Of Mary Worley's Article 'In Defense Of Fat Acceptance'

" The primary thing shown, is that fatness is a bad, temporary thing that leaves people forever traumatized. Negative characteristics of the character sends the very untrue message that all fat people are or should be ashamed to be that way, and do their best to shrink down their bodies as fast as

Fat acceptance: A basic primer Critique essay Cynara Geissler’s article “Fat Acceptance: A Basic Primer” was first published in Geez Magazine in 2013. Geissler addresses a lot of issues about fat acceptance and how it is affecting our society and people’s attitudes towards over-weight people. One of the reasons why Geissler thinks that is because many health industries now days have a slogan “Thinner is better” and that makes over-weight people seem lazy or just not willing to put the effort to become better. Most importantly Geissler mentions that health industries and causing people to make a negative attitude towards overweight people which can be seen.

Without a doubt, it is been Enough. It is time to bring light and awareness to the mass media. It is time to take this matter much more serious. It is our future generation that is on the line. It is time to create a safe and better environment for them to grown on.

In David Freedman’s essay How Junk food Can End Obesity, Freedman makes the claim to policy arguing that instead of demonizing processed foods, Americans should instead support the idea and production of healthier processed and junk foods. He calls on the public to recognize that while many products on the market these days are labeled as “wholesome” and “healthy”, consumers should learn to become aware of the fat and calorie content in these products because many times they have the same- if not more- fat and calorie contents as that of a typical Big Mac or Whopper. In his essay, Freedman primarily places blame on the media and the wholesome food movement for the condemnation of the fast and processed food industries saying, “An enormous amount of media space has been dedicated to promoting the notion that all processed food, and only processed food, us making us sickly and overweight” (Freedman), he further expresses that this portrayal of the

Today’s society is surfaced with various problems, one of them being our diet along with obesity. The health of our country’s people has become a national problem. One’s diet is based upon their choices, but even then there are many controversial views upon what is healthy and what is not. Two essays that I read uniquely present their views on this topic. First, there is “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating” by Mary Maxfield and then there is “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko.

This turns off both fat and non-fat audience members because they cannot relate to or find humor in this argument. If kindergarten teachers were taken out of the statement the argument would be more believable however still not sarcastic. In an attempt to get the reader to find a personal experience to relate to his argument that fat acceptance is necessary value in our society, Schwartz says, “fat people are seen as throwbacks to a more primitive time... The modern world is passing them by.” (181).

In Wil Haygood’s essay Kentucky town of Manchester illustrates national obesity crisis he turns a spotlight onto how obesity is affecting the nation. He discusses what it is like for one family in particular to deal with obesity. Haygood also writes about a study done by Jill Day, and gives a plethora of facts on the matter. Wil Haygood observes that the people of Kentucky Town, Manchester, like the rest of the nation, are overweight and suffering obesity. In this essay he talks about a family of three, a father and his two daughters, who live in this town, are affected by this.

Every individual is different and unique in their own way, may it be their body size or the color of their skin. No individual is similar, which is precisely the point that Cheryl Peck makes in her essay “Fatso”. The essay portrays Peck’s view of the conflicts that she goes through in her life as an overweight person. She makes a point by point contrast to her imaginary life, repeating the phrase “I have never”, and her real life where she faces discrimination because of her weight. Peck’s use of tone and word choice highlights the purpose of her essay, which is to raise awareness about discrimination against overweight people to audiences who are thin and have not experienced any judgment from others.

“In the past, eating disorders were generally considered to be confined to young white females from middle-to-upper class families living in Western societies” (Caradas 112). Both studies exploit the false stereotypes associated with eating disorders and culture. Both parties believe that non Western cultures are being influenced by the “slim is beautiful” idea. Each view points out the false misconception that non Western cultures traditional ideas of being thick is related to health is protecting them from eating disorders. Studies prove all ethnicities have shown concern towards body shape and eating attitudes in recent years around the

Men and women nowadays are starting to lose self-confidence in themselves and their body shape, which is negatively impacting the definition of how beauty and body shape are portrayed. “...97% of all women who had participated in a recent poll by Glamour magazine were self-deprecating about their body image at least once during their lives”(Lin 102). Studies have shown that women who occupy most of their time worrying about body image tend to have an eating disorder and distress which impairs the quality of life. Body image issues have recently started to become a problem in today’s society because of social media, magazines, and television.

From an early age, we are exposed to the western culture of the “thin-ideal” and that looks matter (Shapiro 9). Images on modern television spend countless hours telling us to lose weight, be thin and beautiful. Often, television portrays the thin women as successful and powerful whereas the overweight characters are portrayed as “lazy” and the one with no friends (“The Media”). Furthermore, most images we see on the media are heavily edited and airbrushed

The idolization of slim figures are blinding teenagers to believe it is a necessity to practice these methods. As Blaid describes society’s perspective, “If you develop an eating disorder when you are already thin to begin with, you go to the hospital. If you develop an eating disorder when you are not thin to begin with, you are a success story,”(26-27) this is to point out how society has manipulated the point of view on health conditions to be viewed as a

Body image has become such a big issue among society especially females mostly. According to Mariana Gozalo, states “Using Will’s sociological imagination, I thought about how there are girls who wish to look skinny because it is what is being idolized on TV and magazines and online ads. “Social media make us believe that there is a “ideal body” shape. In my opinion, there is no such a thing as the ideal body shape, because everyone is beautiful in their own individual way.

In the new era we live in, the levels of obese and overweight individuals are highly growing across the globe. Overweight is defined as the identification of individuals and groups at increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Obesity is considered to be a disease of fat accumulating irregularly to an extent that it can harmfully disrupt an individual's health, it is also related to psychological problems and negative consequences. The situation of cumulative incidents of excess body fat is mostly due to industrialization, a mixture of little exercise, more abundance and availability of food, commonly in the industrialized nations of the Western Hemisphere. This situation comes along with a lot of controversy on the topic; overweight and obese individuals began to feel offended and discriminated by society, thus in reaction to this they created the Fat Acceptance Movement.

Fat shaming involves criticizing and harassing overweight people about their weight or eating, in order to make them feel ashamed of themselves. Apparently, some people believe that making overweight people feel ashamed of themselves will motivate them to change their behavior so they start eating less, exercising more and finally start to lose weight. Others are just horrible human beings, plain and simple. Horrible people often feel comfortable saying things over the internet that they would not say in real life. However, when someone falls prey to body shaming, it puts a lot of stress on them and in the case of overweight teens, it can drive them to handle that stress by taking in more calories and gaining even more weight.