tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5827968588643415787.post6162864854659478887..comments2024-03-27T06:58:00.659-05:00Comments on Balancing Jane: Obesity, Health, and Oppression: What -isms Lie in Wait?Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801229525416203656noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5827968588643415787.post-1161205029488584602011-09-03T07:06:52.052-05:002011-09-03T07:06:52.052-05:00I just went and checked out some of the critiques,...I just went and checked out some of the critiques, and I found the one on the Rotund made some great points (Weiner uses body acceptance as a scapegoat for ignoring her health, the argument is alarmist and hyperbolic). <br /><br />I also agree with you, Bri, that the assumptions that fat people can't be fit and that fitness/health is a moral imperative are troublesome and tied up in a lot of negative stereotypes and prejudices. <br /><br />I guess the problem I'm having trouble with is that this conversation brings up personal performance in oppressive systems. As you point out, a person's personal decision to lose weight or not is only the business of that individual, and I agree. However, that individual is still making decisions that reflect on the way the systems in society work as a whole. <br /><br />So, for instance, it makes me sad to hear that a person of color is using skin lightening cream or that a gay person is undergoing reparative therapy because I think that those personal decisions (which they have the right to make) are indicative of larger societal systems of oppression. <br /><br />If I work out with the intention to lose weight, or cut out refined grains from my diet and then get happy if I see the numbers on the scale drop am I doing the same thing? <br /><br />It may be that the answer is "yes," but I am having a hard time making the jump.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07801229525416203656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5827968588643415787.post-47282073038876466422011-09-03T05:50:09.524-05:002011-09-03T05:50:09.524-05:00Weiner's article is extremely problematic for ...Weiner's article is extremely problematic for a variety of reasons and was extensively critiqued throughout the fatosphere if you want to google it. I am 300lb plus and all my numbers are in the best range possible. My doctor has no issue with my weight because weight does not denote health. I dont think there is any issue with you getting fit, fat acceptance as a movment has nothing against people getting fit. we do have a problem with people assuming fat people can't be fit, that we do nothing and eat crap all the time (I am not saying you are saying this, I am saying that is society's view in general). We also need to remember that health is not a moral imperative. An individual's health is no one else's business but their own.Brihttp://www.fatlotofgood.org.aunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5827968588643415787.post-86802351550046860812011-09-03T01:58:17.594-05:002011-09-03T01:58:17.594-05:00Oh, excellent post. I feel your confusion. I have ...Oh, excellent post. I feel your confusion. I have felt so many of the same conflicts. Post-baby, I'm sure I'm in an obese BMI and I'd rather not look like this, and yet I've had a health-at-every-size approach to my body that was tough to learn and now makes me reluctant to address weight loss. I also feel a sense of betrayal for wanting my body to be slimmer. I dont think there is an easy answer.<br /><br />PS I enjoyed being able to read all of this post in my reader!Louise Allanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08601148979233747013noreply@blogger.com