who are fat-shamers have themselves been gaslighted by the diet industry. But that doesn't give them an excuse to be cruel to another human-being!
And, I conjecture that most fat-shamers won't even read anything that would contradict their long held beliefs. If they did read it they would probably dismiss anything they don't agree with because they are so emotionally invested in their beliefs.
Bill Maher is an excellent example. He owns the bully pulpit and uses his celebrity to shame heavier people. Thankfully, a heavier late night celebrity, James Corden responded to Maher- who he actually considers a friend. It was CRUEL of Maher.
Fat-shamers actually believe that eating less and exercising more can make you lose weight. Of course, they don't consider that the weight you lose returns naturally, within weeks to months for over 95 percent of people. And, in fact, when the weight returns it brings along with it additional pounds that make you feel even worse about yourself. That's known as weight cycling.
This ignorance has been created by the Diet Industry that is making over $60 billion (an old statistic) a year on getting women trapped in the revolving door of diet - lose weight - regain more weight- feel desperate and go on another diet. And that diet only results in adding additional weight.
These ignorant trolls are so willing to blame the dieter for getting themselves fat. It's as if they believe you did this to yourself on purpose! In fact, many women start dieting at an average weight in fear of getting fat! Dieting is the actual CAUSE that makes them gain weight after each diet!
The effect of chronic dieting is the CAUSE of weight gain!
Insensitive Comments by Women Against Themselves
So many women (in particular) have fallen for the notion that they have to be thinner, that they are totally oblivious when they discuss that they were “bad” when they ate a cookie or cookies at an event in front other women who weighed a LOT more than them. This too is fat shaming.
This happens all the time! Women are always talking about their body and what “bad” food they ate. They are so self-absorbed, lacking self-confidence about their own appearance that they probably don’t even realize that you’re standing there and they are essentially fat-shaming you!
If you fat shame a person, you are insulting and blaming ANY OTHER person whose weight is higher than you think they "should be". Maybe that's your mother, your sibling, or someone you might actually care about.
What Kind of Person Are You?
To me, the bottom line is this: Perhaps you should think with your heart before judging another person based upon their body weight. It's ALWAYS better to be kind. What you say that hurts another person is really a reflection of what kind of person YOU are - it's not about them.
