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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   37979 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 8, 2024

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I don't think this explains it adequately. I've never known someone who was fat and who didn't feel social pressure for it. Yeah some HAES Tumblrinas are out there saying that they're proud to be big, but they're not the modal experience. For most fat people (everyone I've known at any rate), they were ashamed to the very bone to be that way.

  • You can't get dates (at all really - much less attractive dates!)
  • You experience discomfort on a regular basis due to not fitting into seats very well and so on
  • You can't buy clothes at the same store your friends can, so any time you're shopping you get to feel bad about yourself
  • You get openly mocked by people
  • You start to assume that everyone not openly shaming you is doing it silently
  • You feel like you are obviously a bad person, because of your failure to discipline your habits
  • You have health problems which you know are because you're overweight and if you could lose the weight you would feel better

And so on. The reality is, social pressure (and internal pressure from yourself) to not be fat is still very strong and it isn't solving the problem. Perhaps individualism is a piece of the puzzle, but it can't explain the problem by itself.

As a fat person, I am constantly ashamed of myself. Unfortunately, delicious food is the only thing that makes me feel better. Tragic.

I am constantly ashamed of myself. Unfortunately, delicious food is the only thing that makes me feel better.

It’s a vicious cycle.

You can't get dates (at all really - much less attractive dates!)

I have some fat relatives, who have no problem getting dates. They're female, and their dates are male and fat also, so I don't think this is true. Maybe they can't get dates attractive to thin people, but they can definitely date within their weight class, which is large in both senses.

You can't buy clothes at the same store your friends can, so any time you're shopping you get to feel bad about yourself

Fat people tend to have fat friends.

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