The whole fat-acceptance movement and body positivity stuff is all very irritating to me because rather than calling out people for being healthy, the media and a group of looney people that think that their feelings are more important than science call for believing that all sizes are beautiful. They tend to ignore the fact that obese or fat people are probably exceptionally unhealthy and are going to have serious medical problems if this "acceptance" sticks.
They even go out of their way to avoid words like obese or fat and instead opt for terms like "plus sized" which basically just means fat.
There are people out there that are attracted to fat people. I know this is true because I knew a couple of people in college that their idea of the perfect woman was a fat one. I can't really relate to this but hey, do your thing man! I don't on the other hand, feel as though it is a good idea for the media to pretend as though your body putting on a bunch of fat is something that should be accepted. It is your body's way of telling you that you are doing something wrong and these warning signs lead a whole mess of medical problems later on down the line.
In the case of USA Today, which I believe to be one of the worst news sources in the United States, they make a very bizarre claim that "Dad Bods" are desirable and therefore fat moms should also be considered sexy but they don't really provide any information to indicate that there are people out there that think that Dad Bods actually are attractive to anyone. If given the option of dating a fat dude or some guy who really looks after himself are women out there honestly going to choose the guy with a beer gut? USA Today came to the conclusion that 75% of women PREFER a Dad Bod and to me that just seems like it is totally made up information.
Author Jenna Ryu, who is a "wellness reporter" for USA today seems to be more interested in feminism or fighting the patriarchy than she is in actual wellness reporting. There is nothing "well" about being fat and it is journalistically irresponsible for her to indicate otherwise.
In her article she goes on a 1000 word rant about how there are double standards because fat men are seen as attractive while fat women are not. This is a completely absurd argument to try to make. Sure, there are some people out there that find fat people attractive (like the people I knew in college) but a vast vast vast majority of people would find someone who is fit to be immensely more attractive than a fat person.
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I wish no ill will to this person... but we have to stop pretending as though she isn't extremely unhealthy
She uses words like "fatphobia" and "thin privilege" and I rolled my eyes so hard when I read these made up words that I briefly went blind. She then goes on to talk about how fat women are far more likely to face employment difficulties than fat men then hyperlinks a study. If you click on the study men aren't even mentioned in the very boring journal at all. She just made that part up.
"The more, we, as a society, can turn away from damaging body-image tropes, and turn toward body acceptance, combined with continued visibility of role models who both denounce 'thin as better,' and who themselves have bodies of different shapes and sizes, the healthier we will all become."
This statement irritates the hell out of me particularly because of the "the healthier we will all become" is just flat-out nonsense. Accepting being fat is not healthy, it never has been healthy, it never will be healthy.
What is so strange about this whole thing isn't just the bad information and outright lies, but Jenna herself is actually very fit and thin. I honestly expected her to be a purple-haired fatty but she isn't.
The good news is that outside of a very small group of crazies out there I don't think anyone really thinks that being fat is OK. Everyone knows that being fat is a sign of you doing something very wrong with your life and the media needs to stop pretending as though this isn't the case.
