Fat acceptance movement
Encyclopedia
The fat acceptance movement (also known as the size acceptance, fat liberation, fat activism, or fat power movement) is an effort to change societal attitudes towards fat, obese, and overweight
people.
The movement argues that overweight people are targets of hatred
and discrimination
, and that obese women are subjected to more social pressure than obese men. Hatred and disrespect towards fat people are seen in multiple places, including media outlets, where fat people are often ridiculed or held up as objects of pity. Discrimination comes in the form of lack of equal access to transportation and employment.
Proponents argue that anti-fat stigma and aggressive diet promotion have led to an increase in psychological and physiological problems among fat people. Proponents of fat acceptance maintain that people of all shapes and sizes can strive for fitness and physical health. They believe health to be independent of, not dependent on, body weight. Thus, proponents promote "health at every size
", the philosophy that one can pursue mental and physical health regardless of their physical appearance or size.
Through the works of authors such as Paul Campos
and Sandy Szwarc
, the fat acceptance movement has argued that doctors should treat the health problems of people of all sizes, believing that health issues are not defined by weight and are shared by people of all sizes, fat and thin. Some in the movement have argued that the health risks of fatness and obesity have been exaggerated or misrepresented, and used as cover for cultural and aesthetic prejudices against fat.
Fat activism remains a marginal movement. Organizations such as the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
(NAAFA) and the International Size Acceptance Association
(ISAA) have relatively small memberships, and people interested in the movement tend to be clustered in larger cities and spread across medium- to small-sized web communities.
This kind of history and visibility gave rise to the Fat Acceptance movement which originated in the late 1960s, although its grassroots nature makes it difficult to precisely chart its milestones. Like other social movements from this time period, the fat acceptance movement, initially known as "Fat Pride," "Fat Power," or "Fat Liberation," often consisted of people acting in an impromptu fashion. A "Fat-in" was staged in New York's Central Park in 1967. Called by a radio personality, Steve Post, the "Fat-in" consisted of a group of 500 people eating, carrying signs and photographs of Sophia Loren
(an actress famous for her figure), and burning diet books.
Several groups formed during this period to promote a fat acceptance agenda. In 1969, William Fabrey founded a social club promoting "Fat Pride" called the National Association to Aid Fat Americans, subsequently renamed the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). In 1973, a radical NAAFA chapter spun off to become an independent group, the Fat Underground, promoting a stronger activist philosophy. They were inspired by the philosophy of the Radical Therapy Collective, a feminist group that believed that many psychological problems were caused by oppressive social institutions and practices. The Fat Underground, founded by Sara Fishman (then Sara Aldebaran) and Judy Freespirit, took issue with the growing bias against obesity in the scientific community. They coined the saying, "a diet is a cure that doesn't work for a disease that doesn't exist".
Shortly afterwards, Fishman moved to New Haven, CT, where she, along with Karen Scott-Jones, founded the New Haven Fat Liberation Front, an organization similar to the Fat Underground in its scope and focus. In 1983, they collaborated to publish a germinal book in the field of Fat Activism, Shadow on a Tightrope. The book collected several fat activist position papers initially distributed by the Fat Underground, as well as poems and essays from other writers.
The 1980s and 1990s witnessed an increase in activist organizations, publications, and conferences. In the 1980s, new anti-dieting programs and models began to appear in the research literature in response to new information dispelling common myths about obesity.
In recent years, more writers have written to promote fat acceptance: related online zine
s include Fat!So and Figure 8, related blog
s include Kate Harding's Shapely Prose,Big Fat Blog,,The F Word, The Body Love Wellness Blog, and PeopleOfSize.com. Several websites have sprung up to help connect fat people with fat-friendly service providers and products. Many books have been published challenging the medical claim that fat produces ill health and highlighting the issue of weight-based discrimination that fat people are subjected to by medical professionals and society at large. Size discrimination has been increasingly addressed in the arts, as well. Performance art groups such as The Padded Lilies
, Big Burlesque and the Fat Bottom Revue, among others, intentionally feature fat bodies in their shows.
There has also been an emerging body of fat political and sociological studies, some with a fat activist agenda, developing within the academy. The American Popular Culture Association has an area in fat studies and regularly includes panels on the subject. In addition, student groups with a fat activist agenda have emerged in a number of colleges including Hampshire, Smith, and Antioch colleges.
In addition to what the movement is doing to raise public awareness, there have been a surge in studies both for and against fatness in scientific journals.
" and weight loss surgeries.
Due to intrinsic linguistic misunderstandings and differing definitions of the word "acceptance," some fat activists believe the phrase refers to any fat person fighting for equal rights and opportunities, regardless of whether or not that person believes that the pursuit of reduction in a person's body mass is feasible. Other fat activists define fat acceptance more strictly, applying that phrase only to fat people who are not pursuing a reduction in their body mass, and use phrases such as fat activist to describe fat people and allies working more generally on civil rights issues pertaining to fat people.
In practice, the only way to know the position of any particular individual member of the group on weight loss attempts is to ask, or read specific position papers on the issue.
Another common division in the fat acceptance community is the differing attitudes towards general society, specifically thin people. The fat acceptance community generally divides into two categories. One is those who feel discrimination towards thin people hinders their cause. The other side views thin people as the enemy, or the partial cause of their social stigma; some cater to this group with mockery of thin people.
, Washington, D.C.
, the California
cities of San Francisco and Santa Cruz
, Binghamton, New York
, Urbana, Illinois
, and Madison, Wisconsin
have passed laws prohibiting weight discrimination.
costs are rising, though activists claim this may be partially attributed to stigma that people who are overweight face in everyday life, and these people avoiding doctors because of perceived weight discrimination in the medical profession. In 2006, the CDC
estimated that 10 percent of current health care costs are due to obesity. A Dutch study concluded that lifetime cost of obesity are less as these individuals die at an earlier age, while obese individuals have higher annual health care costs.
There are many health related problems associated with obesity, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and joint problems caused by overloading the skeleton with too much weight. Studies show that obesity reduces life expectancy. Public health officials regard widespread obesity as posing significant costs to society.
Critics also contend that accepting fatness will make people less likely to aspire to achieve a healthy weight. The common fat acceptance mantra
that "diets don't work" is considered by some to be an oversimplification that may discourage a person in need of a healthier lifestyle from making responsible and potentially beneficial changes in eating habits. Research has shown that obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive dietary calories
, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility.
Experts at The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
published a study suggesting that, as the obese eat 18% more than average, they are unfairly contributing to world hunger and climate change. Dr David Haslam, of the National Obesity Forum (UK) responded "Really, it (the study) is discriminatory towards obese people. They are an easy target at the moment, but I think the causes of climate change and rising food prices is much more complex."
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
people.
Background
Activism concerning the societal acceptance of fat people covers numerous fronts but generally can be described as attempting to alter societal, personal, and medical attitudes.The movement argues that overweight people are targets of hatred
Hatred
Hatred is a deep and emotional extreme dislike, directed against a certain object or class of objects. The objects of such hatred can vary widely, from inanimate objects to animals, oneself or other people, entire groups of people, people in general, existence, or the whole world...
and discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, and that obese women are subjected to more social pressure than obese men. Hatred and disrespect towards fat people are seen in multiple places, including media outlets, where fat people are often ridiculed or held up as objects of pity. Discrimination comes in the form of lack of equal access to transportation and employment.
Proponents argue that anti-fat stigma and aggressive diet promotion have led to an increase in psychological and physiological problems among fat people. Proponents of fat acceptance maintain that people of all shapes and sizes can strive for fitness and physical health. They believe health to be independent of, not dependent on, body weight. Thus, proponents promote "health at every size
Health at Every Size
Health at Every Size is an approach to health that focuses on intuitive eating and pleasurable physical activity rather than dieting and weight loss.-Overview:The major components of HAES, as described by Jon Robison, are:...
", the philosophy that one can pursue mental and physical health regardless of their physical appearance or size.
Through the works of authors such as Paul Campos
Paul Campos
Paul F. Campos is a law professor, author and journalist currently on the faculty of the University of Colorado in Boulder. His books include Against the Law Paul F. Campos is a law professor, author and journalist currently on the faculty of the University of Colorado in Boulder. His books include...
and Sandy Szwarc
Sandy Szwarc
Sandy Szwarc is a food writer and marketing consultant with a bachelor's of science in nursing who has written articles about food for many publications, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and Christian Science Monitor...
, the fat acceptance movement has argued that doctors should treat the health problems of people of all sizes, believing that health issues are not defined by weight and are shared by people of all sizes, fat and thin. Some in the movement have argued that the health risks of fatness and obesity have been exaggerated or misrepresented, and used as cover for cultural and aesthetic prejudices against fat.
Fat activism remains a marginal movement. Organizations such as the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance is a non-profit civil-rights organization in the US dedicated to improving the quality of life for the obese...
(NAAFA) and the International Size Acceptance Association
International Size Acceptance Association
The International Size Acceptance Association is a United States based non-governmental organization aimed at advancing Fat Acceptance, directed by Allen Steadham. Unlike National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance however, the organisation has an international slant, and has several overseas...
(ISAA) have relatively small memberships, and people interested in the movement tend to be clustered in larger cities and spread across medium- to small-sized web communities.
History
During the early part of the 20th century, obesity was seen as detrimental to the community, by means of decreasing human efficiency, and that obese people interfere with labor productivity in the coastal areas of the United States.This kind of history and visibility gave rise to the Fat Acceptance movement which originated in the late 1960s, although its grassroots nature makes it difficult to precisely chart its milestones. Like other social movements from this time period, the fat acceptance movement, initially known as "Fat Pride," "Fat Power," or "Fat Liberation," often consisted of people acting in an impromptu fashion. A "Fat-in" was staged in New York's Central Park in 1967. Called by a radio personality, Steve Post, the "Fat-in" consisted of a group of 500 people eating, carrying signs and photographs of Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
(an actress famous for her figure), and burning diet books.
Several groups formed during this period to promote a fat acceptance agenda. In 1969, William Fabrey founded a social club promoting "Fat Pride" called the National Association to Aid Fat Americans, subsequently renamed the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). In 1973, a radical NAAFA chapter spun off to become an independent group, the Fat Underground, promoting a stronger activist philosophy. They were inspired by the philosophy of the Radical Therapy Collective, a feminist group that believed that many psychological problems were caused by oppressive social institutions and practices. The Fat Underground, founded by Sara Fishman (then Sara Aldebaran) and Judy Freespirit, took issue with the growing bias against obesity in the scientific community. They coined the saying, "a diet is a cure that doesn't work for a disease that doesn't exist".
Shortly afterwards, Fishman moved to New Haven, CT, where she, along with Karen Scott-Jones, founded the New Haven Fat Liberation Front, an organization similar to the Fat Underground in its scope and focus. In 1983, they collaborated to publish a germinal book in the field of Fat Activism, Shadow on a Tightrope. The book collected several fat activist position papers initially distributed by the Fat Underground, as well as poems and essays from other writers.
The 1980s and 1990s witnessed an increase in activist organizations, publications, and conferences. In the 1980s, new anti-dieting programs and models began to appear in the research literature in response to new information dispelling common myths about obesity.
Modern movement
Members of the contemporary movement perceive negative societal attitudes as persistent, and as being based on the presumption that fatness reflects negatively on a person's character. Currently, the fat acceptance movement continues to strive for change in societal, personal, and medical attitudes toward fat people. Proponents engage in public education about what they describe as myths concerning fat and fat people. Organizations hold conferences and conventions: including "NAAFA", the "Association for Size Diversity and Health", the "No Lose Annual Conference", and "FatGirl Speaks". Several books have been written on the topic, including Fat!So? Because You Don’t Have To Apologize For Your Size, By Marilyn Wann, Tipping the Scales of Justice: Fighting Weight-Based Discrimination, by Sondra Solovay, Largely Happy: Changing your mind about your body, by Lynda Finn, and Don’t Diet, by Dale Atrens.In recent years, more writers have written to promote fat acceptance: related online zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
s include Fat!So and Figure 8, related blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s include Kate Harding's Shapely Prose,Big Fat Blog,,The F Word, The Body Love Wellness Blog, and PeopleOfSize.com. Several websites have sprung up to help connect fat people with fat-friendly service providers and products. Many books have been published challenging the medical claim that fat produces ill health and highlighting the issue of weight-based discrimination that fat people are subjected to by medical professionals and society at large. Size discrimination has been increasingly addressed in the arts, as well. Performance art groups such as The Padded Lilies
Padded Lilies
The Padded Lilies are a water ballet troupe of fat women based out of Oakland, California, United States. The group was founded by fat activist Shirley Sheffield in 1997 to promote "synchronized swimming, body-acceptance, fat-empowerment, and fitness at any size." The Padded Lilies have been...
, Big Burlesque and the Fat Bottom Revue, among others, intentionally feature fat bodies in their shows.
There has also been an emerging body of fat political and sociological studies, some with a fat activist agenda, developing within the academy. The American Popular Culture Association has an area in fat studies and regularly includes panels on the subject. In addition, student groups with a fat activist agenda have emerged in a number of colleges including Hampshire, Smith, and Antioch colleges.
In addition to what the movement is doing to raise public awareness, there have been a surge in studies both for and against fatness in scientific journals.
Issues within the movement
One point of contention in the movement is found between those fat people who are attempting to lose weight and those who are not. Opponents of weight loss attempts cite the high failure rate of all permanent weight loss attempts, and the many dangers of "yo-yo weight fluctuationsYo-yo dieting
Yo-yo dieting or Yo-yo effect, also known as weight cycling The term "yo-yo dieting" was coined by Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., at Yale University, in reference to the cyclical up-down motion of a yo-yo. In this process, the dieter is initially successful in the pursuit of weight loss but is...
" and weight loss surgeries.
Due to intrinsic linguistic misunderstandings and differing definitions of the word "acceptance," some fat activists believe the phrase refers to any fat person fighting for equal rights and opportunities, regardless of whether or not that person believes that the pursuit of reduction in a person's body mass is feasible. Other fat activists define fat acceptance more strictly, applying that phrase only to fat people who are not pursuing a reduction in their body mass, and use phrases such as fat activist to describe fat people and allies working more generally on civil rights issues pertaining to fat people.
In practice, the only way to know the position of any particular individual member of the group on weight loss attempts is to ask, or read specific position papers on the issue.
Another common division in the fat acceptance community is the differing attitudes towards general society, specifically thin people. The fat acceptance community generally divides into two categories. One is those who feel discrimination towards thin people hinders their cause. The other side views thin people as the enemy, or the partial cause of their social stigma; some cater to this group with mockery of thin people.
Related law
MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
cities of San Francisco and Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, Binghamton, New York
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
, Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
, and Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
have passed laws prohibiting weight discrimination.
Health problems
Many studies show that people who are obese are more likely than others to be in poor health, at a time when health careHealth care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
costs are rising, though activists claim this may be partially attributed to stigma that people who are overweight face in everyday life, and these people avoiding doctors because of perceived weight discrimination in the medical profession. In 2006, the CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
estimated that 10 percent of current health care costs are due to obesity. A Dutch study concluded that lifetime cost of obesity are less as these individuals die at an earlier age, while obese individuals have higher annual health care costs.
There are many health related problems associated with obesity, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and joint problems caused by overloading the skeleton with too much weight. Studies show that obesity reduces life expectancy. Public health officials regard widespread obesity as posing significant costs to society.
Social criticism
Fat acceptance advocates' positions have sparked criticism. While acknowledging that fat and obese individuals are subject to inappropriate discrimination or pressure, some critics hold that fat acceptance advocates' goal of unconditional acceptance of obesity is itself unhealthy. One study concluded that "the risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, or other diseases increases throughout the range of moderate and severe overweight for both men and women in all age groups." The same study also found that the mortality risk associated with "overweight" is greater for whites than for blacks, raising questions about whether one set of standards for what constitutes health can be applied uniformly across demographic groups.Critics also contend that accepting fatness will make people less likely to aspire to achieve a healthy weight. The common fat acceptance mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
that "diets don't work" is considered by some to be an oversimplification that may discourage a person in need of a healthier lifestyle from making responsible and potentially beneficial changes in eating habits. Research has shown that obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive dietary calories
Food energy
Food energy is the amount of energy obtained from food that is available through cellular respiration.Food energy is expressed in food calories or kilojoules...
, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility.
Experts at The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a constituent college of the federal University of London, specialising in public health and tropical medicine...
published a study suggesting that, as the obese eat 18% more than average, they are unfairly contributing to world hunger and climate change. Dr David Haslam, of the National Obesity Forum (UK) responded "Really, it (the study) is discriminatory towards obese people. They are an easy target at the moment, but I think the causes of climate change and rising food prices is much more complex."
See also
- Anti-fat biasAnti-fat biasAnti-fat bias refers to the prejudicial assumption of personality characteristics based on a visual assessment of a person as suffering from obesity based on physical characteristics...
- Eating disorderEating disorderEating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...
- Fat feminismFat feminismFat feminism or fat-positive feminism is a form of feminism that argues overweight women are economically, educationally, socially and physically disadvantaged due to their weight. Instead of losing weight, fat-positive feminists promote acceptance for women of all sizes and oppose any form of size...
- ObesityObesityObesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
- Weightism
Fat Acceptance organizations
- International Size Acceptance Association, size-acceptance.org
- National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, naafa.org
- Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, cswd.org
- TFRC: The Fat Rights Coalition, fatrights.org
- Health At Every Size, haescommunity.org/
Other organizations
- The Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, section on Weight Bias and Stigma, yaledruddercenter.org