hector_rashbaum: (south side uther)
hector_rashbaum ([personal profile] hector_rashbaum) wrote2010-07-30 06:08 pm

(no subject)

The comments in this ontd_feminism post are depressing the fuck out of me.

TL;DR version: Someone posted a piece from The Rotund talking about how the way some fat people justify their fat can be really harmful - that when people say "I'm fat, but it's okay because x, y, z", the implication is that people who can't claim x/y/z are still not "okay".

And y'know, that makes sense to me, because I'm not an "it's okay, x/y/z" person, I'm a Bad Fatty. And in FA/HAES spaces where the dominant discourse is "people shouldn't treat fat people like shit because not all of us are Bad Fatties", I come away feeling worse than I did before, because even the people who don't think fat is inherently wrong think there's something wrong with my fat.

But the commenters don't actually give a shit about that. They care about the post's wording, they care about their own right to frame the conversation in terms of bad fat vs good fat, they care about having to think before they talk. "This particular framing marginalizes people who the movement should theoretically be helping" is bullshit, because that's the way they want to frame it. There are people in the post saying "this perpetuation of 'good fat' versus 'bad fat'" makes me feel shitty, disgusting, unwelcome in FA/HAES spaces", but who gives a shit, because the Good Fatties want to keep talking that way.

No one was saying they can't feel however they want to feel about their bodies. No one was saying they can't think "my fat is okay because x/y/z". The call is to stop fucking saying it in FA/HAES spaces, because it marginalizes other fat people. But who gives a fuck, right? The fat people being marginalized are Bad.

I am so fucking sick of this bullshit. I've been told by other gay people I'm a Bad Lesbian, because I don't just quietly assimilate. I've been told by other women I'm a Bad Woman, because I'm one of Those Feminists, you know, the bad kind who look for sexism everywhere and make Nice Men feel bad. And now I don't just have to deal with being a Bad Fatty, I get to be a Worse Fatty because I'm not just the kind of fat person whose health skinny people are right to be ~concerned about, but I make the Good Fatties feel bad for being Good.
th_esaurus: (Default)

[personal profile] th_esaurus 2010-07-30 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
This is not directly related, but all the good fat/bad fat arguing right now made me consider it. So, apparently, it's okay to hate on or pity people who eat a lot on the grounds of health.

Does that mean I can yell abuse at drivers for risking their lives and other people's lives every single day?

Of course it fucking doesn't. The idea is ridiculous. But it's still okay to rag on other people's health if their supposed unhealthiness is somehow offensive to you...? Oh okay then.

(I also saw a news piece recently about a big chain store stocking larger sizes of kids' school clothes, and people were outraged because it 'normalised' obesity in children. BECAUSE OF COURSE IT MAKES MUCH MORE SENSE FOR BIG KIDS TO GO TO SCHOOL NAKED.

jfc people.)