fat people

[peters cute]

wot do u think about fat people well wot i would say it counts what is in the inside not the outside

[magicdice]

i have some friends who are fat, and there are some people i dislike who are fat. i don't see how you can judge someone based entirely on their weight, and i'm not sure what you're trying to get at with this question - please elaborate

[Lillabet]

I agree with magicdice. What do you think about fat people seems akin to lumping any other group of people together on a single characteristic. Do you think asking 'What do you think of black people' is ok or 'What do you think of Jews'? I'm guessing not.

I find it slightly disturbing that it is still seen as acceptable to criticise and even ridicule people based on their weight. I have heard some who do this justify it on the grounds that fat people may not be as healthy and that their choices will lead to them being a burden on the NHS and so on. Yet the same is true of those who smoke, or drink too much and there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the same degree of venom directed at these people.

People who feel justified in discussing 'fat people' as one group and criticising their appearance may in fact be part of the problem. I recently persuaded a friend who is somewhat overweight and wants to be slimmer to come to my gym with me. The hurtful sniggers that were directed at her by a small group for no apparent reason make it unlikely she will go again.

Can we just accept that no one characteristic defines a person. There are fat people Iget on with really well, some I dislike and the vast majority I have no view upon either way.

[andy hughes]

The previous answers are all perfectly valid, but it does underline the fact that we are a 'body-concious' society. Our culture is geared towards average weight people, and larger people will always be stared at, and even ridiculed, and abused.

How ever hard we try to be civilised, and understand intellectually that being fat does not make a person any less valuable, we still automatically notice people who are above average size.

How often do you hear people refer to Dawn French as being 'really attractive...', leaving the 'for a fat woman' unsaid, but still there for the listener to mentally add on to the statement.

We are 'fatist' as a culture, which doesn't make it right, but it does make it the way it is.

[Jackanory]

My weight has fluctuated throughout my life, (I am in my 50s), and although rather chubby at the mo I am still the same person that I have always been.

You are absolutely right, peters cute, it IS what is inside that counts - well said! :o)

[peters cute]

jackanory yep i know i am it counts what is in the inside not the outside i love that saying get people thinking

[stevie21]

I remember someone saying that it's OK to lecture people about the perils of smoking and say "you'll get cancer and die" but no-one (thankfully) would dare snap a Mars Bar out of a fattie's hand and say "you'll get heart disease and die!"

[Sue F]

Speaking as a fat person, it is very interesting to view a rational debate about how society feels about fat people rather than the constant abuse we now get in the media.  We are made to feel that we are somehow to blame for the decline in the NHS, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and obviously eating all of the pies.  Perhaps instead of putting so much effort into ridiculing us fatties, people should realise that this is a eating disorder like any other and we should be offered help. 

[hackindonna]

our society is very "superficial" and thats sooo bad.....if u are a fat man or woman the person is discriminated and bad treated.Sadly thats our "society"

i respect and i love to know and have friends of any kind,fat skinny,black,white i just cant understad why our society is like this....

[secretspirit]

As someone who's been size 10 and size 18 in the last few years I can honestly say that I've not changed inside during that time but I feel a hell of a lot better for having lost the extra weight. People treat you with a lot more respect (rightly or wrongly) when you're slimmer and I feel a lot better for it. I wouldn't judge someone solely on their size but I do think that we all owe it to ourselves to try and become a healthy weight so that we don't put ourselves at risk of an early death in the future.

Some of my mum's friends are the opposite of 'fattist' and deilberately stay obese, saying that slim people are the unhappy and unhealthy ones which is blantantly not true. They openly sneer at anyone under size 18 which I think is equally wrong as those who discriminate against them!