Just want to clear something up really quick

credit examiner.com

"I can't get behind fat acceptance because I have known fat people who have been sick/have died because they were fat." -Everyone

If you want the perfect response to that misguided person (all 23498072348970324 of them), look no further.  I found it in the comments section of this Jezebel article.  Jezebel, which has criticized the Biggest Loser in the past, broke the news that this awful show will now feature 13-16 year old contestants.  Jezebel is a feminist site that runs FA articles, but,as you might expect, I saw a lot of "but fat is bad for you so I can't support fat acceptance" retorts.  And then I saw this:

"If people think the objection to Biggest Loser is because Fat Acceptance is against health, then you have no clue what Fat Acceptance is about. The problem is that the Biggest Loser promotes an unrealistic and unsustainable lifestyle with a superficial definition of health. Contestants exercise an average of 6 hours a day and engage in severe caloric restriction to get the results that they do. Actual health experts recommend a more modest lifestyle change (150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes vigorous, plus strength training) and a focus on improving the quality of your diet, rather than engaging in caloric restriction.

Fat Acceptance is not about shunning health. It's about reminding people that we all have the autonomy to make choices about our own health, whether we choose to smoke, drink, have unprotected sex, climb mountains or eat Twinkies. For health, FA recommends Health at Every Size, which basically says that if you make healthy changes, you may improve your metabolic indicators (blood pressure, sugar and lipids), but you may not be thinner for it. But medical research backs that up, as researchers now tout a weight loss of 5-10% of your starting weight as "clinically significant" in terms of the effects on metabolic health. But a 300 pound person losing 15 to 30 pounds is not good television. Forcing inhumane caloric deficits produces 100+ pound weight losses, but has been proven to be unsustainable for the vast majority of people.

So taking this already skewed and unhealthy message and applying it to children is even more dangerous. And for all those saying "SAVE THE FAT KIDS," it's worth noting that just 12 in 100,000 kids have type 2 diabetes, while 2,700 in 100,000 kids have an eating disorder. Encouraging Biggest Loser-esque lifestyle changes will not help the former statistic, it will only worsen the latter.

For an overview of some of the worst violations the Biggest Loser has committed, you can read this post I wrote about Michelle Obama unfortunately endorsing the show:[fiercefatties.com]"

credit to the awesome Shannon at Fierce Fatties.

Two BAFLs speaking out against fat hate

Happy anti-bullying month!  October is here.  And my non-fatosphere blog roll and facebook news feed was all abuzz about two awesome women using a public platform to speak out against fat hatred.  Do yourself a favor and check it out!

First, Jennifer Livingston, an anchor on a CBS morning station, speaks out against a man who sent her a letter critical about her body, saying that she is setting a bad example to her community.  Kudos to her for, instead of shrugging it off, calling out this e-mail for what it really is: bullying.  She says: 

If you are at home and talking about the fat news lady, guess what? Your children are probably going to go to school and call someone fat.

Of course, I dream of a world where "fat" is neutral description rather than a taunting insult, but that is not where we're at.  I absolutely agree with Livingston.  Parents set an example for their children, and we cannot accomplish anything in a world where kids are taught to be cruel.

Next is my permanent crush, Krista Burton, who blogs at the highly popular Effing Dykes.  Even if you identify as straight, I highly encourage you to read it - her long-winded posts are so entertaining and in equal measure compassionate and hilarious.  This entry's topic is about a straight woman who asks Krista to blog about how all lesbians are fat.  She pours her heart out about generalizing, the word "fat", and queer bodies.

The post is here.