You may remember Dr. Oz from being “flabbergasted” that readily available research exists. Or trying to make the argument that since every fat person on whom he performs open heart surgery has an unhealthy heart, every fat person has an unhealthy heart (apparently he’s cracking the chests of thin people just to declare them healthy and close them back up.)
You may remember him from his ill-advised fat suit exercise, in which he somehow managed to perpetuate fatphobia while claiming to be the victim of fatphobia and not engaging with any actual fat people.
You may also remember him for being called in front of Congress to admit that when he said things like suggesting that green coffee extract was a “magic weight loss cure for every body type” he may have been, you know, completely full of shit. He finally admitted “I recognize they don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact…”
Well, now this bastion of anti-science and anti-honesty has found a champion in donald trump. donald has appointed him to the president’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. To be sure, it’s typical for appointments to this council to be famous people (and not necessarily medical experts,) but they aren’t typically well-known grifters who have been brought before Congress to be scolded for lying to the public.
But such is the nature of this administration and fatphobia in general. Sure, Dr. Oz converted the affection of Oprah into his own show, all while being called out by critics (many of whom are colleagues) for being a total crackpot, but the people he is harming are, by and large, fat people, so he’s been allowed to keep doing it, and is now being elevated to a position in a government that is comfortable spending billions of dollars waging war on fat people.
So just a reminder that this is not normal. This is not ok. Fat people (and all people, really) deserve better than this.
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Book and Dance Class Sale! I’m on a journey to complete an IRONMAN triathlon, and I’m having a sale on all my books, DVDs, and digital downloads to help pay for it. You get books and dance classes, I get spandex clothes and bike parts. Everybody wins! If you want, you can check it out here!
Book Me! I’d love to speak to your organization. You can get more information here or just e-mail me at ragen at danceswithfat dot org!
I’m training for an IRONMAN! You can follow my journey at www.IronFat.com
If you are uncomfortable with my offering things for sale on this site, you are invited to check out this post.
