Sometimes, against my better judgment, I can’t help but look at the comments sections on articles and posts. Even though I know what I’m going to see, morbid curiosity gets the better of me. And there’s a little hope there, too, that humanity isn’t as bad as I sometimes fear it might be. Maybe this time, common sense, kindness, and rational thought will win out over anger, ignorance, and a raging desire to be mean to and presumptive about people you don’t know. Guess which I usually find.
This post is brought to you by Game of Thrones characters reacting to things.
Here is a small selection of comments on a post about whether or not fat men and fat women are treated equally (as in, equally bad) by society. (I’m not going to link to the page, because I don’t want to spread the hate.) As with every article that includes the word ‘fat,’ the comments quickly devolved into insults and arrogance. And of course the weight-loss experts pop up. Did you know that virtually everyone is a weight-loss expert? Check it out!
- Even if you close your eyes, you fan still feel fat. Lose weight, it’s not hard. Eat good and regularly exercise.
- [Losing weight] is easy, you’re just weak willed.
- It’s not hard if you want it. Someone who wants to lose fat, can lose fat.
- I’m just saying that’s it’s bull—- when someone says he/she wants to lose fat, but cant. Simply try harder. Not trying harder simply proves you don’t want it enough.
- fatshaming exists everywhere for a very good f—–g reason. its not to be horrid or unpleasant, its for their own damn good.
- I honestly find fat horrid. I don’t care if your a little overweight. But once you have rolls I loose a great deal of respect for you because how bad it is for your body.
- Fat isn’t beautiful. Period. People saying “I have health problems that make me fat.” Cantputdowntheforkitis? That it?
- There’s a reason why larger men are called “cuddly”, and larger women have no “cute” nicknames. Larger men are “normal”, while larger women are “ugly, and abnormal”
- Fat acceptance is just as wrong as fat shaming to me. The reality is obese people are unhealthy. This is a medical fact. Accepting that people are are obese isn’t right in my opinion.
Here’s one of my favorites. It’s rather more literate and considered than many comments, but it also highlights one of the biggest problems I have with anyone who wants to talk about weight loss with a fat person:
The key isn’t “fat shaming” OR “fat acceptance,” it’s telling people and reminding them of what you think may be best for them and what will be best for their health, and then let them make their own choice if they want to act on your advice or not.
Nope. No, no, all the no to this. There is not a single person of any body size or shape who needs or wants you to remind them of “what you think may be best for them and what will be best for their health.” Unless you have a medical degree and know me and my health intimately, your opinion is not wanted or needed. The arrogance of this person is actually more offensive to me than the dismissive and ignorant “it’s easy to lose weight” and “fat people are gross” comments above.
Sadly, it seems that it is nearly impossible to have productive, meaningful conversations about bodies, weight, body acceptance, and fat acceptance. Instead of listening to and caring about each other, we mock, ridicule, shame, and mistreat each other. It’s super prevalent when discussing fat bodies, but thin shaming is a thing as well. What a world we live in, where we would rather be dismissive and rude to others instead of accepting and kind. I’m glad this little corner of the internet is different. I hope it spreads.
