General

*RANT WARNING*

OK, so this is partly in response to many of the responses to Shazzy's thread about Gervais' fat people bit, and partly in response to a lot of things I've heard over the years here.

How on earth can you claim to care about fat people and not care about how we're treated? And know so little about how fat works, and how fat discrimination works, and how fat hatred works?

For pete's sake, if that man had stood on that stage and said the same kinds of things about black people, he'd have been booed off the stage. But fat people are a safe target? why?!?!?

There are studies in almost every field of medicine showing the complexity of fat--there are a whole group of processes and hormones involved, and that's only the ones that have been found so far.

And there's so much great fat activism out there in the world. People who are really working to stop the hatred and discrimination. Why isn't that ever an issue here?

Y'all want to complain when fat people have self-esteem issues? And you also want the 'right' to call that hatred Gervais was spewing 'funny'?

Sorry. Can't have it both ways.

**RANT OVER**

To Will 88:

While it is sorely tempting to answer your very unpleasant post point by point, I will keep myself to two points.

1. I hope--not expect, just hope--that people who care about fat people will stand up for us when we're being mistreated. Not a one-man crusade, just being a stand-up guy. I've seen a number of thin people do such things, like pointing out that fat jokes aren't funny, and it's very powerful.

2. Being fat is not always a choice--in fact, not often a choice.



Medical research suggests that obesity is a very complicated process indeed, and that the old ideas about simple calorie-counting just don't hold up under serious examination. While some of us may choose to gain, or to enjoy our food, many--perhaps even most--fat people can't simply choose to be skinny. That's why--and I've never seen this figure denied--95% of all diets fail. I would be happy to offer a reading list if you're seriously interested in this subject.

For all those of you who insist that fat is a choice, please, please do some reading before you spread opinions that don't reflect the best contemporary research. You believe you know things because you've read newspapers and magazines. Sigh.

And so, a public interest reading list--as opposed to medical journal articles. I apologise that it's UK publications, but I'm taking it from the recently published Fat Studies in the UK (Raw Nerve Books, 2009):

Campos, Paul, (2004) The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health London: Gotham Books.

Evans, J., Rich, E., Davies, B., Allwood, R. (2008) Education, Disordered Eating, and Obesity Discourse: Fat Fabrications. Abingdon: Routledge.

Gaesser, G. (2002) Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Your Weight and Your Health. Carlsbad, CA: Gurze Books (a bit older, but very good.)

Gard, M., and Wright, J. (2005) [i]The Obesity Epidemic: Since, morality and ideology London and New York: Routledge.

Each of these books debunks the presumptions being repeated over and over and over here through surveying the medical literature and thinking through the contradictions as well as reporting on cutting edge research.

There are lots and lots of other kinds of things to read--sociological types of studies like Katie LeBesco's Revolting Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity, fat activist works like Marilyn Wann's Fat!So? and Charlotte Cooper's Fat and Proud: The Politics of Size, interdisciplinary projects like The Fat Studies Reader and Fat Studies UK.

But it is crucial to stop blaming fat people for things that are as genetic as race. There are environmental factors involved in everything, but with over 40 gene sites already identified as related to obesity, and with the 95% failure rate of diets, it is smug at best and surely mean-spirited to think that being fat is simply the fat person's fault.

Oh, my. I was totally agreeing with this previous post, until the PS. The fact that 95% of diets fail is simply that. A fact. It isn't about causes. If 95% of diets fail, there is something wrong with dieting. No 95% of people can be lazy misfits. It's a bad way to approach data.

Next, for the record, two points to many of the responses above. I never said fat is ONLY genetic, only that it is significantly so. I don't think anything having to do with people has a single cause--people, bodies, health, social behaviour, are all too complicated to be singular like that.

When I diet, I have to eat under 1000 kcal a day to lose weight, and when I do that, I feel ill. That describes some people's experiences and not others. And before you ask about exercise, most of my adult life, until the MS and fibromyalgia got bad, I worked out at a gym for 1.5 hours 3x/wk. Cardio and weights, the whole package. I can do a lot to be healthy, but I can't easily lose weight, or keep it off.

As for jokes: I really hope I never said no fat jokes are funny. I think the comedians named above--Jo Brand, Phil Jupitus, I forget the third--are wonderfully funny, including when they're talking about fat. When jokes say 'All fat people shovel food in their mouths, all blondes are dumb, all black men are well-endowed...' Those are stereotypes. They are ugly and negative, and they hurt people. But the world has an infinite realm of possibilities for comedians, and lots of wonderful, smart, intense, creative stand-ups make lots of jokes about all kinds of things without resorting to stereotypes like that.

I like their comedy a lot better. And it doesn't support people who don't give me good health care because I'm fat, don't want to rent me a flat because I'm fat, don't want to hire me because I'm fat, and all the other things we know about discrimination against fat people.