Last Words on Fat and Bones

Posted on February 13, 2006 in Crosstalk Sugar and Fat

And still, whenever I appear,
They hoot at me and call me ‘Pig!’
And that is why they do it, dear,
Because I wear a yellow wig.”

The Nia issue is slowing down like a old vinyl record slows down when you turn off the power. As painful as it was and as stubborn as a few zealots remain, I think we can score a victory for health matters and a deeper understanding of stigma issues. It’s possible to say that the feelings of overweight people (whether they are present or absent) should be considered tenderly and maintain that excess fat harms your health.

Psychiatrists who prescribe drugs that cause sudden weight gains do have reason to feel concern both for the patient’s health and the sudden stigma s/he may experience upon leaving the ward.

I continue to assert that what we need to focus on is acceptance of our bodies as they are when they are within The Range. The Range should be a little broader (on the top end) to incorporate people who are maybe 10 to 20 pounds overweight. Because of the obese versus anorexic divide I’ve noticed a few unhappy consequences:

• We have trouble distinguishing between people who are obese and those who have powerful muscle development/large bone frames. Women who have broad shoulders and hips often are declared “fat” by the casual observer. Likewise, if you have excess muscle weight, the unthinking might call you fat.
• The fat rights people have taken advantage of these confusions to remain in denial about their own, serious medical conditions. The anorexics look to supermodels for their own blindness.
• The “It’s OK to be overweight” mantra is misleading because it is incomplete. It is OK to be overweight if you are otherwise fit. Likewise, the “if you are not fat, you are healthy” corrollary can lead to anorexia.
• Women who are anorexic are villified and attacked, too. It’s not right to attack people for any weight-related medical condition. I suspect by making it a character issue, you can turn it around and be obstinate about changing your own weight. The obese do it to the anorexics. The anorexics do it to the obese.
• The rise of a fat acceptance movement has been countered by the rise of an anorexia acceptance movement. Neither is healthy. What we need to accept is our frames*, padded by proper amounts of muscle and fat.
• There is a Cult of Bodily Beauty which holds that you may not show yourself semi-nude in public if you are overweight. How are we overweight going to get thin if we fear going to the fitness centers because of derision?

Medical and psychiatric views have examined this more thoughtfully than a handful of knee-jerk feminist bloggers who trade in shrillness. One of the best articles was keyboarded by BigMamaDoc:

The truth is, health and appearance are absolutely, 100%, forever intertwined. How many of us have looked in the mirror and felt “depressed?” How many of us have avoided working out because we worry about what we’ll look like at the gym? How many of us stay in unhealthy relationships because we worry that we have no options?….It all boils down to this: We need better drugs. Or maybe as a society we need better values. Better drugs are probably easier to accomplish.

But let’s not stop working on clarity and better values.

Shrinkette attempts to close the discussion.

*Many women and men seek nose jobs because they fear what others think of their noses. This is an issue of frame. I’ve never understood why people would like to look like pasteurized Wasps. A long nose can be handsome. (I am not blessed with one, being in the middle range.) Over the years, I have watched in bewilderment as people have excoriated Barbara Streisand for not getting her kink taken out. Babs has always looked beautiful to me. And she makes an important statement about liking our frames as they are.