firecat

I distrust most conversations about who gets to be in [whatever] camp and who doesn't, and what's the "real" way of doing something and what isn't. Mostly I think they cause more harm than good. So I feel uncomfortable with the comments I'm going to make, but I'm going to make them anyway.

http://www.ficklefingeroffat.com/ is a new blog by a person who was a famous spokesperson for fat acceptance. The person is now blogging about her attempts to lose weight. This has caused some controversy at

shapelyprose and among some other fat-acceptance bloggers.

There are various takes on the subject, and I'm not going to list them all here. I'm going to discuss just one of them that came up in a friend's locked post. It was said that size-acceptance is about "live and let live," and suggested that it was hypocritical for size-acceptance advocates to criticize "a personal decision."

My comment was:

Thing is, it's not just "a personal decision" when it's undertaken in a public blog by a famous spokesperson for fat-acceptance.

The person has every right to do what they are doing, but writing a blog about their deliberate weight loss attempts discredits them as a spokesperson for fat-acceptance, in my mind.

therotund put it better here (emphasis mine):

A lot of the comments I have seen, both here and at Shapely Prose, seem to want to define Fat Activism as doing whatever the hell you want to do with your body. But that isn’t Fat Activism. That is body autonomy, which is a component of Fat Activism.

and

Does this mean [people who are dieting] cannot work toward changing social perceptions of fat people? No. But if you are a fat person who is publicly dieting, that is going to inform your message and reinforce the idea that fat people can and should lose weight by just trying hard enough. Does this mean you cannot appreciate and love other fat people? No. But it does send a message of “fat is okay for you but not for me” which kind of undermines the message of acceptance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

auntysocial.livejournal.com

So, in the long run, Atkins didn't work, because of your depression....

One of the things I'm thinking of when I say societal approval is how things go at the doctor's office. One of the most difficult things about being fat is going to the doctor and getting a good dose of fat-is-unhealthy propoganda.

From:

pir-anha.livejournal.com

yeah, that depressive episode threw a wrench in it finally, though for a time the diet helped somewhat with the general chronic depression i have (feeling much more energetic was very cool; there are times when i want to do the whole ketosis phase again just to feel that way).

i strongly suspect that it wouldn't have worked in the long run either though, because of the extremely low carb level even on their maintenance plan. eating that few carbs is just not "natural" for me (maybe it could become so, but i don't know how many years i'd have to practice to make that a habit). i do know two people who have kept it up for >5 years now, so it's possible for some.

yeah, doctor's visits can be difficult. mine, whom i visit as rarely as possible, always gives me that spiel, and i look sternly at him and say "not this again, you know it only has the effect that i don't want to see you real soon again", and then he laughs -- he's as accepting as he can be of me doing what i want. it's not the kind of r'ship i _want_ with my doctor, but eh; i deal, i have a thick skin. he's retiring and i might put some effort into picking a new one. then again, i might just pick his replacement cause their office is so close. i am a bad, bad health care consumer.

From:

mjlayman.livejournal.com

I belong to a Medicare HMO and none of my doctors comment on my weight. It's the urgent care doctors who don't know me who go on about it and then I have to start history (which takes an hour for the short version) and they usually give up and say "whatever."