I guess it's fat day

[firecat]

I made this comment in janetmiles's journal. She linked to an interesting article about self-image written by a professor who considers himself fat.

He wrote: Weight loss is usually presented as some kind of road to personal fulfillment and salvation through self-control. But the thinner I get, the angrier I feel. The more I conform to the morality of slimness, the more I want to lash out at people.

I completely relate to this, and it's one of the most important reasons I won't focus on weight loss. I don't like being angry all the time.

"They" say that being fat is bad for your health. "They" don't usually say much about stress hormones being bad for your health, but whenever I am severely stressed, I can feel those hormones destroying my body. So I think avoiding stress is the best thing I can do for my health - better than undergoing the stress I feel when I try to achieve a lower weight. But if I'm wrong, and fatness is worse for my health than stress, then you know what? I really would rather live a shorter, more contented life than a longer, angrier one.

So I win either way by not buying into the game.

Sometimes I see people looking at me angrily and the only reason I can figure for their doing so is because I'm fat and that offends them, because maybe they make efforts not to be fat and they don't like it that some people don't bother to make those efforts. I feel sorry for them.

Note: You probably know that I have opinions about weight loss in general, but I'm not discussing them in this post. This post discusses my feelings and choices about my own life (and some speculations I have about strangers who act angry with me for no reason).

Comments

[saoba.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I see people looking at me angrily and the only reason I can figure for their doing so is because I'm fat and that offends them, because maybe they make efforts not to be fat and they don't like it that some people don't bother to make those efforts. I feel sorry for them.

I had a co-worker eons ago who was often visibly angry at the mere sight of random fat people. Not all fat people triggered this reaction and one day over a break I asked her about it.

Why this customer, who was in fact less fat than several others who she had waited on that day? Her answer blew me away.

The customer who triggered her anger was (and I quote) not ashamed enough of her fatness . And by not being ashamed, my co-worker maintained, the fat person was mocking her own choice to try to conform.

I swear, you can't make this shit up.

[firecat]

Yes, that's exactly the kind of person I feel sorry for.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

My mother is like that. She feels very strongly about it. It distresses her when people in her family (for whom she feels responsible) don't look right, but it's much more distressing when a person doesn't even try to look right, doesn't even accept the standard of "right" as meaningful and life-defining.

[lcohen]

remind me to stay out of your store because i am *really* not ashamed enough of my fat these days ;-) . i've started wearing much more body-hugging, fitted clothes--i don't care if you can see every ripple--i like how they look!