'Being Fat Means Different Things to Different People'

Following an article last week in the New York Times Sunday Review opinion pages by writer Alice Randall, titled 'Why Black Women Are Fat' where it stated that four out of five black women are seriously overweight, writer Jenn Leyva wrote a piece for the site Role Reboot titled 'Being Fat Means Different Things to Different People'.


First, here is the full article by Alice: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/opinion/sunday/why-black-women-are-fat.html?_r=3] 


And here is an excerpt from Jenn's article:

"I have since found the truth and the way and the light: fat acceptance. The premise is simple and profound: There is nothing wrong with being fat. Being fat doesn't mean I'm lazy, stupid, or ugly. Being fat doesn't make me diseased. Being fat doesn't make me unworthy. Being fat doesn't make my body revolting. Being fat doesn't make me a bad person. Being fat isn't causing untold economic destruction. In short, Randall is wrong.

So, in response to Randall, I can firmly say there is nothing wrong with being fat, but being fat has a huge impact on my life (and that goes beyond my gleeful use of fat puns). My fatness doesn't bother me—really. My body and I are on great terms. It's the ways in which I feel that nearly everyone is set to undermine this acceptance. We're all in the throes of diet culture—the dominant culture where weight loss through dieting is a nearly compulsory goal. The most obvious consequences of diet culture are clinical eating disorders and body dysmorphia, but it's more than what the women's magazine articles cover in their annual "body image" articles."

To see the full article, go here: http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2012-05-being-fat-means-different-things-to-different-people

It brings to light an interesting issue, one I have been wanting to discuss on this blog for a long time: being a bigger person, and what it means to you, and whether it affects your life, and how.

Thoughts?

Please feel free to comment.