Charlotte Cooper focuses on the American movement in one of her most famous books Fat and Proud (1998) where she speaks out too many obese individuals whom are in the same position as herself. She primarily concerns herself with ‘fat activism’ which is a fat acceptance movement in a social society seeking to change anti-fat bias. Many people can relate their own issues to hers as she draws attention to and tries to fight against fat phobia, fat discrimination and stereotypes that fat individuals are frequently judged on. This chapter is to endeavour what it is intended by fat activism and explore how Cooper lived and experienced fat phobia herself and medicalization of obesity. Cooper’s purpose and aims from the book is to reclaim the word ‘fat’ as a positive definition instead of an abusive and insulting term and …show more content…
Therefore, in the forty years of her experiencing fat activism it has shown that there are alternative ways to promote fitness and wellbeing for those whom suffer from obesity, that does not comprise of punishing diets or with humiliating practices. Cooper insinuates that the stigmatization that obese people, poses a contrast to the normalised views of an individual, by stating ‘being fat affects ordinary areas of our lives’ (Cooper, 1998: 32). Thus, daily life for an obese individual becomes a struggle and activities that ‘normal’ individuals take for granted take much longer for an individual that suffers from obesity to accomplish. Obesity becomes a social stigma and more than often they are judged on their appearance and Cooper emphasises that in the result of this ‘fat people receive a huge amount of unwanted attention’ (Cooper, 1998:
Brody, Jane E. “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.” New York Times. 12 September 2011. Print.
Christa Kurkjian explains in her paper, Is “Fat” the New “F” Word?, that Carver transforms the social norm of being fat—and ugly—to something of a “saving grace” (Kurkjian 3). However, I have to disagree with Kurkjian on her thesis. I truly do not feel Carver’s intent for Fat is to transform the word “fat,” but to elaborate on how people perceive fat.
In “Cruelty, Civility, and Other Weighty Matters” by Ann Marie Paulin, she was trying to get across a very important message: skinny doesn’t mean happy. The main idea was about how our culture in America encourages obesity because of the food choices they offer, how expensive weight loss pills and exercise bikes is, and etc., yet the culture also is prejudice against these same fat people that they encourage. It’s a constant back and forth in America between what is convenient with the little time we have in between everything we have to do each day and working out to be skinny enough for everyone to not judge you. Ms. Paulin wrote this article for literally everyone, this article was for skinny people to show them like hey, you’re not all
Their goal was to be cast against public health officials and they wanted to be “represented as the voices denying the health risks of obesity” (Johnston & Taylor, 2008) and for them to recognize “the gender and class implications of fat
The article “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance” is written by Mary Ray Worley, a member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. She writes of her firsthand experience as a “fat person” in society. Throughout the article, Worley explains what it is like to be obese and describes the way society treats those who have a weight problem. She attacks the idea of dieting, criticizes medical professionals for displaying an obscured view of health risks, and defends the idea of exercising to feel good rather than exercising to lose weight. Unfortunately, her article seems to reflect only own opinions and emotions rather than actual facts and statistics.
Cynara Geisslers’ essay “Fat Acceptance: A Basic Primer,” was published in Geez Magazine in 2010. The focus of the essay is to refute the pressure of society to be thin and promote self-acceptance regardless of size. While this essay touches on many agreeable points, it tends to blow many ideas out of context in an attempt to create a stronger argument. The article takes on a one-sided argument without any appropriate acknowledgement of the opposition, overlooks the risks of ignoring personal health, and has a strong feminist ideology associated towards the essay which tends to make the validity of her argument questionable.
Obesity and opposition are the two main issues of this film. The issue of obesity, treated lightly in the beginning of the film and then severely by the end, reflects society’s approach to weight loss. To ...
The subject I have chosen to respond to is an ever-growing problem in our world especially in America it is obesity, which is when someone is overweight for their body type and height. Recently we watched a video from YouTube called Dear fat people by Nicole Arbour in this video she was extremely blunt with her opinions on obese people and what she feels they could do better at and the trouble they are causing with being over weight. I think most would/ do view it harshly because they are either overweight or they are over weight but have a medical condition and can not necessarily help it but she said in the video that this did not apply to medical conditions just people who can help there situation. Either way I think what Nicole said is
What comes to your mind when you hear someone is overweight. In most american’s eyes, it is someone who anyone who is not a model. This creates a huge predicadment counting that America is known to be fat. In the past few decades, lifestyle has changed our habits, but we did not think about the consequences. If we eat more then we must be doing some kind of exercise to counteract what we put inside of us. In the article “America’s War on the Overnight” by Kate Dailey and Abby Ellin, they successfully persuade the reader to tackle obesity, we need to focus more on the subject of obesity and not attack the obese using the rhetorical triangle.
From the time girls are little, they are taught to be pretty. In Fat is Not A Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen, she explains how she has come to understand that all of the glamorous princesses that little girls look up to are all unrealistically thin, with beauty being their most important asset. She tells her point in a sarcastic and bitter way, showing how this anorexic beauty is not something to look up to and want to become someday. She wants to let the reader know that this romanticizing of skinniness is not a reality.
Fat does not equal lazy; fat does not equal bad; fat does not equal overeating; fat does not equal ugly. Fat oppression is something so prevalent in our society, yet Americans refuse to recognize it as a problem or even an issue. After hearing an amazing woman named Nomy Lamm speak this weekend, I could not longer let this issue be ignored. (Lamm is a fat oppression activist and has been published in Ms. magazine). Fat oppression exists in this society and we all must recognize the damage it does to everyone, especially fat people.
In order to take a sociological viewpoint into account when one examines obesity, first it is important to understand how obesity is recognized in current society. According to today’s news articles and magazines and advertisements and other mass media about health and healthy life, one can easily realize that a great number of people have an eagerness to be healthy. Also, one can assume through these mass media about health that everyone wants to be attractive, and they are even prone to transform their own behaviors to gain attractiveness. This is because most people live a life where social interaction is frequently required and must engage themselves into social interaction every day of their life. Therefore, based on these ideas and proofs throughout this mass media, obesity is regarded as one of the characteristics that is disgraceful and undesirable in society.
In “The Fat Girl” Louise struggled with her weight for all her life even after she became slender. Even when she was a girl her mother
This country places great value on achieving the perfect body. Americans strive to achieve thinness, but is that really necessary? In his article written in 1986 entitled “Fat and Happy?,” Hillel Schwartz claims that people who are obese are considered failures in life by fellow Americans. More specifically, he contends that those individuals with a less than perfect physique suffer not only disrespect, but they are also marginalized as a group. Just putting people on a diet to solve a serious weight problem is simply not enough, as they are more than likely to fail. Schwartz wants to convey to his audience that people who are in shape are the ones who make obese people feel horrible about themselves. Schwartz was compelled to write this essay,
Is resistance to the experience about fatness possible? What are the civil right protections of fat