Fat Acceptance is KILLING US!

CNN Health asks "Is the fat acceptance movement bad for our health?"

No.








Oh, I'm sorry, they kept going. I thought it was odd that they'd have a one word article.

Look, here is the essential folly of such articles. Fat acceptance is profoundly marginalized. I'd love for the movement to be at a place where that was a question that could at least meet the basic requirements of plausability with fat acceptance having some kind of significant influence on our society, but that's not remotely the truth. Until then, this strikes me as just as meaningless a question as the dieters who whine about how fat acceptance is infringing on their "right" to diet. I'd LOVE for us to have the kind of power and influence necessary to justify such fears, but we aren't there. Not even close.

Which makes this kind of "concern mongering" something very different. Its not about what fat acceptance actually does but rather the fever dreams of the most ardent fat bashers. They see fat people who've failed to respond to the constant yelling at and they are in search of answers. While some conclude they simply must not have yelled loud enough, others are convinced of vast support for fat acceptance warping the minds of vulnerable fatties telling them its okay to give up on being healthy.

Here in the real world, its a concern that can't really be taken seriously. Yet read the CNN article closely. The author repeatedly employs hypothetical critics. Only at the very end does she quote someone very directly fretting about fat acceptance's dangerous influence. And to be fair, even that person doesn't actually call out fat acceptance so much as a fantasy of about a culture that just happens to be more accepting of fat people. Again, please let me know when that exists, but that's also not really an attack on fat acceptance.

Is it because no one would come out and demagogue against fat acceptance? Please. I'm sure there is no shortage of people eager to do so. Our so-called allies at Yale do it all of the time, for one. So, why didn't the author back up these hypothetical critics with actual ones?

Because in our society, that's just not necessary. Criticizing fat people is just accepted. Why waste words on what everyone "knows", right? Define fat acceptance and people will just implicitly believe it to be foolish and dangerous. But its these kinds of short cuts in the media that simply ordain this view point and insulate it from genuine criticism. Note that the article concludes with fat bashing. Can you imagine an article on dieting that gave the last word to a fat liberation activist? Of course not. But suggesting fat acceptance is menace? Heck, the author can just do that themselves and still pretend to be unbiased. The deck is stacked against at every turn and yet the media can still seriously entertain the question of whether our influence is TOO great.