Jacob Riis Beach hosts the day of body positivity and fun, in the city at the heart of the fat acceptance movement
Fat Beach Day events are springing up across the US in an effort to fight back against fat-phobia, reclaim safe spaces for the community and honor plus-size culture. Today, one of these celebrations is being held to coincide with Pride month at Jacob Riis Beach in New York, a location deeply ensconced in the city’s activism space.
Yup. They just want a single day to enjoy the beach and feel safe and not be judged.
The internet loses its damned mind
A lot of people seem to think that you can shame people out of obesity, which is nonsense. We live in a country where processed foods are cheap and easy when people barely have enough time to relax, let alone cook. Those processed foods are also designed by everything from scientists specializing in creating new flavors to psychologists to get people to buy them, so they do. We also live in a country where a lot of people are expected to just sit in a chair for eight hours with maybe a couple of short breaks and a lot of them end up doing regular overtime (and that doesn’t count commuting time, when they are also likely sitting).
Of course there’s an obesity epidemic. Why wouldn’t there be? But shaming people for being fat when they don’t have time to cook or the energy to exercise and are forced to spend large portions of their lives sedentary is not the solution. You need to attack the problem at the source, not the terminus.
That’s also without going into how shaming someone can easily send them into a spiral where it’s even harder for them to motivate themselves to improve (this isn’t just regarding fat people, but rather shaming anyone for something that requires lifestyle changes to remedy)
Happy people tend to make less self-destructive life choices
Well said, and thank you. I agree that shaming doesn’t work. Fat people have the unfortunate disadvantage that their personal problem is so visible to others. The social dynamics would radically change if other types of problems were equally visible. Say you have a gambling problem and your skin turns green, or you cheated on your spouse and you grow a third eye on your forehead. Things like that. People love to judge and not be judged.
The amount of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup that the U.S. allows in our foodstuffs is so much that it’d carry criminal penalties in European countries. That shit can be just as addictive as heroin, and is in EVERYTHING. It’s also been shown that sweet but sugar free substances that let your body taste sweet without receiving any glucose, increases your craving for the real thing. So while eating sugar free stuff can help satisfy a sweet craving, it can also exacerbate it.
When I see an overweight person, I don’t think “oh what a lazy POS,” I think “There is someone in the throes of addiction.”
There’s a reason Jenny Craig modeled her weight watchers club after AA.
There are many reasons that someone could be overweight and that is definitely a big one. We shouldn’t assume anything. We shouldn’t even assume someone is overweight.
I didn’t want to make this personal until now, but I was overweight and I’ve lost a ton of weight due to an illness, so I’m actually at the average weight for my height now. But I still have a big belly, which will probably never go away. So I look fat, but I’m of average weight.
I’m sure plenty of people would not have a second thought about telling me I need to eat less and exercise more even though this illness means I literally can’t eat and haven’t for almost a year now and I am getting most of my calories and nutrition from Ensure and V8. I cannot possibly eat less.
[Please no medical advice or suggestions. I already have doctors.]
You’re always going to be judged. If you base your own happiness on the collective opinion of society about you, you will never be happy. You can’t control how other people feel, so you need to focus your mental energy on controlling your own feelings.
Sure, but that doesn’t address harassment and bullying. If you think they just “need a thicker skin” you haven’t been bullied in any meaningful way by a large group of hostile people.
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True, however when I was visiting my brother earlier this year (for about a month) at least every three-four days he’d say something about my weight and how concerned he is.
It got very very tiring/grating after the first couple times he said something, so I just kinda had to tell him what’s what with that part of my life. He still says it, but it’s a bit less now.
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Go reread my comment.
Also, here’s the definition for “Harass”
That’s not what we’re talking about and you know it. False narrative. The article specifically mentions violence and bullying. If you don’t know that fat people also get viciously bullied on top of the “concerned about your health” from loved ones, you are the one who is isolated from reality.
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yeah, I get that.
But here’s the thing.
Everyone feels judged at the beach.
You’re in a state of undress, in public. Bright sun illuminating everything, where the main activity is sitting and staring.
If you’re fat you feel judged for your belly.
If you’re a woman you feel judged for your attire.
If you’re a man you feel judged for your lack of muscles.
If you’re a teen you feel judged (I’m pretty sure this is just a permanent state of feeling judged between ages 13-23).
If you’re alone you feel judged for being alone.
Everyone feels judged at the beach.
But that’s OK because who cares what they think anyway? fuck’em, enjoy the feeling of sand between your toes. See how far you can punt that child. Collect a seashell.
Don’t remove seashells from the beach, or else you’ll be judged for taking them from wildlife that need them.