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sarahmichiganI posted a couple days back my thoughts on fat acceptance/size acceptance activism and how it is not compatible with the pursuit of weight-loss through dieting.
I do have several folks on my FL who are pursuing weight loss through Weight Watchers or other forms of food restricting, exercise, weight-loss surgery or some combination of those things, and I love those people dearly and love many of their posts, even some of the ones that mention weight loss as a primary goal.
I don't consider anyone trying to lose weight to be, automatically, an enemy of size acceptance. Shit, I'd be considered an enemy of the size acceptance movement up until 6 years ago if trying to lose weight was the only criteria, even though I've never believed that all fatties are lazy, moral failures or that parents of fat children deserve to have their children taken away from them or that fat folks should be unable to adopt or they should have their paychecks reduced because they're supposedly a drain on the health care system.
For nearly every person who has ended up as a supporter of Size/Fat Acceptance, they've almost all gone through a period of at least *wishing* they could change their bodies, if not a period of actively dieting for weight loss (and almost always putting it back on). That includes me, too.
For those on my FL who have lost or are in the process of losing a lot of weight, I really hope that you get what you want and that you'll be happy and healthy. I hope (and believe, in most cases) that you're not just on wack-o fad diets to lose weight but are examining your relationship to food and exercise and are developing new life-long habits that will make you feel healthier no matter where your weight ends up.
I do worry about some of my friends who are still focused on weight loss as a primary goal because the statistics for keeping it off are not encouraging, and yo-yo dieting is so dangerous for your health. I also worry that doctors exaggerate the dangers of obesity and down-play the risks of weight-loss surgery when advising their super-sized patients.
But, ultimately, when I'm writing about the failure of dieting and weight-loss efforts, I'm talking in general or about my own struggle with these issues, and I'm not pointing any fingers.
Unless you believe and articulate that all fat people are weak and unmotivated and we're killing ourselves with our size acceptance, I'm going to consider you an ally of the Size Acceptance movement, even if your choices with regard to making weight loss a goal are not the choices I would make.
There's too much Us vs. Them in the world already, and regardless of whether you're doing Jenny Craig or getting lapband surgery, if you believe that fat people shouldn't be treated like shit and that maybe the whole War on Obesity is a little out of control, we're really on the same side.
I do have several folks on my FL who are pursuing weight loss through Weight Watchers or other forms of food restricting, exercise, weight-loss surgery or some combination of those things, and I love those people dearly and love many of their posts, even some of the ones that mention weight loss as a primary goal.
I don't consider anyone trying to lose weight to be, automatically, an enemy of size acceptance. Shit, I'd be considered an enemy of the size acceptance movement up until 6 years ago if trying to lose weight was the only criteria, even though I've never believed that all fatties are lazy, moral failures or that parents of fat children deserve to have their children taken away from them or that fat folks should be unable to adopt or they should have their paychecks reduced because they're supposedly a drain on the health care system.
For nearly every person who has ended up as a supporter of Size/Fat Acceptance, they've almost all gone through a period of at least *wishing* they could change their bodies, if not a period of actively dieting for weight loss (and almost always putting it back on). That includes me, too.
For those on my FL who have lost or are in the process of losing a lot of weight, I really hope that you get what you want and that you'll be happy and healthy. I hope (and believe, in most cases) that you're not just on wack-o fad diets to lose weight but are examining your relationship to food and exercise and are developing new life-long habits that will make you feel healthier no matter where your weight ends up.
I do worry about some of my friends who are still focused on weight loss as a primary goal because the statistics for keeping it off are not encouraging, and yo-yo dieting is so dangerous for your health. I also worry that doctors exaggerate the dangers of obesity and down-play the risks of weight-loss surgery when advising their super-sized patients.
But, ultimately, when I'm writing about the failure of dieting and weight-loss efforts, I'm talking in general or about my own struggle with these issues, and I'm not pointing any fingers.
Unless you believe and articulate that all fat people are weak and unmotivated and we're killing ourselves with our size acceptance, I'm going to consider you an ally of the Size Acceptance movement, even if your choices with regard to making weight loss a goal are not the choices I would make.
There's too much Us vs. Them in the world already, and regardless of whether you're doing Jenny Craig or getting lapband surgery, if you believe that fat people shouldn't be treated like shit and that maybe the whole War on Obesity is a little out of control, we're really on the same side.
