academic.oup.com
In Germany, the current outbreak of mass social media-induced illness is initiated by a ‘virtual’ index case, who is the second most successful YouTube creator in Germany and enjoys enormous popularity among young people. Affected teenagers present with similar or identical functional ‘Tourette-like’ behaviours, which can be clearly differentiated from tics in Tourette syndrome.
Another choice quote
patients often reported to be unable to perform unpleasant tasks because of their symptoms resulting in release from obligations at school and home, while symptoms temporarily completely disappear while conducting favourite activities.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Getting an effective mob going doesn't seem easy, though. There are far more fat people than transgender people, but "fat acceptance" hasn't made many inroads while "trans rights" have expanded at a dizzying pace. A major reason for that seems to be aggressive lobbying by experienced, well-funded LGBT groups. It seems unlikely that similarly effective groups will emerge to support annoying teenagers with fake tics, DID larpers, etc.
I think this is because there are so many fat people that their acceptance (in the sense of acceptance of the fact of their existence, basic tolerance in the classical sense, not raucous approval) is essentially automatic nowadays. You don't need advocacy groups when you're 60%+ of the population. If you refuse to accommodate fat people, you simply lose access to huge portions of the population. Discrimination against them is untenable.
You also can't have much of an advocacy group when even most people that are a part of the group admit that they're inferior. So I think it's more that fat people don't want to be an advocacy mob on their own behalf because they hate themselves and that they don't really need to be since they get enough basic allowance for their existence anyway more than that they couldn't if they tried. Conversely, genuine minorities have much more of an incentive to push in these areas because they don't necessarily have safety in numbers (quantity or size).
I forgot about the DID larpers. Can't wait until these kids figure out the idea of claiming that only some of their "alters" have Tourette's. That way they can stop the tics whenever they want.
I wonder what it is that gives fat people self-loathing but not trans people.
It's certainly easier to stop being trans than stop being fat ("just don't put on the skirt" Vs "run 20km a day every day for the rest of your life"), so fat people have a much higher "exit barrier", and from that angle I would think the fat people would have more to gain from advocacy.
Being an aspiring transsexual is both much more of a choice (for the most part you can't become more transsexualized than you'd like just by engaging in the wrong personal habits) and far more celebrated than being fat (though even they do get some play with the whole "love your body" stuff, promoting Lizzo, etc.). It's also probably still healthier other than in the realm of suicide risk.
Ultimately I don't think most advocacy solely comes from pragmatism. I think you really do have to believe that your identity is valid and worth advocating on behalf of to some degree. Most aspiring transsexuals are waiting for technology to potentially actually let them change their sex to a large degree. They want to become more transsexual in the future. Most fat people conversely are waiting for technology to make them skinny. (If the perfect diet pill came along tomorrow, I have no doubt that most of the members of the fat activism movement would magically slim down rather quickly.)
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link