Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #fatphobia
Most recents (8)
The Whale is an appalling example of ableist pity porn. Crip theorists have written extensively about a pervasive double-bind used to oppress disabled people: the victim-hero dualism. 1/8
Either you’re a tragic figure or a heroic overcomer. If the former, then nondisabled people can pity & paternalistically ‘help’ you, making themselves feel saintly & superior. 2/8
If the latter, then disabled people can see you as a victim of a terrible impairment that you overcame in a life-defining way. They can applaud you while using you to shame other disabled people - the sad victims of disability who didn’t rise to the challenge. 3/8
🧵I’m seeing a good number of people talk about Whale and how fatphobic people are. That it takes watching a movie with a non-fat actor to even consider fat people as humans. And it’s disgusting because there are thousands of comments to these tweets saying things like,
“Eat a salad” “Fat people are unhealthy and gross” and so many other insults and jokes about fat people. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS SUCH A BLATANT SHOW OF DISCRIMINATION?! Fat people are people and for some reason, society says it’s okay to just absolutely attack people
that aren’t the “ideal” body type. Let’s do an experiment: Read some things (articles, blogs, tweets, whatever) where people can comment on other people’s bodies. Replace “fat” with “black”. “Black people are such gross slobs. Eat another burger, you black piece of shit.”
Listen. It took me years to realize I stopped auditioning for musical theater not bc I was lazy, but bc I was in pain. It wasn’t the rejection—it was walking into a room & being made to feel like your body was unreasonable, that by showing up you were wasting everyone’s time.
It was standing in a row with 30 girls in leotards and LaDucas and watching the casting director’s eyes skip over you as he scanned the line, or mindlessly push your headshot to the rejection pile with without even looking at you long enough to see your face.
It was the urge to walk up to the only other big girl in the holding room & sit in silent camaraderie, while secretly hating she was there. There were only so many “old lady” (or “fat friend” or “clueless teen” or “sassy villain”) roles to go around and they’d never cast you both
Please read whole thread
It has taken me a few weeks to process this.
Let me tell you a conversation I had with a Dr recently. Had to visit & get checked over general pregnancy niggles, they had to check my BMI.
It has taken me a few weeks to process this.
Let me tell you a conversation I had with a Dr recently. Had to visit & get checked over general pregnancy niggles, they had to check my BMI.
Dr: Oh Mrs Burnett you are measuring obese, we need to look at diet plans, I can suggest the new better health app, a calorie defecit & exercising.
Me: But I am 8 & a half months pregnant & recovering from an ED.
Me: But I am 8 & a half months pregnant & recovering from an ED.
1st of all of course I am going to be weighing more a tiny human is growing inside me, I could pop any day now. 2nd I was discharged from ed services in Jan, suggesting I diet is not a good idea. I know I would spiral quite quickly and my priority is staying well for little one
Much rhetoric around obesity as a critical pre-existing condition for Covid-19.
A key lesson from H1N1 epidemic: meta analyses (n=25,189) showed an odds ratio of 1.8 for fatality amongst obese people. Until they controlled for one key variable
1/n
#HAES #fatphobia #medtwitter
A key lesson from H1N1 epidemic: meta analyses (n=25,189) showed an odds ratio of 1.8 for fatality amongst obese people. Until they controlled for one key variable
1/n
#HAES #fatphobia #medtwitter
Smaller bodied people *systematically* received earlier antiviral treatment than larger bodied people. Controlling for this difference eliminates impact of obesity on H1N1 fatality. Obesity kills, but the critical mediator is not biology, it's bias.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27385315/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27385315/
H1N1 and coronavirus are not the same; but these results should encourage us to think critically about the current alarm bells. The concern should be directed inwardly, to providers, and outwardly, to an inequitable society.
Shoutout to Mary, the white woman in her 60s who flew from ATL to Madison next to me today. While sitting directly next to me she texted someone about me being “bigger than Roger.” I assume Roger is the tall, fat man she talked to after de-planing while pointing at me. 
Hey Madison, if Mary is your bitchass grandma, who ain’t so skinny herself, tell her to be more discreet with her #fatphobia next time. #FlyingWhileFat #TravelDayFromHell #ThankGodImHome
Mary harumph’ed every time I moved & my hip or shoulder touched her. She also insisted I open the window shade for her as she was in the middle seat. She also browsed a weight loss site after looking at me for a long time. Don’t be like Mary.
Hey @futuristfarmgrl, local feminist to local feminist, can we talk about this article?
tonemadison.com/articles?autho…
tonemadison.com/articles?autho…
For me, your dismissal of #fatphobia as less important/impactful here than #racism was an unnecessary, unhelpful rhetorical move promoting a hierarchy of oppression that’s the opposite of @Sonyareneepoet’s amazing work.
You talk about @hulu’s Shrill (which I’ve watched & enjoyed) but fat acceptance & the radical self love Taylor promotes seems to be missing from your piece. I appreciate the attempt to connect the show & The Body Is Not An Apology to local issues, but I think you missed the mark.
Ok last thread before I do actual paid labor today. I can’t engage in debate with someone who elsewhere said they do put not stock in #HealthAtEverySize research bc it could be paid for like alcohol & tobacco industry research, as if #bodyposi is an industry not a movement.
Further, the #dietindustry IS actually an industry that funds research & profits off #fatphobia. But that’s not what I’m here to discuss. Let’s engage with the idea that size is 99% in one’s control.
So this #thoughtexperiment ignores research showing the links between size & genetics, purely engaging with the idea that size is within our individual control & therefore cannot be about marginalization, oppression, privilege & social systems. Let’s begin:
