It’s one of the worst sins, if you believe the general public: being fat. But why? It’s a mystery to me. But many a fat person can confirm that they are treated harshly by people who are sometimes only slightly thinner.
Somehow, being fat has become a collection of bad stuff:
- You are unhealthy
- You are not fit
- You are unattractive
- You are lazy
- You have no self-control
Do you see how fat people are being judged in many different areas, just because of one thing? Health, fitness, beauty, character, nothing is right. They are no good unless they are actively trying to lose weight. Annoyingly, you cannot hide that you are fat, so even if you’re trying to lose weight, you’re still fat, and people still call you names.
Reasons for being fat are not taken into account. Everything is the fat person’s own fault and their own responsibility. Calories in, calories out, right? If only it were that simple.
Why are other vices not treated similarly? There are many things you can do to ruin your body. But somehow those are widely accepted, sometimes even expected. I’m thinking of:
- Drinking (lots of) alcohol
- Smoking cigarettes
- Tanning
- Needing coffee to function
- Sleep deprivation
- Ignoring your boundaries
- Turning up the volume of your mp3 player
- Being addicted to your phone/electronics
Every item on this list causes physical problems and most of them are visible. Crinkled skin, bags under the eyes, burn outs, lung cancer, deafness… All these things can be noticed by people around you, but somehow for this they do not judge your health, beauty, and character.
The list above fits a certain type of person: an extravert. In the Western culture, extraversion is the ideal. Extraverted people are seen as fun and outgoing. And the vices above are commonly found in extraverts. A (slightly exaggerated?) extraverted summer weekend:
- Going out on Friday night. Visiting a loud concert, consuming lots of alcohol. Dancing.
- Sleeping in on Saturday. Ears are still ringing, but whatever. Having lots of coffee to get enough energy to go do something.
- Going to the beach to work on that tan. Need to look good in off-the-shoulder dress. WhatsApping with friends.
- Going to some cafes with friends, dancing, flirting. Smoking a cigarettes with an attractive guy and exchanging phone numbers.
- Sleeping in on Sunday. Coffee, lots of coffee. Checking phone every minute. WhatsApp with friends. Getting take-out and ice cream because attractive guy did not call.
- Going to work on Monday morning. No energy, need coffee all day. Hardly eating as compensation for overeating yesterday.
It puts your body and mind under a lot of stress, but it is deemed “fun”, so all is well. Unless you become fat, of course. Because that is just not okay.