Circus Fat Men 100 Years Ago page 7

[KimInGA]

140 is plump for me. I'm 5'5", but small framed - I have a wrist circumference of 6 1/4 inches. Even 125 does not look good on me. It isn't just about what we weigh, it's at what weight we feel most comfortable. The highest I've weighed was 138 and it was a chore to bend over. Right now I'm around 126 and I still have that spare tire around my middle, but it's slowly disappearing. Until I hit menopause, I never weighed more than 110.

Are you supposed to measure around the skinniest part of your wrist, or around the part where your bone bumps out? Because mine is a hair under 5 1/2 inches at the skinniest part and I am 5'9"! Do I have abnormally small bones or something?!

[SentWest]

Personally, I don't know how anyone can claim to accept themselves in a state that renders them non-functional.

In my mind, it's not a question of attractiveness... I see many women larger than myself every day, that I think are objectively more attractive than I am. However, the fat acceptance movement seems to be more about embracing actual obesity than simply just body types outside the mainstream.

I have a really hard time believing it's truly about respecting ones self at any size, when the trajectory is heading toward limited mobility and limited functionality.

They need to realize too that obesity (actual obesity, not just being curvy or pleasantly plump) is simply just not attractive to the vast majority of people, and no amount of accpetance movements and enlightenment and awareness raising is going to change that. It will likely be counter-productive.

[Scott F]

[Nicator]

I vote we round up all of the people of Wal-mart and send them to Canada, where their feelings won't be hurt, and their medical expenses will be shared more fully by the collective.

A few years of this, and Canadians will be cured of their pathological altruism, so everybody is a winner.

[canio6]

Personally, I don't know how anyone can claim to accept themselves in a state that renders them non-functional.

They need to realize too that obesity (actual obesity, not just being curvy or pleasantly plump) is simply just not attractive to the vast majority of people, and no amount of accpetance movements and enlightenment and awareness raising is going to change that. It will likely be counter-productive.

So if I were to lose a limb while deployed or perhaps be paralyzed in a car accident I should not claim to accept myself because I am rendered non-functional or less-than-functional? Also, while I was in the Army I was obese based on BMI despite running 7miles a day, and doing 65+ on push ups and sit ups on my PT test. Hell, I had a higher PT score than many persons who were not obese or even overweight. There is more to functional or non-functional than weight/body fat percentage.

Also, wtf do I care what that vast majority of people find attractive? I do not base my self-worth on what others think of me, especially given how infrequently the vast majority actually thinks.

[Lynna]

Are you supposed to measure around the skinniest part of your wrist, or around the part where your bone bumps out? Because mine is a hair under 5 1/2 inches at the skinniest part and I am 5'9"! Do I have abnormally small bones or something?!

I measure about where I would wear a bracelet, which is above the knobby bone on the wrist.

[fitmom]

This is the picture you're referring to, and the Dove women are hardly "fat". Chubby, sure, but I think you have a warped idea about what fat actually is. That said, I don't think criticizing women who are skinny is right either, although I have no issue with questioning the media's very narrow definition of beauty.

The middle Victoria's Secret Model has anorexically thin legs.

[magnolia1973]

They need to realize too that obesity (actual obesity, not just being curvy or pleasantly plump) is simply just not attractive to the vast majority of people, and no amount of accpetance movements and enlightenment and awareness raising is going to change that. It will likely be counter-productive.

Yeah... but here is the thing. I used to be 300lbs. People were quite unkind and I KNOW I lost out on jobs because of it. I know I was treated differently by professors in design school than the petite girls. It went beyond just being laughed at and not getting laid. Basically people treat you like less of a human.

No one deserves to be treated the way I was in college. It was degrading. I'm the same person now, just a lot smaller and amazed at how much nicer people are to me, and yeah, I have now been hit on by guys at a college bar. When I was 21 they would have made a comment about spying a land whale or perhaps some moos.

So what happens when people treat you like ass? You retreat and hide. You sure as hell aren't real motivated to go for a jog. You hide on a couch and eat junk food. If you get super lucky, you stumble on a diet that works. If not, it just kind of landslides. It's easy to get fat in America.

I'm not sure "fat acceptance" is the best plan- they need an arm that deals with getting healthy. But giving fat people some dignity would be helpful. I mean, shit maybe just not making a comment or glaring at their food would be nice. Or maybe step it up and tell your friend to STF up when he moos at the the fat chick is a start. Because exactly NO ONE ever told me "hey fat ass, you'll get diabetes".... they just stopped with the insult and left off the advice/concern.

It's actually a lot like being a circus freak being an obese 14 to say, 30 year old woman. Except you don't get paid.

[SentWest]

There is more to functional or non-functional than weight/body fat percentage.

This is true. But it's also unconvincing to me for people to be carrying around an extra person or two worth of adipose tissue, and claiming to be fully functional. It's just not the case.

Losing a limb =/= being obese.

Also, wtf do I care what that vast majority of people find attractive? I do not base my self-worth on what others think of me, especially given how infrequently the vast majority actually thinks.

I don't know, what DO you care? You're not the one lobbying for fat acceptance. I just think that part of their goal is going to consistently fail, as you can't reason someone into thinking something is attractive or not.

[canio6]

This is true. But it's also unconvincing to me for people to be carrying around an extra person or two worth of adipose tissue, and claiming to be fully functional. It's just not the case.

Losing a limb =/= being obese.



I don't know, what DO you care? You're not the one lobbying for fat acceptance. I just think that part of their goal is going to consistently fail, as you can't reason someone into thinking something is attractive or not.

True losing a limb =/= obese but loss of function is loss of function. However, you said

Personally, I don't know how anyone can claim to accept themselves in a state that renders them non-functional.

Perhaps you meant voluntarily non-functional if one assumes obesity is self-inflicted and renders one non-functional. Yet, as written it would pertain to those who had lost a limb.

It is true that I am not lobbying for fat acceptance. I am lobbying for personal acceptance. I loved myself at 180. I loved myself at 300. I would love myself at 120 though at that point I would have no legs as that is the only way I could weigh 120. The point is I do not base my own self-worth on my body weight. I do not judge others on their's either.


I agree that there are some people who seem to purposely fail. Perhaps it is for sympathy, perhaps it is for self-loathing, perhaps they just do not know any better. I do not think this is limited to fat people. Also, if they are accepting themselves as fat, what have they failed?