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.
Is normalizing obesity really a good thing?
No, but neither is body shaming, and fat people get a lot of that at a beach.
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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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.
I don’t really want to get into it, but, we have campaigns that actively target people who smoke and/or drink. Two other things that people can indulge in that can and will eventually lead to negative health effects and kill you, much like overeating will.
Again, that is not attacking the problem at the source. Unlike smoking and drinking, you have to eat to survive. And corporations have taken that necessity and twisted it so that people are not making healthy choices.
And there is still the problem of having the energy to cook when you’re a wage slave.
No amount of “stop overeating and exercise” campaigns can solve those issues. You have to attack them at the source.
Unlike smoking and drinking, you have to eat to survive.
Except you don’t need to stress eat or eat when you’re bored. At some point you’re eating over the calories required just for living. To act like what you’re eating is the only problem is disingenuous.
More often its why your eating and how much.
Stress eating is a much smaller problem compared to the issues I was discussing- companies using science to make processed food very difficult to resist and many people finding it hard to get the energy- both physical and mental- to cook in this modern oligarchical world.
Also, if fat people are stress eating, body shaming them would make that worse. And my original point was about body shaming.
Which is what they said in their comment.
“If we can attack the problem at the source…”
And the issue can be spun in many different ways, but it always comes back to a single simple source, overeating.
That is all there is to it. Not if you can cook or exercise. Not if you buy fancy feasts or a bag of carrots and dip. It is only about overeating.
Sure, you don’t need to stress eat while you’re bored. But eating is already a thing you do, it makes you feel good, and it’s there.
Imagine if you actually had to smoke a cigarette 3 times a day. The smoke is a requirement for your body. It makes you feel good, but you can go to excess and it’s bad for you. This is MUCH closer to food.
You HAVE to eat. You eat daily. Not doing so is a disorder. So you can’t just not eat, you have to develop a healthy relationship with food. With this thing that tastes good, makes you feel good, and you have to do anyway. Well, that’s okay. We can have a healthy relationship with it!
Oh no. You’re sad. Something bad happened. You need something to help you out. Well, how about some food? It’s usually pretty enjoyable. You eat every day anyway, so like… It’s not a HUGE deal, surely, and you’re fuckin SAD man. Fuck it, whole pizza it is! Let’s get happy!
Rinse and repeat, because life is inevitably a big series of bad things (and good, but we’re not focusing on those) happening. Now your emotional coping is tied to food. It’s not as addictive as nicotine, but it is a requirement for life. It’s a lot harder to change THAT than it is to just say “don’t smoke.” It’s like going to a smoker and saying “smoke, but only 3 times a day.”
Exactly. We don’t need to bully anyone smokers or fat people, but normalizing and “accepting” either is not an option. These people aren’t just killing themselves, they are also heavily impacting our healthcare system.
Gotta eat to live. You can do without smoking or drinking. Big difference.
I’m not porposing or defending any approach here, where do you draw the line between the decision to address the underlying issues and catering to creating isolated environments to shelter the marginalized groups, tho?
I get that taking a breather in a safe environment to help with self-esteem and love is critical so as not to sink below that threshold of constantly feeling overwhelmed that is different for everyone, and I’m in no way seeing a one-day thing as anything else, but as public coordination events, how do you draw the line between the two I mentioned above? First example of going beyond giving breathing room to making a segregation comes to mind as the “pink buses” in which only women are allowed to be feel safe from men that some right-wing politicians bring up from time to time as a similar topic on addressing the cause vs treating the symptom or even causing different problems under such intention.
You draw the line at places where they are getting body shamed for no reason when they’re just trying to have fun.
I keep saying this- This is one day a year on one of New York City’s eight public beaches. Why is that beyond the pale?
For the afflicted? No.
For us as a species? No.
For capitalism? God yes.
Thin people consume the least. Once we stop growing we stop needing new clothes. Obesity changes this. Clothes wear out faster, you need new sizes. Obesity leads to depressive states where people buy more to feel better. Speaking of more: eat more! Have some sweets to feel better!
Be bold. Be beautiful. Be you (for us!)
Clothing stores and food chains done with you? Guess you are broken now…
Welcome to the medical system you will now need to rely on to function and stay alive! Till death do we part.
Obesity is an epidemic and it’s too profitable to actually do anything about. They don’t care about you, your feelings, or your health. You are literally livestock to these corporations that you think are caudling you and your way of life. This is a wake up call.
Obesity is difficult to conquer. It requires change and persistence. It requires support. Not everyone can achieve a ‘healthy ideal’ but everyone can do better.
I have a family member with Hashimoto’s disease. Hormone treatment, regular exercise, and a healthy diet keep her as healthy as she can be, but still very obese.
Some people have no control over their weight. Is it fair that they are criticized for having a medical issue? Are you going to ask someone why they’re overweight before judging them?
Does Hashimoto’s disease actually cause obesity? Feels like a lot of people blame thyroid diseases for issues that are actually mostly under their control.
In the grand scheme of things, weight is a physics problem. I seriously doubt that outside of extreme cases that someone would be obese solely from hyperthyroidism.
Hashimoto’s disease is a form of hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is an overactive thyroid.
No, it doesn’t always result in substantial weight gain. Eating less results in rapid energy decrease. Consistently fighting through that exhausting exercise still hasn’t resulted in weight loss for her.
She’s gone to several endocrinologists and nutritionists seeking answers. She was also on dexadrine at three years old, because doctors were medicating energetic children in the 90s. She’s been given plenty of advice and speculation, but still hasn’t received a definitive answer to the problem.
The details of the problem don’t change my point though. Someone could be doing everything they can to address the issue, and will be judged just the same. It’s all the more reason that we shouldn’t criticize others for their weight.
You’re right there are so many things that are not in control and it’s not easy. It might not just be a thyroid issue that is causing it, but it doesn’t help matters any. Many people have hashimoto’s and are thin.
If only fat people KNEW they were fat!! We have to fuck with them. If they could just realize they’re fat and hideous, then they would all be skinny!
Man, if feeling like shit that you’re fat was a solution to being fat, there would be no fat people.
I have a friend whose a professional trainer. Mostly for people trying to lose a fair amount of weight. She says the biggest problem is getting clients to care about themselves and love their body enough to work on feeling better and making progress. She is entirely against fat shaming. It’s only bad for everyone.
Yes it is, because quite a few people are obese, and they deserve to feel normal too.
They are nearly normal already but that’s just a measure of how many people are obese.
NO
People in this comment section being shining examples of why some fat people would feel uncomfortable at the beach.
Too many of them think protecting these folks from bullying and harassment on one beach for one day is some kind of threat to civilization. Typical moral panic.
Too many of them think that you can bully a fat person into losing weight.
They’re all completely in control of their weight, and clearly waiting for just the right arrogant condemnation to make a change. /s
Definitely not an environmental problem at all.
Fat-shaming is definitely an issue across the political spectrum, unfortunately.
May well be, but I saw comments like “This is how the left loses voters”, and generally the pointless mean-spirited bigotry does come from the right
This users left Reddit but Reddit never left the users.
The Venn diagram between people commenting here and people going to beaches is probably just two circles not touching at all.
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I’m not overweight but did you know that, as a country, we can do more than one thing at a time?
People who are overweight can’t just suddenly start exercising it often causes severe injury.
You can’t outrun a bad diet.
Pride is for people who were routinely ostracized, beaten, disowned, and murdered because they were different in a way they couldn’t change.
Being overweight is something you can change.
Being fat has always been accepted. It’s just not celebrated, because it’s not healthy, indicates that you don’t take care of your body, and/or you don’t have control over your eating habits. There are rare circumstances when weight is influenced by a medical condition, but generally it’s people eating too much and not moving enough. Being fat is looked down on the same way as being un-showered, wearing dirty torn clothes, or smelling bad. It’s not the person, but the way this person presents themselves, and it can be changed. It’s like if a guy wears offensive slogan t-shirts every day, and gets upset when people aren’t especially nice to him. It’s your own doing, my guy.
Were you kicked out of your family because you’re fat? Were you fired from your job because you were fat? Were you denied healthcare because you were fat? When was the last time someone targeted fat people for a mass shooting?
Fat acceptance is just an attempt at finding victim hood within habitual self-flagellation.
But also, I’ve never fat shamed anyone, I’ve never picked on someone because of their weight, or “judged” them. People who do that are assholes. I’m just upset that pride is being routinely co-opted by other movements like furries, fat acceptance, and all this other nonsense that, again, nobody was ever actually hurt over. I’m sorry you feel judged at the beach, but gay people are routinely murdered because they’re gay and pride is a protest.
There are rare circumstances when weight is influenced by a medical condition, but generally it’s people eating too much and not moving enough.
Do you have any idea how many medical conditions keep people from not moving enough (thereby causing people to eat more calories than they need)? It’s NOT rare. Hell, lower back pain is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor, and guess what’s a lot harder to do when your back is screwed up? Exercise.
I am a bicyclist. I love riding. I ride any chance I get. I also currently have chronic problems in my upper, middle and lower back, including a herniated disc in my low back, and it’s aggravated by bicycling more than anything else. I’ve been seeing doctors for 20 years for my back problems, since I was a teenager. I had back problems when I was a size 2, and I have back problems as a size 12.
People will probably want to respond to my comment by saying that diet is a bigger factor in losing weight than exercise, or that people should adapt and find other ways to be active if they can. What I am saying is that weight, medical conditions, and eating more calories than a person can burn – they’re all connected and it’s a very common problem.
But I never brought up the idea that people are being forced to eat more calories; you did.
I explained how medical conditions, health, and mobility are intertwined with calorie intake and expenditure and that it’s a common problem.
Just because something is harder to do, doesn’t mean not doing it is okay. Overeating when overweight is abuse, full stop.
There are people that have a harder time quitting smoking, there are people that struggle not to cut themselves.
Nobody should look at an 8 year old with a cigarette and say “it’s probably just genetic.” Nobody should look at a junkie passed out in an alley and say “yasss, they’re just living their truth!” Nobody should be incensed when they go a hospital complaining about abdominal pain and the doctor recommends they remove a piece of rebar they fell on.
Overeating when overweight is abuse, full stop.
Cool, now I’m a self abuser. Good to know.
Your comment is abhorrent and misses the point completely.
As someone who also struggles with weight gain… yes, it is a form of self-harm.
We also extend some sympathy to the cigarette smoker, to the self harmer. Quitting smoking is HARD. It takes a ton of effort, nicotine is literally addictive. Self harm is indicative of any of a number of mental and emotional issues. Those are a nightmare to address
But at the end of the day, they should just grow up and do it, right? Just don’t smoke. Just don’t cut yourself. Just don’t eat to excess. Simple.
Never mind the literal good deserts some people find themselves in. The decades of misinformation from lobbying groups. The fact that everyone has their own one weird trick,so you don’t know who to believe. The fact that the cheapest food is often the least nutritious. The fact that, increasingly, people have to work more hours to get by, leaving less time for things like cooking a proper meal.
There are real societal factors that play into the obesity epidemic. We didn’t get where we are because everyone was collectively like “let’s just get fat, yeah?” - we were all brought to this point by the influences of the world around us. Personal responsibility is all well and good, but it’s also not the whole game.
I think we are in many ways talking past each other. Of course it’s hard. Of course there are tons of things that make the right choices more difficult. Of people deserve support in making the right decisions. Of course making major societal changes to address the risk factors for obesity is a noble goal.
Movements like this are just cheering people on while they put a gun in their mouth, and it’s fucking disgusting.
Have you tried recumbent bicycles? they are a lot easier on my lower back, and there are some real fun designs out there like trikes that could make bicycling a reality again. Or swimming, when I hurt my knees and couldn’t run/bicycle without pain, I started swimming laps, and holy cow is that a lot of exercise if you’re not used to it.
Additionally, refined sugar is addictive. I know my previous comment might lead you to believe I have no sympathy for wider folks, but I truly do. I’ve lost 100lbs over a year once. I gain back when I go through periods of depression, and then I force myself to lose weight again. Over last holiday season I was separated from my family and spent it entirely alone. I gained about 25-30 lbs. Since then, I’ve restricted my calorie intake to around 1200-1500 calories a day, with around an hour of exercise also each day. I’ve lost ~25 lbs since starting that in March. I know how hard losing weight can be. I’m also a (former) addict, so I know how hard quitting something that’s ubiquitous throughout society can be (alcohol). But it can be done. Sugar is addictive just like alcohol is, which is why Jenny Craig modeled her fitness groups after AA.
The problem is that losing weight is uncomfortable at first. You’re hungry because your stomach is all stretched out, despite taking in enough calories for the day. It takes time for your stomach to shrink to the proper size, so for the first couple weeks, you’ll be eating all your body needs, but it will feel like you’re not. and it’s uncomfortable. Weigh this discomfort against all the discomfort that being overweight has constantly provided, and decide which one you’d rather live through. The temporary discomfort of feeling hungry and not knowing what to do with your hands after you’re done eating for the day (and only for the first couple weeks of dieting), or the constant discomfort all over your body and in your own mind, every day that you’re overweight.
You’re gatekeeping the word pride, lol. Try just not being a dick.
It should be separate from pride, but on the “it’s a choice” aspect: How is weight gain different from many mental afflictions? It’s a mental issue that causes detrimental effects to your lifestyle.
I agree with you, being someone who has fought with his weight my entire life. The excess calories are there to fill a need, with mechanisms similar to substance abuse or gambling addiction. “Just stop eating too much” can feel like an unachievable goal.
Any weight loss of an obese person should be combined with psychiatric care, because if you don’t identify WHY you are eating so much, you might just trade one addiction for another one.
This actually makes me sick. People on average are fatter than they used to be AND THAT’S NOT A GOOD THING! Do people really want to let the corpos win by shoveling slop in our mouths without care to the effects on our health?
I get that it’s hard to lose weight, and not feasible for everyone atm, but it’s not something to celebrate.
Why does it necessarily have to be a celebration? Are quiet hours at shopping centers celebrating sensory disorders?
It’s not about celebrating, even if some people will use it as such. It’s about allowing different people the comfort to experience a thing that most of our society takes for granted.
I’ve never met a fat person who doesn’t want to change their lifestyle. Sure, there are a few who claim that, but in my experience, that’s a defense mechanism from all of the people who look down on them daily. Something like this is only a good thing, offering encouragement at no significant cost.
I’m a larger person. I definitely want to lose weight and get in shape, but it’s that hurdle of getting over your own self that’s the hardest part for me.
I know that once I get into a rhythm and habit, it’ll be fine and I’ll even like it at some point, but I can’t really get myself to start, even though I know I need to.
Also, I actually like that Walmart has the “sensitive” shopping hours.
On second thought, I shan’t got to the comments section. T’is a silly place.
Really putting that tolerant left on display lol
oh look it’s one of the three conservative jokes.
Should probly identify as an attack helicopter that hates his wife, make this comment the trifecta of dumbfuck.
I’m an anarchist, and something has scratched you, liberal.
congrats, you identify as the only thing dumber than a conservative
This isn’t even a “tolerance as a social contract” moment, because avoiding reading the comments section on a controversial topic is in no way intolerance anyways.
I may be ignorant of this, but weren’t plus-sized people already allowed on beaches? I’ve been to beaches along the Gulf of Mexico all of my life and have seen plenty of fat people there, and gone with my friends who are fat and never seemed to have any trouble.
It’s not about being allowed or not. It’s about creating an inclusive space for plus size people to comfortably sunbathe without being oggled and judged for their size, a privilege that others have more frequently.
Great in theory, but fat people will always be oggled at and judged for their size. All this will do is make a big spectacle and draw attention to those who really just want to be left the fuck alone to live their lives.
My city has one or two trans bars. Cis people are allowed of course. But most of the clientele is some flavor trans or nonbinary.
It makes me feel so much less conspicuous when I look out at the crowd and realize I don’t stick out at all. I imagine this could serve a similar function to fat people who want to go to the beach.
That makes sense and works because it’s in an enclosed and private space. Fat day at the beach will quickly turn into a zoo exhibit for cruel people because the world is horrible.
Again, correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s the price that ANYONE pays going to the beach? Generally, you are wearing more revealing clothing, or more accentuates your body parts (wet swimsuits do not hide much). So everyone can be ogled, in fact in my experience from my youth having lots of teenage boy friends, the more slim or conventionally attractive people tend to be ogled much more than those who are not.
John Stuart called it in 2004.
He styles his name as Jon Stewart, unless that’s a picture of a book by the 17th century English philosopher John Stuart Mill.
The phase “My body my choice” springs to mind.
Is being fat unhealthy? yes. does it give you the right to decide what another person does with their body? no. “But the corporations are-” yes, I know. but it is entirely possible to campaign for better nutrition standards without treating fat people as subhuman.
I’m not telling anyone they have to force themselves to find fat people attractive or anything, but for gods sake they are still people. and what they do with their body is their business, not yours. That should not take away their right to be human.
I just wish we (as in I’m a trashy Americans) had the 100g (3.5oz) nutritional fact. Keeps the fucking bullshit “tic-tacs are sugar free” bullshit.
It’s become an epidemic though, and IMO it’s like saying do what you want with your body, do drugs if you want to. Then let corporation market drugs as they wish.
The last part of your comment is a mystery to me. Where exactly did I imply the industry should be allowed to do whatever it wants?
My post isn’t about you, it’s about “my body my choice” proponents, like you.
We need to teach people, like in school, the basics of nutrition.
That will go a long way.
We should try socialism. Then we wouldn’t have any fat people since there wouldn’t be any fucking food for anyone. Am I doing this right?
Sigh, way too much to unpack here
C’mon 😹. Sorry about this… 4 people rescued several people who apparently beached themselves. Fortunately they all survived and happily swam into the open ocean.
