You’ve undoubtedly heard it muttered in whispers: “Don’t call her obese. It’s disrespectful.” And for the most part, don’t we consent? Yet why? Why does a word like “fat” have such a bad reputation? Why is it disrespectful to mention that they are obese if it is not impolite to state that “that woman is blonde” or “that man is tall”? Stigma is the solution. Particularly in the United States, the stigma associated with obesity has made us oblivious to the true issues facing the food and health sectors.
Self magazine followed up with “‘Fat’ isn’t a Bad Word,” but explained that the word had been made so by others: “Some people use fat to mean unlovable, undesirable, slovenly, unintelligent, lazy.” In May of 2020, Charlotte Zoller of Teen Vogue wrote that the word “fat” makes people uncomfortable because it “has been hurled around as an insult for decades.” However, now, “it’s a term that plus-size individuals are.
We only have to glance at the nearest weight-loss commercial to see proof: Take charge of your life, the hospital urges. Get your life “back on track” in a book on weight loss surgery; watch YouTube videos; this is essentially the same language used to describe quitting drug usage. Then there are the horror stories, like those of British journalist and entrepreneur Katie Hopkins, who purposefully put on 43 pounds to “show” that obesity is “simply laziness.” Hopkins is mistaken, and as Monica MPH (@fattyMPH on Twitter) pointed out to me, “obesity” is a construct rather than a fact. Nevertheless, this unpleasant, mistaken way of thinking continues to permeate society, causing us to approach weight as if it were a different category from other physical characteristics.
Unbelievably, the stigmatization of overweight is a very recent practice. In the past, being overweight was really appealing. One of the first representations of the human form created by humans is the Venus of Willendorf, who is chubby and full-figured. The people who created this monument may have “lived in a hard ice-age environment when traits of fatness and fecundity would have been highly valued,” according to PBS. According to Christopher Forth’s Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life, there have always been both positive and negative associations with being overweight. But according to Ken Mondschein, “body obesity may also be considered as a symbol of affluence, social standing, success, and even rulership” in the Middle Ages. For example, picture a chubby Henry VIII.
The association between being overweight and wealth or power still exists in several non-Western countries. During a ritual to celebrate the new year, men from the Bodi tribe of Ethiopia compete to become the fattest. It is an honor for the winner to demonstrate the might of his tribe. In fact, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and Tanzania exhibited a predilection for chubby bodies until at least the 1990s, according to Stephen Nash, historian of science and archaeologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The invasion of Western ideas—and ideals—has caused them to lose their plump optimism, nevertheless, in recent years.
The contemporary West has decided that being obese is unsightly and has associated it with negative traits. We are experiencing an upsurge in bullying and abuse, as well as shame and stigma. This is terrible enough, but fat-shaming has also obscured a bigger, more serious issue. The obesity pandemic in our nation is a result of a collaboration between the food and medical industries that makes it difficult to obtain wholesome food at affordable rates and nearly hard to obtain patient-centered medical treatment.
My acquaintance just discovered that her hair was starting to fall out. She was constantly worn out and had brain fog. When she visited her regular practitioner, he cut her off to urge that she try diet and exercise. Later, she saw a professional, including a gynecologist (worried it might be hormonal). The initial recommendation from each of them was to lose weight. Ultimately, polycystic ovarian syndrome and extended Covid were the cause, but it cost her money and required three trips before it was determined to be the case. This is a well-known narrative that keeps coming up: physicians’ weight prejudice prevents them from seeing the patient as anything other than “fat.”
The medical establishment has so stigmatized obesity, labeled it an epidemic, and offered a variety of explanations for how and why we have reached this point. However, they have also criticized their patients by not listening to their health issues and instead focusing on weight loss. The message is quite clear: You are to blame for whatever is wrong. Or I won’t treat anything else, so lose weight.
However, as Monica and Rachel E Fox (@rachel e fox on twitter) just made clear to me, it is not your “fault.” In fact, the notion of culpability and blame are wholly unreliable justifications for removing stigma. Some individuals carry more weight and that has been true since humans were a thing, as Fox stated in a comment, “pointing to ‘the past’ or ‘not the west’ to denaturalize fat bigotry also takes the attention off of how the US has been actively, brutally attempting to get rid of fat people for at least 100 years.” You can be obese and in good health. You may be unhealthy and thin. Fat is essential to life. Yes, you’ve seen scientific research to the contrary, particularly on diabetes. However, this information is still hazy, hotly debated, and skewed by that century-long history. No one is claiming that being skinny is a sign of diabetes, despite the fact that you can have diabetes and be thin. Health is social. Nobody gets sick on their own; instead, social, interpersonal, cultural, and systemic factors all play a role in our health (or lack thereof). Access, therapy, and care are all impacted by stigma and are therefore all but impossible.
The food and health sectors are dysfunctional. Fresh meats and veggies are disproportionately pricey in the United States. Access to healthcare is limited, and it is never distributed fairly. I’ve already discussed how racism and financial may also contribute to fat shaming.
Not all fats are harmful. Fat people can be fit, attractive, successful, entertaining, active, and content. Your body should include fat since it is a required and beneficial substance for a variety of functions. I once heard someone say, “Well, at least you are skinny,” but I would much rather be healthy (I myself have an autoimmune disease and am therefore very thin). What concerns me the most is how stigma against fat transforms the very real issue of access to nutrition and healthcare into discrimination. There is no justification for fear of fat. The author of the Self piece claims that there is cause to despise the “rampant prejudice” that obese people experience in “work, health care, and education,” as well as “the incessant street harassment and sexual harassment that accompany extremely big individuals” everywhere they go.
It’s necessary to draw attention to the actual issues that underlie our health care systems, such as prejudice, access, and discrimination. We aren’t there yet, as a culture, but I hope we are moving in the right way, as Zoller says, “not a value judgment.” Being obese is OK. Being denied personhood or neglected by the medical community as a result is not acceptable.