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Aug 30

Fat Shaming is a Just Another Form of Hate – The Good Men Project (blog)

More than once I have been out with a confident woman who has had her self-esteem sabotaged by a comment about her weight. At my pudgiest, Ive never been so verbally assaulted.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, many women talk about their looks and weight; that is their tragedy. Few men do; thats theirs. Comedian Amy Schumer has addressed this dichotomy, perhaps most pointedly on the Twelve Angry Men episode of Inside Amy Schumer, but she wasnt the first.

Margaret Cho, in her groundbreaking monologue stage show Im the One that I Want (filmed 2000), discussed the difficulties she faced because of her weight while starring in the 1994 sitcom All-American Girl. As she put it, she had to lose weight to play the role of herself (as opposed to Drew Carey, who, Cho pointed out, got her old time slot and some of the same sets for his subsequent show, but didnt face the same pressure to slim down). In fact, she lost so much weight so rapidly through an unhealthy diet and fear that she says she suffered kidney failure. And still she wasnt considered thin or even a healthy weight for her height and frame.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, many women talk about their looks and weight; that is their tragedy. Few men do; thats theirs.

Cho was a victim of fat shaming including by her own network employers, mostly men and that was in the era before Facebook and Twitter. Considering the abuse recently heaped upon Leslie Jones (of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot and Saturday Night Live) for her appearance, Cho was comparatively lucky.

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 19881994, more women than men (ages 20 and older) think they are overweight or obese, regardless of whether they are or not. Thats partly realistic more Americans of either gender are overweight than realize it but it also reflects the extra pressure women face to look good.

Fat shaming can lead to illegal drug abuse and diet pill addiction Cho abusively used drugs and alcohol after her sitcom was canceled; the criticism of her body arguably was a contributing factor either as a coping mechanism or, especially in the case of diet pills, as a means of losing weight.

Diet pills work by:

Just because the drugs help you lose weight doesnt mean they are healthy or safe. The earliest anti-obesity medications were just laxatives or purgatives, thus preventing absorption of calories by removing them from the body as quickly as possible. But this can result in a dangerous loss of potassium in the body, affecting the heart and other muscles.

Cocaine, a stimulant, may help you lose weight, but it is illegal, dangerous, and addictive. It can permanently damage your metabolism. Some legal stimulants have a similar weight-reducing effect, but are only recommended for short-term use because of possible side effects. A diet pill addiction increases the likelihood of such side effects.

Even effective anti-obesity medications have been withdrawn from the market or have been rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because of concerns that they can do more harm than good. Many so-called diet pills and weight loss supplements, especially those sold on the web or by mail, effective or not, can be deadly. For one thing, they may be adulterated or not contain the ingredients they claim because there is no government regulation. If they do help you lose weight, cardiologist Arthur Agatston warned Prevention, it could be due to a stimulant whose safety is unproven, and they may cause unpleasant, even dangerous cardiac side effects.

At the end of her monologue, Cho said, Its so wrong that women are asked to live up to this skinny ideal that is totally unattainable. For me to be 10 pounds thinner is a full-time job, and I am handing in my notice. Not that she was against losing weight. She dropped quite a few pounds later, and even performed burlesque in the name of body acceptance.

In general, it is healthier to be thinner than overweight, but its never appropriate to fat shame someone because (despite what Milo Yiannopoulos posts on Breitbart) not only isnt it nice, it doesnt work. Some men forget this, not realizing or not caring that it is easier for men to lose weight because in general we have more muscle mass and therefore faster metabolisms.

Cho arguably lost weight after professional success and personal happiness, not because Internet and real-world trolls called her fat.

A healthier way to lose weight than a diet pill addiction is physical activities such as strength training, which also have the benefit of improving mood by releasing endorphins and preventing osteoporosis by strengthening bones. Just dont let it turn into an addiction to exercise.

Photo by Hamza Butt

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Fat Shaming is a Just Another Form of Hate - The Good Men Project (blog)

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