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[reggie]

Race is not a choice and can't negatively affect other people. (unless you are scared to date someone due to your racist family I guess)
Fat is 98% a choice and can negatively affect others.
Can't think of anything more different than these two things.

Sexual Orientation, Race you are born with. Can't do shit about it. Religion, yeah you chose that and assume you do so to improve your life and that of others. There sure are a lot of examples of that not being the case.

As for being fat, yeah most people are not born like that either. And while I see in theory an advantage to religion...I don't really see any pro's to being fat. And in most cases you have the power not to be.

I said this earlier in the thread but I'll say it again: When you see an overweight person you are effectively judging them based on a stereotype. You really have no idea what they eat, how they eat, and if and how much they exercise. You could make the assumption that they eat like shit and not exercise and may be correct, but you really have no idea. You haven't explained how this any different from judging someone based on their race.

You're also suggesting it would be perfectly acceptable to discriminate based on someones race or sexual orientation if it was a choice. You don't honestly believe that do you?

 

[Deleted member 81567]

Overweight people have a better chance surviving that accident though unlike skinny people. This all so fucking trivial.

 

[thetrin]

I'm not an anti-fat crusader (I think it's a far more complex issue than most make it out to be)...

But it's undeniable that obesity is becoming a horrible societal problem that needs to be dealt with beyond the personal level.

Obviously it has a strong connection to a society that is based less in physical labor, but it also has to do with the fact that many people don't like putting serious work into losing weight.

 

[Kraut]

saw this movie yesterday and made me realise how fucked the american food situation is there. At one of the crucial things needed for humans to survive is hugely corrupted in the USA. They're lobbyists and corporations are doing this just for profit, they dont give a fuuuck. If they they've corrupted and fucked up a basic thing like food what else aren't they willing to corrupt? USA needs to do some changes you guys are gettin fucked by your government and people need to stand up.

Couple weeks back I saw:

People need to educate the corruption thats going on and choose with your dollar. Get school lunches better. do something.

Not defending the "fat-is-okay culture," but Super Size Me should not be a source you turn to for scientifically sound evidence and unbiased analysis. Documentaries can be produced by anyone with money behind them. There's no fact-checking or peer-review involved. Find a good and reputable scientific journal to motivate your frustration, not some lazy and dishonest asshole with a video camera.

 

[Orayn]

The thing is as far as detriments to health normal and overweight people have the same mortality rates while underweight and obese have higher. So why do overweight people get all the hate while underweight are generally praised?

'Cause thin is in, health be damned.

 

[diffusionx]

But the BMI scale assigns a one size fits all weight for people. No two people are exactly the same so this does not work.

It's close enough. You should know if the BMI applies to you. A bodybuilder - no. An office worker? Most likely.

The BMI doesn't work at the tail ends of body types but it applies to the vast middle (no pun intended). The BMI actually, in my opinion, is a bit off for me because I just have a large frame. But it's close enough. The top end of the normal range is fine for me. The low end would make me look too skinny. But that's something people need to just be honest with themselves about.

Not defending the "fat-is-okay culture," but Super Size Me should not be a source you turn to for scientifically sound evidence and unbiased analysis.

Super Size Me is BS. The guy ate nothing but McDonalds for a month and he turned to shit? No fucking way.

 

[LuchaShaq]

The thing is as far as detriments to health normal and overweight people have the same mortality rates while underweight and obese have higher. So why do overweight people get all the hate while underweight are generally praised?

Since when are severly underweight praised? I don't know a single guy who thinks ribs poking out of a woman isn't a turn off, or wouldn't think a 130lb guy is basically a child and think of them that way.

 

[Mael]

It is socially acceptable to hate on Scientologists. It's socially unacceptable to hate on Christians because they are the majority in America. When the day finally comes when the obese are the majority, then they may finally succeed in making their illness a societal norm.

False dichotomy for the win.
Xians don't do the shits Scientologists get away with.
Here they tried to pass off as a not religion or they would be monitored like every religions out there.
We don't not hate on Xians because they're the majority, after all we don't hate on muslims or jews (or at least shouldn't).
We have every right to shit from great height on a an association of scammers.

 

[WEGGLES]

Do any of you not feel a social responsibility to not be fat?

What if you're in a burning bus and you're too fat to get off the bus quickly leaving others to die.

What if you're walking across the street with your child and a car doesn't see you. Are you physically able to get out of the way?

What if someone is trying to pull you out of a car from a bad accident, but you're too fat to get out and die.

There is tons of situations you could be in that an outcome would be different if you weren't fat. I feel like I should always be able to jump into action if need be. I'm not saying you need to be spider-man, but you should be able to run, jump and lift a decent amount of weight for your size.

What if you're too skinny and you become wedged somewhere in the bus and can't get out?

Or you're walking across the street and a car doesn't see you and instead of your 800lb body casually absorbing the impact and protecting your kid it just ploughs over both of you?

What if you're lost in the arctic and your low body mass means you don't keep warm nearly as long and you freeze to death?

 

[LuchaShaq]

I said this earlier in the thread but I'll say it again: When you see an overweight person you are effectively judging them based on a stereotype. You really have no idea what they eat, how they eat, and if and how much they exercise. You could make the assumption that they eat like shit and not exercise and may be correct, but you really have no idea. You still explained how this any different from judging someone based on their race.

You're also suggesting it would be perfectly acceptable to discriminate based on someones race or sexual orientation if it was a choice. You don't honestly believe that do you?

If race/sexuality were a choice it would never affect me so it still wouldn't be remotely the same as the 95-99% of obese people that are only that way due to their behavior. If those things were a choice and people chose to be purple skinned and only have homosexual sx it would probably make me laugh at the absurdity the first time I thought about it but beyond that couldn't affect me in any way. (unless it became a majority of the population and our society had an insane drop in population due to birthrates but that is a specieis problem if it happened)

 

[SapientWolf]

Overweight people have a better chance surviving that accident though unlike skinny people. This all so fucking trivial.

How so? They're going to have more inertia due to their increased mass. It will take more force for them to stop moving.

 

[KingGondo]

Overweight people have a better chance surviving that accident though unlike skinny people. This all so fucking trivial.

Damn right. Let's watch any of these people:

Do this:

Suck it, skinnies.

 

[ErnieMcCracken]

I'm not an anti-fat crusader (I think it's a far more complex issue than most make it out to be)...

But it's undeniable that obesity is becoming a horrible societal problem that needs to be dealt with beyond the personal level.

This x10. Having grown up in the 70's and 80's it's amazing to see pictures from that time and there were literally no obese people to be seen.

 

[Deleted member 81567]

Reply to Super Size Me:

 

[Vicetrailia]

But really, the most flawed part of your argument is where you assert that if someone makes a choice, it is instantly open season for you to discriminate. This is, of course, the more reasonable variant of your argument, which is actually closer to "if someone makes a choice -- at least, I think it's a choice, I mean, I don't know their medical history, personal problems, or family background -- then it's instantly open season for me to discriminate".

Exactly, but people always work this way. "Worker harder" basically provides a blanket excuse for people to justify why they have more than someone else and feel that they become protected from back-talk. People don't know for sure how hard another has worked, but they accept the "message".

 

[freenudemacusers]

I don't think you get my point. My point is that EVERYONE should work out, even if you're not fat. Not that fat people are probably safe from dying of a heart attack.

I agree, and I think we were just talking about two different things (body aesthetics vs health).

Oh, and an obese person would be extremely useful on a deserted island. Would feed several people!

 

[Zoe]

I think your standards are a little bit fucked up if you think that qualifies as fat.

What would you call it then? Do you think "fat" should be reserved for "morbidly obese?"

 

[reggie]

If race/sexuality were a choice it would never affect me so it still wouldn't be remotely the same as the 95-99% of obese people that are only that way due to their behavior.

I honestly don't understand what you're getting at here? It wouldn't affect you?

 

[Finaika]

Overweight people have a better chance surviving that accident though unlike skinny people. This all so fucking trivial.

Yes.

They also can survive hurricanes & tornadoes better.

 

[ScOULaris]

So when there is an advertisement with a model in a bikini, is that company subsisting off of little girls' insecurities or just trying to sell a fucking bikini to them? I never understand the "pressure from the media" argument. We use models for advertising because they are visually pleasing to look at. That's it. If someone wants to look like a model, go ahead and try.

What would you rather? Companies purposefully put homely women in their ads?

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Its true. There are fat people everwhere and its pretty gross. But you just gotta get over it. It doesn't bother me one bit, in the OP you say people gotta want to help themselves. And its true. Health is a personal issue, its none of our business if someone wants to let themselves exist in that state. You don't have to like it, but its a helluva lot easier to just not care.

I recently lost a bit of weight. I'm 6ft tall, id say at the peak of my unhealthy phase I weighed about 195. I never breached 200. Now I'm down to 158. I think my weight gain was mostly alcohol related though, I've always had a good diet. The second I quit binge drinking 5 times a week the weight just disappeared.

 

[Forearms]

The thing is as far as detriments to health normal and overweight people have the same mortality rates while underweight and obese have higher. So why do overweight people get all the hate while underweight are generally praised?

I don't recall ever saying underweight people should be praised, and I'm pretty sure the OP actually targeted both obese and underweight people. I'll admit there does appear to be some angst against fatties here on NeoGaf - I won't try to defend that.

Anorexia and bulimia get attention. People with all sorts of eating disorders get attention. However, it's generally the obese and morbidly obese people that have attention drawn to themselves because they're so huge. It's easy to overlook someone that is super skinny if they're wearing clothes that hide the fact that they're walking sticks. On the other hand it's much, much harder to hide the fact that you're obese/morbidly obese.

 

[Mael]

If race/sexuality were a choice it would never affect me so it still wouldn't be remotely the same as the 95-99% of obese people that are only that way due to their behavior. If those things were a choice and people chose to be purple skinned and only have homosexual sx it would probably make me laugh at the absurdity the first time I thought about it but beyond that couldn't affect me in any way. (unless it became a majority of the population and our society had an insane drop in population due to birthrates but that is a specieis problem if it happened)

Even if the love of you life decided that she didn't like your gender and stranded you? You would never be affected?

 

[Orayn]

So when there is an advertisement with a model in a bikini, is that company subsisting off of little girls' insecurities or just trying to sell a fucking bikini to them? I never understand the "pressure from the media" argument. We use models for advertising because they are visually pleasing to look at. That's it. If someone wants to look like a model, go ahead and try.

What would you rather? Companies purposefully put homely women in their ads?

"Good-looking" is a floating, subjective criteria that changes over time.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I gotta say I also find weight justification disgusting, although I've many seen it in the black community. I realize everyone should have self esteem and feel comfortable with themselves, but I can't help but shake my head when Monique or the girl from Precious claims they are "big, healthy women." No, you aren't.

 

[Fugu]

What would you call it then? Do you think "fat" should be reserved for "morbidly obese?"

I would call it a bad picture. "Obese" and "overweight" are not subjective terms. If you want to use those words, you'd best have a scale.

I gotta say I also find weight justification disgusting, although I've many seen it in the black community. I realize everyone should have self esteem and feel comfortable with themselves, but I can't help but shake my head when Monique or the girl from Precious claims they are "big, healthy women." No, you aren't.

There are many things that can cause a person to become unhealthy, and she will outlive many, many people born at her age that are far skinnier than her. It just so happens that the unhealthy characteristic that you are clinging to is a visible one.

 

[fabricated backlash]

Christina does not carry the extra weight well, at all.

Dressing like a slut doesn't help either.

 

[Spacebar]

What if you're too skinny and you become wedged somewhere in the bus and can't get out?

Or you're walking across the street and a car doesn't see you and instead of your 800lb body casually absorbing the impact and protecting your kid it just ploughs over both of you?

What if you're lost in the arctic and your low body mass means you don't keep warm nearly as long and you freeze to death?

I'd rather die wedged inside the bus then be fat and not be able to get off knowing I allowed others to die because of me. Besides if I was fat and wedged in somewhere I would have been crushed more than likely.

I'd rather be fit and have the mobility to at least try and get myself and my child of the way. I'd still have a better chance of getting my kid out of the way being fit then fat.

I would never go to the arctic to begin with.

 

[WEGGLES]

This x10. Having grown up in the 70's and 80's it's amazing to see pictures from that time and there were literally no obese people to be seen.

You don't even bat an eye at someone over 250lb now.

I'd rather die wedged inside the bus then be fat and not be able to get off knowing I allowed others to die because of me. Besides if I was fat and wedged in somewhere I would have been crushed more than likely.

I'd rather be fit and have the mobility to at least try and get myself and my child of the way. I'd still have a better chance of getting my kid out of the way being fit then fat.

I would never go to the arctic to begin with.

No one plans to be lost in the arctic circle, but sometimes shit happens.

I mean I never plan to get in a bus crash, so...

 

[KingGondo]

This x10. Having grown up in the 70's and 80's it's amazing to see pictures from that time and there were literally no obese people to be seen.

And the problem is that the issue is so multi-faceted. Our society is set up in almost every way to encourage habits that result in people gaining weight. Our reliance on cars, our long work weeks and long work days (not to mention irregular work hours for the poorest rungs of society who also usually happen to be the fattest), lack of access to fresh foods in many areas, and easy access to cheap, quick, unhealthy food.

When I hear someone say, "eat some carrots and run, fatty!" it makes me laugh. It's the same as right-wingers who say, "get a job, lazy!"

 

[NotebookJ2]

So when there is an advertisement with a model in a bikini, is that company subsisting off of little girls' insecurities or just trying to sell a fucking bikini to them? I never understand the "pressure from the media" argument. We use models for advertising because they are visually pleasing to look at. That's it. If someone wants to look like a model, go ahead and try.

What would you rather? Companies purposefully put homely women in their ads?

Of course you wouldn't. You apparently have never felt the need to feel like you should change your image to fit in with the crowd.

Not all of us have been blessed with such high self-esteem.

 

[Zoe]

I would call it a bad picture. "Obese" and "overweight" are not subjective terms. If you want to use those words, you'd best have a scale.

That's not the only picture of "fat" Christina.

 

[bangai-o]

Yes.

They also can survive hurricanes & tornadoes better.

lol no. How would that happen when the skinny guy is able to outrun the tornado?

 

[Deified Data]

So when there is an advertisement with a model in a bikini, is that company subsisting off of little girls' insecurities or just trying to sell a fucking bikini to them? I never understand the "pressure from the media" argument. We use models for advertising because they are visually pleasing to look at. That's it. If someone wants to look like a model, go ahead and try.

What would you rather? Companies purposefully put homely women in their ads?

Both, obviously. What'd you think?

 

[andycapps]

But you can see some cons to being religious, can't you?

Some people could. Anyone could objectively say there is no benefit to being overweight.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Do any of you not feel a social responsibility to not be fat?

What if you're in a burning bus and you're too fat to get off the bus quickly leaving others to die.

What if you're walking across the street with your child and a car doesn't see you. Are you physically able to get out of the way?

What if someone is trying to pull you out of a car from a bad accident, but you're too fat to get out and die.

There is tons of situations you could be in that an outcome would be different if you weren't fat. I feel like I should always be able to jump into action if need be. I'm not saying you need to be spider-man, but you should be able to run, jump and lift a decent amount of weight for your size.

WTF is this shit?

 

[KingGondo]

Some people could. Anyone could objectively say there is no benefit to being overweight.

What about having more cushion for the pushin'?

 

[thetrin]

I agree, and I think we were just talking about two different things (body aesthetics vs health).

Oh, and an obese person would be extremely useful on a deserted island. Would feed several people!

Hahaha

I was just saying that there's no actual correlation between body aesthetics and health. Fat people are just OBVIOUSLY unhealthy, and get people's ire as a result. That said, having muscles is a lot better than being skinny, so skinny people should work out anyway. ;p

 

[CrazyDogg77]

So when there is an advertisement with a model in a bikini, is that company subsisting off of little girls' insecurities or just trying to sell a fucking bikini to them? I never understand the "pressure from the media" argument. We use models for advertising because they are visually pleasing to look at. That's it. If someone wants to look like a model, go ahead and try.

What would you rather? Companies purposefully put homely women in their ads?

Its both. Ads work by making you think you need them. So when you show a girl in a bikini getting attention from guys it sends a dual message. Buy this bikini and it will get you attention and it will make you like this model here.

 

[andycapps]

What about having more cushion for the pushin'?

Haha, we definitely have an abundance of cushion in the US, no doubt about that.

 

[LuchaShaq]

Even if the love of you life decided that she didn't like your gender and stranded you? You would never be affected?

Not sure how to accurately answer this considering my girlfriend of just short of a year that I will most likely marry was a lesbian before we hooked up and only had had sex with one guy before me and it was 5+ years ago and exclusively dated women until I worked my charms or lack of charms that was so sad that it became charming in an end around way? whichever

Work around it I guess.

 

[Attackthebase]

I think your standards are a little bit fucked up if you think that qualifies as fat. I also think you need to do some (NSFW) googling if you think that fat is anything close to universally considered to be unattractive.

If a person is overweight, 99 percent of the time, they are unattractive. The picture OP put up is fat, and it is painful to look at her. I would never date a girl who could be considered even slightly overweight. They just aren't attractive. The truth hurts.

 

[Devolution]

If you really have an issue with overweight people maybe instead of fat shaming them you should look into how much shit goes into the food we eat. Even so called healthier foods are packed with hfcs, transfat and hormones. It's funny how people will constantly rail against the effects, more overweight people, then the cause. Of course there is personal responsibility but if you can't see a correlation between unhealthy/overweight people and the shit being put into our food, then you're being a willfully ignorant jackass.

 

[Deleted member 81567]

How so? They're going to have more inertia due to their increased mass. It will take more force for them to stop moving.

Non-severe injuries in most cases, I have an overweight friend that got hit by a car and had a few injuries, nothing serious. Also, a Greek politician jumped from his balcony from some insane floor number and didn't even break a bone. It's a huge scandal that occured but here's a summary.

 

[WEGGLES]

If a person is overweight, 99 percent of the time, they are unattractive. The picture OP put up is fat, and it is painful to look at her. I would never date a girl who could be considered even slightly overweight. They just aren't attractive. The truth hurts.

I'm not a chubby chaser, but cripes... there's more to it than looks.

 

[jmdajr]

I said this earlier in the thread but I'll say it again: When you see an overweight person you are effectively judging them based on a stereotype. You really have no idea what they eat, how they eat, and if and how much they exercise. You could make the assumption that they eat like shit and not exercise and may be correct, but you really have no idea. You haven't explained how this any different from judging someone based on their race.

You're also suggesting it would be perfectly acceptable to discriminate based on someones race or sexual orientation if it was a choice. You don't honestly believe that do you?

I understand your point about not judging people. Yes, it's wrong to judge individual people without getting to know them. Absolutely.

But considering we are talking about a detrimental problem that people have power to change, I don't think we should give it a free pass just because we might be "hurting people's feelings." I guess that makes it sound like a horrible thing to say, but it's an issue that needs to be confronted head on and it's a problem because people don't like being told how to live their lives, regardless of how many people it affects. I think that people will be offended no matter in what you go about it. What is it going to take to change these habits for the better?

 

[Fugu]

That's not the only picture of "fat" Christina.

Right, okay, so the woman takes bad pictures. The definition of "overweight" does not include a clause that indicates that when the weight is unknown that we can judge the unhealthiness of a person's body weight by the quality of the pictures taken of her.

If a person is overweight, 99 percent of the time, they are unattractive. The picture OP put up is fat, and it is painful to look at her. I would never date a girl who could be considered even slightly overweight. They just aren't attractive. The truth hurts.

The first statement is subjective. As is the second, for that matter. I don't really see what this contributes to the discussion because all I can ascertain from it is that you find things above "medium build" unattractive.

 

[Attackthebase]

No one plans to be lost in the arctic circle, but sometimes shit happens.

I mean I never plan to get in a bus crash, so...

Yeah, Space, you have an equal likelihood of becoming trapped in the Arctic as you do getting into a bus crash. Weggles' argument cannot be broken.

 

[ScOULaris]

Right, okay, so the woman takes bad pictures. The definition of "overweight" does not include a clause that indicates that when the weight is unknown that we can judge the unhealthiness of a person's body weight by the quality of the pictures taken of her.

You're doing exactly what I rallied against in the OP. She's fat. Face it.

 

[BobsRevenge]

When food was scarce, being fat was considered attractive. Just saying!

I dunno, I read novels from the 1800s a lot and fat people weren't considered attractive, even in poor society. It could be a sign of wealth, but often it was blamed on disease or being spoiled, which isn't attractive. The people considered most attractive were still just healthy looking people, and in the case of men, muscular.