In the previous post, I quoted from various peer-reviewed articles on dieting, to try and establish one point: Weight-loss programs do not work for most fat people over the long term.
Now that we’ve read all that (or skimmed it, or skipped it), let me return to Don’s question: Why do I think being fat is like being lesbian or gay?
There’s a question so often asked in queer-rights rhetoric, it’s become a cliche: “Why would anyone choose to be gay? The point is, being a widely despised minority is not fun. It’s not easy. It involves a lot of suffering, for many people. It’s not something that most people would choose. (Although, thanks to the lesbian and gay rights movement, it is now easier for many lesbians and gays than it used to be).
By the same logic, why would anyone choose to be obese? Fat people are discriminated against in jobs, are widely seen as lazy and unattractive, and are taught a truly stunning level of self-hatred. It’s not something most people would desire for themselves.
Peer-reviewed studies show that 92-96% of weight-loss plans fail over the long run – and those studies count anyone who takes off 10% or 15% of their weight as a “success.” The failure rate would be a lot higher – I’d guess more like 99% – if the measurement of “success” for fat dieters was “this person is no longer fat.” It’s clear, I think, that weight-loss treatments don’t work.
Nonetheless, some people will respond as Don did:
Don’s right, in a sense (ignoring, for lack of a civil response, his stereotypes about fat people). In theory, any fat person could become thin, if they only kept up what the New England Journal of Medicine called “extreme measures” – extreme low-calorie diets and tons of hard exercise – for the rest of their lives. (One formerly fat person who commented on the earlier thread, said that she exercises four hours every day).
By the same token, any lesbian or gay person could “not be gay,” in the sense of repressing their real desires and marrying a person of the opposite sex. (Historically, how many lesbians and gays lived their entire lives like this? There’s no way of knowing, but hundreds of thousands seems like a reasonable guess).
So in theory, every fat person and every queer person could choose “not to be.” Just choose to eat as little as an anorexic, and exercise four hours every day, for your entire life. Just choose to repress your core sexual identity. Whatever it takes.
But in practice, some choices are so difficult that they can’t reasonably be called choices at all.
And that is what fat people and gay people have in common.
I think it is unfair to expect all fat people to lose weight, just because they ‘can’. For example, if I don’t like your big nose or decreasing hairline, would it be ok for me to call you ‘big nose’ or ‘bald head’ and disciminate you because off it? Just because nowadays its possible to get plastic surgery to fix it, its still not ok to insult and disciminate people for things they maybe do can change. So why is it for fat people?
I’m a natural thin girl and have never done anything to stay slim. I eat more than most overweight people do, I go to mc donalds, eat icecreams, candy and other calory rich stuff like i want to. I dont do sports or go to the gym ever. I eat more than many of my fat friends and still I am thin and they are fat. For me its clear that beeing fat is not just a matter of choice and I realise some people have to pull way harder to maintain ‘ normal’ than others.
“You didn’t do university? You didn’t understand math? Your stupid and lazy, brainless!”
It is not ok to tell people they are stupid because they didnt go to university while maybe, when they would have worked a big lot harder, and spend much more energy and time in it, they could have. The above insult evokes a lot of anger by people who haven’t studied.
So why is it ok to expect fat people to put more than 4 hours every day in sports, diet excessively every day and tell them they are stupid just when they don’t? Its just the same. Its very mean. Please think about that!
(PS im not a native english speaker)