Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Fat Jokes on Facebook

Today I came across a fat joke on my Facebook newsfeed. Obviously, being a joke, it was meant to be funny, but I didn't take it that way. Matter of fact, I was deeply offended by it! The person who wrote it is an old acquaintance that I don't really see anymore, and HE'S NOT A BAD BLOKE, which is why I'm still friends with him on Facebook. 

FAT JOKES FROM NICE PEOPLE ARE SOMETIMES THE MOST DAMAGING, because those people set an example for others in their circle. 

Since he was an acquaintance, I thought about two possible responses: I could delete him, or I could "set him straight" and actually explain to him how his thoughtless comment made me feel. Here's a screen shot of how that played out:


(I used this article heavily in my answer, if you're interested)

The reason I had such an aversion to it is because it highlights two highly offensive and false beliefs about fat people:
  1. give any fat person a box of chocolates and they'll scoff it down real quick (I have never eaten a box of chocolates in one sitting in my life)
  2. fat people will die before non-fat people
After this, he sent another comment that certainly made light of the topic - a few "haha's" and a comment about there being a lot of assumptions in my comment, asked me if I knew of any medical journals to support my argument, and then finished with a joke about fat people dying an early, marshmallow, chocolate covered death (which I agreed would be a good way to go). I linked him to the Junkfood Science blog, Obesity Paradox and the medical journal it discusses. I apologised for coming on so strong, but that it was a topic I was very passionate about. 

Then I went for a ride on my bicycle, followed by a swim. When I got back, he had deleted the entire thing (which is why I wasn't able to screen shot the other comments). 

Fatties for the win?

I wanted to discuss this here because on my anger-fueled bicycle ride, it suddenly occurred to me that I'm going to have to have these arguments for the rest of my life. Fat shaming is probably not going to end in my lifetime. But I can play my part. Will I get tired? Probably. But I'm also really excited about the body confidence and fat acceptance movement. And let me tell you - as my body confidence has skyrocketed since beginning this blog and reading other plus size blogs, I've never felt so inspired to be active and healthy. 

If you are on Instagram, you need to check out the @honorcurves movement and the #effyourbeautystandards movement. It's so important to be supportive of other women and be exposed to beautiful bodies of all shapes and sizes.

How do you respond to fat jokes/insults? Would love to hear your comments.

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