I feel as though this article is reminiscent of the attitude towards white privilege and what Johnson said about denying that it exists. People treat fat people in the opposite way by constantly joking and making fun of fat people. Last night I was flipping through channels and on Tru Tv's Most Shocking they dedicated a whole episode to making fun of fat people. They called it the Biggest Losers episode. People act as though they do not care about the fact that they have fat friends or family members. They continue to poke fun and harass fat people as much as necessary to make them either feel better about themselves or prove that they hate fat people to the rest of their friends or whoever.I feel like the following article is an example of people starting to acknowledge that we have a problem in this country. Many of those who are overweight are so because they eat when they experience different emotions. Nagging, sadness, happiness, depression, etc. Its different for everyone. Most people assume that overweight people are fat and lazy and thats it. It would be interesting to see how it would be if roles were reversed.
http://www.newsweek.com/2009/08/25/america-s-war-on-the-overweight.html
Thanks for sharing this article. Fatphobia is one of my areas of interest, and I have already taken some heat for it because it is a form of prejudice people seem to think is socially acceptable.
ReplyDeleteDr. Ryan is right. The social acceptance of a phobia is what legitimizes it. Whether its rallies around lynching, or family guy episodes making "fun" of fat people, hate has a social function. Thank you for posting!
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