I’m inviting you to think for a moment.
What springs to mind when you think of the fat acceptance movement? If you think like the majority of Americans, what probably comes to mind are terms like BBW (Big Beautiful Women), Beautiful at Any Size, and Scales are for Fish. Raise your fists in the air, my sisters, and grab a drumstick. We’ll eat whatever the hell we want!
Now what do you think of when you hear the term Pro-Anorexia? Once again, the majority of Americans are probably mortified at the idea that it even exists. You possibly think that they want to starve your children. Pro-Anorexia recruits innocents, gives them eating disorders, and keeps them in a life of mental torment. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are mental disorders leading to an array of health problems and death. None of this is true, of course (save the last part), and some of it is downright silly, but most people think that only thinness kills.
The fact of the matter is, telling women that it’s okay (or even sexy) to be overweight is just as damaging as telling women that it’s okay (and again, sexy) to be underweight.
Pro-Anorexia reading and information receives so much scrutiny, and the writers deal with hate mail and threatened with violence. Meanwhile, sites like Fat Nat’s and BBW Online are praised and promoted.
“But,” you say, “Anorexia is a mental disorder and it’s deadly.”
And you’re right.
Anorexia Nervosa is listed in the DSM IV under very strict criteria, which I’m not going to list right now due to flow and relevancy of the article.
Health complications from anorexia are myriad, but ultimately leading to organ failure and death.
But you’re not completely right.
Health complications due to overeating and being overweight are also myriad and ultimately leading to organ failure and death.
So you’re looking at two different roads to the same destination.
Also located in the ED section of the DSM IV is Binge Eating Disorder (sometimes called Compulsive Over Eating). The criteria for this are slightly looser than for anorexia, but I’m not going to take the time to go in-depth on it.
So one is not better than the other after all. Fat Acceptance movements are going the way pro-anorexia is going – early death. Rather than promoting healthy lifestyles, fat acceptance sites also promote deadly ways of living, calling it a choice and personal freedom. Yet starving is an outside force, a mental disorder, and eating disorder sites are blight on the face of the Internet.
You’ve got to work these things in both directions or you run the risk of being discounted and called a hypocrite. The acceptance of these sites also contributes to the myth that compulsive over eating is not actually an eating disorder or a problem that requires outside help. It’s not fair to the sufferers of COE to label them as “Just Fat” especially when it comes time for them to seek help and recover.
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This was an informative blog, and I think you have the right idea. People should not focus on whether they are fat or skinny, but rather if they are healthy or not.
In the future, links for websites you mention should be somewhere in the blog or at the bottom. They really help to add credability to your blog, and if you do not have them, then readers cannot follow up on your advice.
Francesca Chambers
I am compelled to address this article, and I'm inviting you to read and think...about this:
The size acceptance movement is not the "freedom to stuff your face." That is ridiculous. The International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA) has a core philosophy of Respect Fitness Health (RFH) - Respect meaning self-respect and self-esteem as well as respect for others; Fitness that people of all sizes can do and maintain; and Health, about making healthy food choices, which is also for people of all sizes, not just fat people.
ISAA has worked tirelessly to address very real discrimination based on appearance, which has led to people being dismissed from jobs they are fully qualified for, misdiagnoses of medical conditions because doctors don't want to touch or be near fat patients, overcharging of insurance rates, justification for spouse abuse, physical and otherwise, and loss of custody of children and more.
ISAA has worked with eating disorders clinics and crusaders to help inform the public about eating disorders. So, ISAA is very familiar with the other end of the spectrum, anorexia and bulimia and even compulsive overeating, all of which are legitimate mental disorders which are dire and can lead to death. But ISAA does not condone or tolerate the idea that all obesity is caused by compulsive overeating or the idea that obesity is a disease. It is not.
If you would like to see a website about size acceptance and our organization over the last 10 years, I suggest you visit ISAA's award-winning website at http://www.size-acceptance.org
Best Wishes,
Allen Steadham
Founder and Director of ISAA