I couldn’t have said it better myself…
A friend over at The Ivy League Vice Squad recently blogged about an article entitled “What Do Fat People Want?”
The article was written by some NAAFA folks (National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance).
Some of the big points for me that I’d like to add are in response to:
WE WANT doctors to stop pushing dangerous treatments: diets, diet pills, liposuction, and weight-loss surgery. As the New England Journal of Medicine said recently, “The cure for obesity [sic] may be worse than the condition.”
If by the “cure” for obesity, the Journal is referring to having surgery that reduces the size of the stomach so much that you are physically incapable of stuffing your face with eating more than a few bites of food, then yes, that “cure” is incredibly invasive and dangerous. Unfortunately, instead of it being a real last resort, it is now becoming the quick fix.
WE WANT diagnostic equipment that will accommodate us: MRIs, CAT scans, ultrasound machines, some X-ray machines, etc.
Uhh… oh sure. I’m not positive about this, but I would imagine that these machines cost in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. This one isn’t like switching out some seats in a movie theatre.
WE WANT the FDA to test weight-loss drugs thoroughly for safety before approving them for use by millions of consumers who are all-too-eager for a miracle pill, even when it is life-threatening. Beyond that, we question the value or wisdom of seeking medical cures for social problems in the first place.
This is a good one. As far as I can tell, the FDA takes a little while to test new drugs. Several years. They probably wouldn’t take so long if they weren’t stretched so thin. There are way more drugs coming out now than ever before.
Don’t you think that their time would be better spent testing the drugs that help those that suffer from diseases that are not preventable?
All of these points I’ve added have one thing in common for me. People always seem to assume that all doctors, scientists, other health-care professionals, and insurance companies are supposed to be made of extremely high moral fiber, and should and will always have our best interests in mind. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but they don’t. It’s up to you as a patient, a member of society, and as an intelligent human being to figure that out.
While you’re at it, why don’t you just live in the world as it exists. Stop trying to make other people change it just to accommodate your fat butt.
Check it out.
I’m reading your blogs day after day. And although I don’t totally agree with the method you get your point across, I agree with a lot of it.
Keep up the good work. Information is the key to understanding.
BC
[...] They demand certain things that only they require, but no one else has a need for. These demands will not benefit the many, only the few. Yet, they still demand. They hope that if their [...]
Well, I don’t know why the people in the above pics are fat, but I know why I’m fat: LACK OF REGULAR EXERCISE and eating too much carbohydrate. The best thing I ever did for myself was go on that Dr. Atkins diet. Long as I stick with that, I lose easily. However, sticking to it, like sticking to anything that requires me at 46 years old to use discipline to stick to it, is quite a drag. I didn’t find Atkins limiting. In fact it is quite freeing for me. Still I lose interest somehow. Bread is sooo good. It’s funny … when I was younger and in want of a good marriage, going to the gym and all that image consciousness was working real well. Now that I’m older, got money, got an almost paid off house, a paid off car, rarely get a cold or any sickness (even though quite overweight), I just don’t care so much somehow. Yep, still single and more content than I’ve ever been before. I do know now I’d be miserable if I had gotten married when I thought I wanted to.
I’ve always been the roller coaster type person: all kinds of sizes of clothes, waxing and waning diligence at exercise programs (I actually love to exercise, but just don’t make it an all-consuming habit unfortunately). Come to think of it, I’ve never let anything be an all-consuming passion.
My younger sister is precisely the opposite, not skinny, just perfect, with very very little exercise needed. Eats whatever she wants without gaining so much as an ounce. Consequently I get “accused” of being her mother when we are out someplace and strangers talk to us. “Oh, and is this your mother?” Uh, no … when she was 2 years old I was 4 !!
If a person with chronic overweight is sick and has been sickly all their lives, that makes a difference. If a person with chronic overweight condition is stick BECAUSE they are fat, therein lies the rub. The most I suffer from is achy joints. I don’t believe accommodations should be made for the fat people of this world. What we need in this country is a good old-fashioned FAMINE of Biblical proportions!! We fat folk would last longer because we have so much “reserve,” but I do wonder if the skinny people would then begin to gang up on and slaughter us fat ones for food …
Ann
What’s next? People who make fat jokes go to jail? Come on, why can’t most people take an interest and take responsibility for their own health? Because it’s easier to place the responsibility and blame on others. Shame!
I have to comment on this because I love being a Devil’s Advocate, and discussion is fun. (I’m being serious and philosophical about this, not sarcastic–it can be hard to tell online, sometimes, and I wanted to make that clear from the beginning.)
This statement:
“While you’re at it, why don’t you just live in the world as it exists. Stop trying to make other people change it just to accommodate your fat butt.”
really caught my eye. If you replaced “fat butt” with “learning/physical disablity,” “gender,” or “race,” a lot of people would get very bent out of shape. But a lot of people DO consider being overweight on par with the things above, and that it should be accommodated for. Do you disagree solely on the grounds that it is something that can be changed, unlike your race/gender or a disability? But some people (admittedly probably a small percentage), because of genetics/whatever, cannot loose weight. And then there are many others who may be able to loose weight, but genuinely struggle with it for long periods of time. So, during this time when they could probably use some medical help, are they just screwed? No MRI/X-ray/CAT scan machine for you?