I was alerted to a post on Facebook that shamed fat people in an attempt to make a point about gay rights. It was a picture of a fat woman in a Chik-fil-A chair that was too small for her with the caption “Welcome to Chik-Fil-A where being obese is “genetic” but being gay is a “lifestyle choice”. The conversation that followed illustrates the kind of ridiculous defense of fat shaming that people try to get away with, and that we can speak out against.
(Note: The quotes from “Strong Intelligent Women” can be triggering, you can skip them and still get the idea. Also, I was not the first or the only person to point out the issues, I’m including only my quotes because I want to get this out and I don’t want to use other people’s comments without permission)
Here’s what happened:
Ragen (that’s me!)
Trying to shift prejudice, bigotry and shame onto another group is not a way to win a civil rights battle with integrity.
As a queer woman I’m told that being queer is a choice, that other people know more about my sexuality than I do, and that I can change if I really try and so I deserve to be treated poorly. LGBT civil rights activism fights against that, and says that even if being queer is a choice, I deserve to be treated with respect.
As a fat women I am told that being fat is a choice, that other people know more about my body/habits/health than I do, and that I can change if I really try and so I deserve to be treated poorly. Fat civil rights activism fights against that, and says that even if being fat is a choice, I deserve to be treated with respect.
“Strong Intelligent” Women
For the people making jokes about weight: This is not the point of this meme. The point is hypocrisy. Second, that behavior is not permitted on this page. The members here make great points. This page is about equality and love for ALL people. We support people with any kind of weight issues. Please focus on the true points of this meme.
Ragen
Pro-tip: If your hypocrisy point requires shaming fat people, then it’s about weight and fat people. The fact that you refer to fat people as having “weight issues” illustrates your issues with us. Please focus on the fact that, as several commenters have already told you, you are hurting people – if your civil rights action requires shaming and stigmatizing another group of people, then it’s time to think of another way to make your point. What you’ve done here is wrong, it’s bigotry, and the fact that you are choosing to tell fat people what is and is not fat shaming is unconscionable.
Strong Intelligent Women
Many people say that obesity is genetic. Eating fried chicken daily, can make you obese. These are 100% truthful but secondary points of the meme. The main point is hypocrisy. Millions of people who subscribe to those points, deny the empirical evidence of genetically gay people. A large portion of these people are Christians who actively promote and eat at that restaurant, because it donates to official LGBT hate organizations. Is the issue that the person in the pic, has a weight issue? Should such people’s pics, be banned from the media and public display? Isn’t that a prejudice? This meme has very little to do with weight and isn’t the point. I have had many complaints from overweight people for not posting enough pics of overweight people. No matter what we post, someone is ready to be offended and complain. We received racism complaints for a pic yesterday, simply because black people were in it. People can try their best to twist or invent bogus intentions of our postings but it will not change the obvious real messages. People may not like some pics but none of them will be removed unless they can be proven false. We will never censor facts for feelings.
Ragen
This is the absolute most weak and pathetic defense of obvious fat shaming, stereotyping and prejudice that I have ever seen. I’m embarrassed for you. If you don’t understand the difference between requests from fat people to post positive images of fat people, and the picture you’ve posted that is clearly meant to be derogatory – with the goal of shaming fat people for the purpose of trying to put queer people in a more positive light then you should take “intelligent” out of your name immediately. You’re just trying to justify fat bigotry when you could be fighting it.
Activism Opportunity: Speak out: Click here to comment, like comments that you support, and/or see the full discussion.
To be clear about the activism, for me it’s not about the original poster, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I’m not the bigot whisperer. It’s for the fat people who read things like this that go unchallenged, and for the people who are reading this and have the initial thought “Hell Yeah” but then read something that a fat person has written about fat shaming and think “oh yeah…” and then read another post by a different fat person and get to “Oh Hell No!”
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