Posts by David:
Online Dating (While Fat)
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
For some reason, 2012 has been a year where online dating is being mentioned in both my on- and offline worlds with increasing frequency. Pros, cons and (missed) opportunities seem to abound – and everyone who’s taken a crack at it seems to have a mixed bag of experiences under their belt, which I guess can be said of any kind of dating.
I’ll admit, online dating holds a certain appeal for me. I’m a bit of a social recluse at the best of times and, while I might be a gay guy, I’m not someone who’s into the “gay scene,”* which means that my opportunities for in-person interaction with other queer guys is limited, to say the least. So, being able to connect with other gay guys across the span of the internet, whether it be for a chat or the possibility of something more, isn’t something that I’m going to turn my nose up at.
It’s worked out okay for me in the past, too. Putting aside the fact that I’m currently single and it therefore hasn’t worked out too well for me, I can’t say that internet dating has been a complete waste of time. And as much as I have my own issues with how gay guys present themselves and interact with each other online (which is a whole series of posts in its own right, probably), I still currently check OKCupid and will check into at least a couple of gay male apps on my iPhone every now and then.
In other words, it is a thing that I do.
Of course, online dating is a particular kind of experience for people who aren’t necessarily of the (white, thin, straight) “norm.” There are certain decisions that need to be made about ‘outing’ yourself, for example as being queer, a person of colour, in an open relationship, a parent, etc. In some cases, you can hide (or choose not to divulge) certain things about yourself, for whatever reason. In other cases, that doesn’t really work.
Being fat is one of those things that can raise questions about the need for disclosure. It can be as simple as deciding whether or not to use the Myspace Angle (it’s an Urban Dictionary link, so click at your own risk) in your photos; it can be a matter of clicking the “curvy” (or equivilent) option for body type options on sites that offer that option; or it can even be a matter of saying straight up in your profile that you’re fat.
There’s also the option of signing up to sites that are specifically catered to setting up fat people with each other and their admirers. I tend to think that this is easier for women (and particularly women who are looking for men), but I also imagine that concerns about being the object of someone else’s fetish cross the minds of everyone** when considering these sites, regardless of their gender or sexual identity.
SO! I’m curious. How do YOU negotiate the world of online dating as a fat person?
* Yet for some reason every six months or so I’ll have an urge to go visit Oxford Street, because the idea of the place seems so much more fun than the reality generally is. What is up with that?!
** Unless you’re into that, in which case, cool!
The Rhetoric of Personal Responsibility
Sunday, January 29th, 2012
Guys.
Guys.
I was reading this article that Doc Samantha tweeted earlier. And after reading Coddington’s argument that I’m fat because I’m incapable of taking responsibility for my own actions, it finally clicked for me. I looked at that photo of yet another headless fatty and wished that my skin was that blemish-free and I was less pale and, oh, wait… I had a moment of clarity. An epiphany, if you will!
Right here and right now, I want to declare to the world that, all potentially contributing factors aside:
I am fat and I take personal responsibility for that!
Wow. I mean, really…wow. That was a cathartic moment for me. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders – only not literally, of course, because I’m still fat. Haha!
*ahem*
The fact is, whether I take personal responsibility for my fatness or not has no material effect on my fatness. I suppose it could, if it then lead on to me making changes to my life that could potentially cause weight loss (although previous experience with exercise regimes and diets tends to suggest otherwise), but that’s really another matter entirely. The act of accepting personal responsibility in and of itself is really inconsequential; it doesn’t mean anything.
Coddington clearly doesn’t agree with this. According to her, if I were not to accept personal responsibility for my fatness, it would have to be because I’m “mentally incapable of choosing what’s right and wrong when it comes to putting food in [my] mouth.” Further, she goes on to sugest that, as a fat person, I’m obviously “too dumb to discern healthy food from bad food” and I must be blaming my fatness on the idea that I’ve been “brainwashed” into wanting bad food by “big institutions and the market.” Because if I were accepting personal responsibility for my fatness, obviously I wouldn’t be fat.
I’ll let that sink in for a moment. I mean, if you’re fat like me, you’re going to need the extra time, amirite!? *badum tish*
Guys.
Guys.
I hope you’re not getting the wrong impression about Coddington as you read this vitriolic tirade well-reasoned argument. She cares.
Every day, in every town and city, we all see fat people waddling along, heaving themselves into planes and cars, but are we allowed to comment on this, the way we were encouraged to shame smokers into quitting (who also cost taxpayers dearly in terms of the public health bill)?
Do you see what I mean? She only has your best interest at heart, because she doesn’t want to see you being a public health nuisance by…uhm…blowing your fatty breath into other people’s faces? Knocking other people over as you waddle about the place? Infecting others with your zombie-like compliance to eating unhealthy food when you mistake them for food and try to eat them?
Guys.
Coddington isn’t saying anything new here – and neither are the numerous commenters voicing support for her. I think that in and of itself is rather telling, because it gets down to the heart of what “taking responsibility” for your fatness really seems to mean: that is, they want you to accept that you’re bringing these negative comments on yourself by being fat.
You are fat, ergo, it’s your fault that Coddington and her ilk feel the need – nay, the responsibility – to all but chase you down the street screaming “FATTY FAT STUPID FATTY!!” at you as you go. Because, guys, to do anything else would simply be “patronising and silly,” which would basically be putting academics out of business. And do you want to cost people even more money!? God, what is wrong with you!?
Of course, it would be a bit problematic for you to just stop eating all that food that you’re endlessly shoving down your gob. I mean, obviously we wouldn’t want anyone to think that “the food industry [is] conspiring to make us obese,” because that would just be stupid! So what if we’re increasingly inundated with advertising that tries to tell us that the only way we can be happy is to be good little consumers – and that advertising for fast food in particular tends to push the unrealistic notion that you can all but live on a diet of [insert brand here] while prancing around on at the beach with your equally attractive and svelte friends. Never mind that fast food is generally a lot cheaper, more accessible and easier to deal with when you’re running against the clock. Because the ever-increasing proliferation of these things doesn’t mean that the food industry is trying to make us obese! Duh. It’s just trying to get as much money out of us as possible – and these are entirely different things!
Jeez, stop being so stupid, fatties.
As Coddington says, “individuals need to be held accountable and stop blaming food and its makers for their problem.” And, I’ve gotta tell you, all of this taking on of personal responsibility has sure made me work up an appetite! I think I’m going to go and grab myself some Burger King. Or maybe some McDonalds.
I could totally go some KFC…
*shrugs*
I’ll just go wherever’s closest, because I am feeling especially lazy today.
See you later!
Guys.
Linking Queerness With Fatness
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Credit given where it’s due, this post came about in large part because of a thought process kick-started by a Twitter conversation I had with Fatheffalump a while back. She has a blog and you should probably already be reading it.
—
Ragen over at Dances With Fat made a post on her blog discussing the importance of Harvey Milk and his actions as an openly gay politician in shaping her approach to spreading the word about fat acceptance. The following quote stood out to me in particular:
You deserve to be treated well right now, whether or not you are trying to conform to the cultural stereotype of beauty. You deserve respect, and you have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Right now. In the body in which you currently reside.
The reason that this post – and this quote in particular – really stands out to me, is two-fold. Firstly, while it might seem obvious to say this, I think that our (cultural) understanding of bodies plays an extremely important role in the denigration of fat; and secondly, I think that fatness and queerness actually have a lot more in common than we might first think.
There isn’t one particular way that we think about bodies. Gender, race, age, disability and class are just a few of the many factors that shape our expectations and assumptions about how bodies will look and/or function. However, a lot of the ideas that we have about bodies revolve around notions of bodily integrity and control (particularly around whether we have these things or not). The bodies of youthful, white, middle- to upper-class, heterosexual men are often held up, whether intentionally or not, as examples of the universal, unmarked ideal of humanity – that is, they’re the standard against which all other bodies are (seemingly inevitably) compared.
Against the standard of this type of body, female bodies are considered more permeable (they bleed, they are penetrated, they give birth) and more beholden to the whims of their biology (hormones, for example); the bodies of other racial groups are less civilised/more animalistic (black men are deemed more dangerous and aggressive), inferior (Asian men are assumed to have smaller penises), or exotic (black women are more sexualised, Asian women are smaller and more docile); aged bodies are assumed to be less capable of both fulfilling their roles and providing happiness; we focus on disability rather than ability; the poor are less healthy and able to look after themselves, so on and so forth. All of these are examples of the stereotypes that immediately position anyone who is not youthful, white, middle- to upper-class, heterosexual and male as an Other.
Enter the fat. As the stereotypes go, they are unable to control themselves and eat to excess; they destroy the integrity of their bodies by stretching them outward, creating unsightly lumps, bumps and ripples of flesh. They take up space and demand attention of their own.
Enter the queer. Again, going by the stereotypes, they’re unable to control themselves and go against the natural order of things; they destroy the integrity of their bodies by opening them up to new uses, making the should-be-impermeable into the actually-quite-permeable – and, in the case of the same-sex attracted male in particular, penetrable. They claim the space of their bodies as their own, put their bodies to their own uses and demand that the normative nature of heterosexuality be brought into question.
If there’s a sense of the grotesque coming through in these descriptions, it’s not because I feel that way. Rather, it’s because I think that both fat and queer bodies are seen as dangerous and frightening by those who seek to maintain the youthful, white, middle- to upper-class, heterosexual and male body (which I’ll henceforth refer to as heteronormative bodies) as the ideal.
My Body Has a History
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Warning: The following is an account of my developing relationship with my own body. I’m not sure if the content could be considered triggering, but I’d rather be too cautious than not cautious enough!
—
Putting aside the fact that I’m a PhD student, I have a very analytical approach to things as a general rule. As such, it might just work out that a lot of my posts end up reflecting my ‘academic’ approach to things – albeit most likely with a large side dish of snark, because snark is just so tasty. I do want to make sure that I introduce myself on a personal level, though. After all, I’m here for a reason!
It seems fitting that on making the decision to write this post I happened across Lesley Kinzel‘s ‘Scientifically* Proven: Dancing In Your Underwear Is Good For You‘ article, discussing the ever-so-awesome Beth Ditto and her penchant for performing in her underwear. Quoth Lesley:
Regular underwear dancing is a sure route to making yourself awesome. I’m going to go out on a limb here and prescribe the same practice to all of you. Oh, I know it sounds silly and juvenile and embarassing, but trust me — it’s good for you. Like broccoli.
I have a confession to make…
The “Tyranny of Normality”
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
I had grand plans for my first blog post, but then I read this article and, frankly, grand plans gave way to annoyance.
The article begins by suggesting that “when it comes to health, Australians are fat, unhappy and leading the world in self-deception,” citing a study that, according to Melbourne GP Dr Bert Boffa, shows that “sixty per cent of Australians are overweight or obese but only about 30 per cent realise they are.” The study also suggests that men are less likely to realise that they’re overweight than women; and older Australians are also less likely to realise that they’re overweight. I think that the gender gap in ‘self-deception’ is particularly interesting (and probably deserves its own post), but that’s not what I’m going to focus on here.
There are a lot of details missing from this article and I think that it’s important to acknowledge this before continuing. How were participants sourced? On what basis was someone deemed ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’? How was the ‘self-deception’ (or, conversely, self-knowledge?) of participants guaged? How many of the 13,000 participants in this international study (including people from 12 countries) were Australian and can this number really be used as the basis of claims about a country whose population is projected to be over 22,000,000 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics?
These questions aside, there are some definite problems with the way this data has been presented in this article.
Despite the fact that Dr Boffa acknowledges that “we’re one of the most long-lived nations on the planet,” and that the number of deaths typically associated with obesity-related complications and health issues are decreasing, as far as he’s concerned fat is still the problem here. Why? Because of the risks of a “tyranny of normality,” of course!
See, we’re meant to believe that in a country where the ‘obesity epidemic’ is not only the topic of a new scare-mongering media exposé every other day of the week, has been the reason for any number of changes in how we live our lives and view our bodies (willingly or otherwise), and has also been a topic of discussion in our Parliament as recently as February of 2011, being fat is not only seen as normal, but has become dangerously mainstream! The fatties have all but taken over, thrusting their bulging bellies upon the poor, disempowered minority of truly normal-sized people! Sure, a majority of people in Australia are meant to be overweight, but “people are sort of fooled by what’s normal.” In other words, just because there’s more of them that doesn’t make it okay for them to be that way!
Look, I’m not saying that there isn’t anything important to take away from this type of study. The fact that “Australians are suffering more chronic and disabling health problems” is definitely something that should be looked into – although the assumption that there is necessarily a ‘correlation is causation’ style of relationship between fat and diabetes is kind of silly, given that you don’t have to be fat to be diabetic. I do, however, see it as being highly problematic to couch these results in a conclusion that not only fails to acknowledge that thin people can – and do – also suffer from all of these very same problems, but that also tries to argue that fat has become normalised in a culture that, in reality, is actually quite vigilant and at times even downright vicious in its policing of our bodies.
This last point seems particularly important when you consider the second part of the study’s findings that are discussed in the article – “that depression is increasingly prevalent in Australia, with one fifth of respondents saying they had it.” Dr Boffa obviously assumes that people are depressed and anxious because they’re fat. Putting aside once again that there’s nothing to say that only fat people are depressed and anxious, isn’t it just as – if not more – plausible to suggest that overweight people are depressed and anxious because they’re constantly being told that they’re not normal? That, to me, seems to be where the “tyranny of normality” really comes into play!
Online Dating (While Fat)
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
For some reason, 2012 has been a year where online dating is being mentioned in both my on- and offline worlds with increasing frequency. Pros, cons and (missed) opportunities seem to abound – and everyone who’s taken a crack at it seems to have a mixed bag of experiences under their belt, which I guess can be said of any kind of dating.
I’ll admit, online dating holds a certain appeal for me. I’m a bit of a social recluse at the best of times and, while I might be a gay guy, I’m not someone who’s into the “gay scene,”* which means that my opportunities for in-person interaction with other queer guys is limited, to say the least. So, being able to connect with other gay guys across the span of the internet, whether it be for a chat or the possibility of something more, isn’t something that I’m going to turn my nose up at.
It’s worked out okay for me in the past, too. Putting aside the fact that I’m currently single and it therefore hasn’t worked out too well for me, I can’t say that internet dating has been a complete waste of time. And as much as I have my own issues with how gay guys present themselves and interact with each other online (which is a whole series of posts in its own right, probably), I still currently check OKCupid and will check into at least a couple of gay male apps on my iPhone every now and then.
In other words, it is a thing that I do.
Of course, online dating is a particular kind of experience for people who aren’t necessarily of the (white, thin, straight) “norm.” There are certain decisions that need to be made about ‘outing’ yourself, for example as being queer, a person of colour, in an open relationship, a parent, etc. In some cases, you can hide (or choose not to divulge) certain things about yourself, for whatever reason. In other cases, that doesn’t really work.
Being fat is one of those things that can raise questions about the need for disclosure. It can be as simple as deciding whether or not to use the Myspace Angle (it’s an Urban Dictionary link, so click at your own risk) in your photos; it can be a matter of clicking the “curvy” (or equivilent) option for body type options on sites that offer that option; or it can even be a matter of saying straight up in your profile that you’re fat.
There’s also the option of signing up to sites that are specifically catered to setting up fat people with each other and their admirers. I tend to think that this is easier for women (and particularly women who are looking for men), but I also imagine that concerns about being the object of someone else’s fetish cross the minds of everyone** when considering these sites, regardless of their gender or sexual identity.
SO! I’m curious. How do YOU negotiate the world of online dating as a fat person?
* Yet for some reason every six months or so I’ll have an urge to go visit Oxford Street, because the idea of the place seems so much more fun than the reality generally is. What is up with that?!
** Unless you’re into that, in which case, cool!
The Rhetoric of Personal Responsibility
Sunday, January 29th, 2012
Guys.
Guys.
I was reading this article that Doc Samantha tweeted earlier. And after reading Coddington’s argument that I’m fat because I’m incapable of taking responsibility for my own actions, it finally clicked for me. I looked at that photo of yet another headless fatty and wished that my skin was that blemish-free and I was less pale and, oh, wait… I had a moment of clarity. An epiphany, if you will!
Right here and right now, I want to declare to the world that, all potentially contributing factors aside:
I am fat and I take personal responsibility for that!
Wow. I mean, really…wow. That was a cathartic moment for me. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders – only not literally, of course, because I’m still fat. Haha!
*ahem*
The fact is, whether I take personal responsibility for my fatness or not has no material effect on my fatness. I suppose it could, if it then lead on to me making changes to my life that could potentially cause weight loss (although previous experience with exercise regimes and diets tends to suggest otherwise), but that’s really another matter entirely. The act of accepting personal responsibility in and of itself is really inconsequential; it doesn’t mean anything.
Coddington clearly doesn’t agree with this. According to her, if I were not to accept personal responsibility for my fatness, it would have to be because I’m “mentally incapable of choosing what’s right and wrong when it comes to putting food in [my] mouth.” Further, she goes on to sugest that, as a fat person, I’m obviously “too dumb to discern healthy food from bad food” and I must be blaming my fatness on the idea that I’ve been “brainwashed” into wanting bad food by “big institutions and the market.” Because if I were accepting personal responsibility for my fatness, obviously I wouldn’t be fat.
I’ll let that sink in for a moment. I mean, if you’re fat like me, you’re going to need the extra time, amirite!? *badum tish*
Guys.
Guys.
I hope you’re not getting the wrong impression about Coddington as you read this vitriolic tirade well-reasoned argument. She cares.
Every day, in every town and city, we all see fat people waddling along, heaving themselves into planes and cars, but are we allowed to comment on this, the way we were encouraged to shame smokers into quitting (who also cost taxpayers dearly in terms of the public health bill)?
Do you see what I mean? She only has your best interest at heart, because she doesn’t want to see you being a public health nuisance by…uhm…blowing your fatty breath into other people’s faces? Knocking other people over as you waddle about the place? Infecting others with your zombie-like compliance to eating unhealthy food when you mistake them for food and try to eat them?
Guys.
Coddington isn’t saying anything new here – and neither are the numerous commenters voicing support for her. I think that in and of itself is rather telling, because it gets down to the heart of what “taking responsibility” for your fatness really seems to mean: that is, they want you to accept that you’re bringing these negative comments on yourself by being fat.
You are fat, ergo, it’s your fault that Coddington and her ilk feel the need – nay, the responsibility – to all but chase you down the street screaming “FATTY FAT STUPID FATTY!!” at you as you go. Because, guys, to do anything else would simply be “patronising and silly,” which would basically be putting academics out of business. And do you want to cost people even more money!? God, what is wrong with you!?
Of course, it would be a bit problematic for you to just stop eating all that food that you’re endlessly shoving down your gob. I mean, obviously we wouldn’t want anyone to think that “the food industry [is] conspiring to make us obese,” because that would just be stupid! So what if we’re increasingly inundated with advertising that tries to tell us that the only way we can be happy is to be good little consumers – and that advertising for fast food in particular tends to push the unrealistic notion that you can all but live on a diet of [insert brand here] while prancing around on at the beach with your equally attractive and svelte friends. Never mind that fast food is generally a lot cheaper, more accessible and easier to deal with when you’re running against the clock. Because the ever-increasing proliferation of these things doesn’t mean that the food industry is trying to make us obese! Duh. It’s just trying to get as much money out of us as possible – and these are entirely different things!
Jeez, stop being so stupid, fatties.
As Coddington says, “individuals need to be held accountable and stop blaming food and its makers for their problem.” And, I’ve gotta tell you, all of this taking on of personal responsibility has sure made me work up an appetite! I think I’m going to go and grab myself some Burger King. Or maybe some McDonalds.
I could totally go some KFC…
*shrugs*
I’ll just go wherever’s closest, because I am feeling especially lazy today.
See you later!
Guys.
Linking Queerness With Fatness
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Credit given where it’s due, this post came about in large part because of a thought process kick-started by a Twitter conversation I had with Fatheffalump a while back. She has a blog and you should probably already be reading it.
—
Ragen over at Dances With Fat made a post on her blog discussing the importance of Harvey Milk and his actions as an openly gay politician in shaping her approach to spreading the word about fat acceptance. The following quote stood out to me in particular:
You deserve to be treated well right now, whether or not you are trying to conform to the cultural stereotype of beauty. You deserve respect, and you have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Right now. In the body in which you currently reside.
The reason that this post – and this quote in particular – really stands out to me, is two-fold. Firstly, while it might seem obvious to say this, I think that our (cultural) understanding of bodies plays an extremely important role in the denigration of fat; and secondly, I think that fatness and queerness actually have a lot more in common than we might first think.
There isn’t one particular way that we think about bodies. Gender, race, age, disability and class are just a few of the many factors that shape our expectations and assumptions about how bodies will look and/or function. However, a lot of the ideas that we have about bodies revolve around notions of bodily integrity and control (particularly around whether we have these things or not). The bodies of youthful, white, middle- to upper-class, heterosexual men are often held up, whether intentionally or not, as examples of the universal, unmarked ideal of humanity – that is, they’re the standard against which all other bodies are (seemingly inevitably) compared.
Against the standard of this type of body, female bodies are considered more permeable (they bleed, they are penetrated, they give birth) and more beholden to the whims of their biology (hormones, for example); the bodies of other racial groups are less civilised/more animalistic (black men are deemed more dangerous and aggressive), inferior (Asian men are assumed to have smaller penises), or exotic (black women are more sexualised, Asian women are smaller and more docile); aged bodies are assumed to be less capable of both fulfilling their roles and providing happiness; we focus on disability rather than ability; the poor are less healthy and able to look after themselves, so on and so forth. All of these are examples of the stereotypes that immediately position anyone who is not youthful, white, middle- to upper-class, heterosexual and male as an Other.
Enter the fat. As the stereotypes go, they are unable to control themselves and eat to excess; they destroy the integrity of their bodies by stretching them outward, creating unsightly lumps, bumps and ripples of flesh. They take up space and demand attention of their own.
Enter the queer. Again, going by the stereotypes, they’re unable to control themselves and go against the natural order of things; they destroy the integrity of their bodies by opening them up to new uses, making the should-be-impermeable into the actually-quite-permeable – and, in the case of the same-sex attracted male in particular, penetrable. They claim the space of their bodies as their own, put their bodies to their own uses and demand that the normative nature of heterosexuality be brought into question.
If there’s a sense of the grotesque coming through in these descriptions, it’s not because I feel that way. Rather, it’s because I think that both fat and queer bodies are seen as dangerous and frightening by those who seek to maintain the youthful, white, middle- to upper-class, heterosexual and male body (which I’ll henceforth refer to as heteronormative bodies) as the ideal.
My Body Has a History
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Warning: The following is an account of my developing relationship with my own body. I’m not sure if the content could be considered triggering, but I’d rather be too cautious than not cautious enough!
—
Putting aside the fact that I’m a PhD student, I have a very analytical approach to things as a general rule. As such, it might just work out that a lot of my posts end up reflecting my ‘academic’ approach to things – albeit most likely with a large side dish of snark, because snark is just so tasty. I do want to make sure that I introduce myself on a personal level, though. After all, I’m here for a reason!
It seems fitting that on making the decision to write this post I happened across Lesley Kinzel‘s ‘Scientifically* Proven: Dancing In Your Underwear Is Good For You‘ article, discussing the ever-so-awesome Beth Ditto and her penchant for performing in her underwear. Quoth Lesley:
Regular underwear dancing is a sure route to making yourself awesome. I’m going to go out on a limb here and prescribe the same practice to all of you. Oh, I know it sounds silly and juvenile and embarassing, but trust me — it’s good for you. Like broccoli.
I have a confession to make…
The “Tyranny of Normality”
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
I had grand plans for my first blog post, but then I read this article and, frankly, grand plans gave way to annoyance.
The article begins by suggesting that “when it comes to health, Australians are fat, unhappy and leading the world in self-deception,” citing a study that, according to Melbourne GP Dr Bert Boffa, shows that “sixty per cent of Australians are overweight or obese but only about 30 per cent realise they are.” The study also suggests that men are less likely to realise that they’re overweight than women; and older Australians are also less likely to realise that they’re overweight. I think that the gender gap in ‘self-deception’ is particularly interesting (and probably deserves its own post), but that’s not what I’m going to focus on here.
There are a lot of details missing from this article and I think that it’s important to acknowledge this before continuing. How were participants sourced? On what basis was someone deemed ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’? How was the ‘self-deception’ (or, conversely, self-knowledge?) of participants guaged? How many of the 13,000 participants in this international study (including people from 12 countries) were Australian and can this number really be used as the basis of claims about a country whose population is projected to be over 22,000,000 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics?
These questions aside, there are some definite problems with the way this data has been presented in this article.
Despite the fact that Dr Boffa acknowledges that “we’re one of the most long-lived nations on the planet,” and that the number of deaths typically associated with obesity-related complications and health issues are decreasing, as far as he’s concerned fat is still the problem here. Why? Because of the risks of a “tyranny of normality,” of course!
See, we’re meant to believe that in a country where the ‘obesity epidemic’ is not only the topic of a new scare-mongering media exposé every other day of the week, has been the reason for any number of changes in how we live our lives and view our bodies (willingly or otherwise), and has also been a topic of discussion in our Parliament as recently as February of 2011, being fat is not only seen as normal, but has become dangerously mainstream! The fatties have all but taken over, thrusting their bulging bellies upon the poor, disempowered minority of truly normal-sized people! Sure, a majority of people in Australia are meant to be overweight, but “people are sort of fooled by what’s normal.” In other words, just because there’s more of them that doesn’t make it okay for them to be that way!
Look, I’m not saying that there isn’t anything important to take away from this type of study. The fact that “Australians are suffering more chronic and disabling health problems” is definitely something that should be looked into – although the assumption that there is necessarily a ‘correlation is causation’ style of relationship between fat and diabetes is kind of silly, given that you don’t have to be fat to be diabetic. I do, however, see it as being highly problematic to couch these results in a conclusion that not only fails to acknowledge that thin people can – and do – also suffer from all of these very same problems, but that also tries to argue that fat has become normalised in a culture that, in reality, is actually quite vigilant and at times even downright vicious in its policing of our bodies.
This last point seems particularly important when you consider the second part of the study’s findings that are discussed in the article – “that depression is increasingly prevalent in Australia, with one fifth of respondents saying they had it.” Dr Boffa obviously assumes that people are depressed and anxious because they’re fat. Putting aside once again that there’s nothing to say that only fat people are depressed and anxious, isn’t it just as – if not more – plausible to suggest that overweight people are depressed and anxious because they’re constantly being told that they’re not normal? That, to me, seems to be where the “tyranny of normality” really comes into play!