RANT - Ragging on the skinny people

[inulro]

I've been saving this one for years, and have finally had enough.

How come it's not OK to say bad things about fat people, but it's OK to rag on the skinny folks?

We don't all have eating disorders. If we do, it's NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS AND IF THE RECIPIENT DID HAVE AN EATING DISORDER AND HEARD/READ YOUR COMMENTS, YOU'D PROBABLY MAKE IT WORSE.

If they don't have an eating disorder - it's still none of your goddamn business.

I've been threatening for years, but from now on I really am starting to unfriend LJs where I have to read nasty comments about how skinny people need to eat more, because I find it really triggering. I hate to be such a speshul snowflake, because I *hatehatehate* aren't-I-precious speshul snowflakes, but knowing what you were all saying behind my back for 30+ years isn't something I need to deal with right now.

Comments

[victorianrose23.livejournal.com]

Amen. I HATE reading nasty comments made about skinny girls. All of my siblings are naturally thin. I"m the odd man out, actually. But yeah - two sisters and two brothers are all still thin, with incredible metabolisms. Lucky dogs ;) But I get tired of the horrible things people write about skinny and thin ones. I'm tired of mean nasty comments, period, actually.

[zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com]

Bravo!

Not something that happens to me any more but I used to get this a lot.

[missjanette.livejournal.com]

ah, but a lot of ppl still think it's okay to rag on fat ppl as well.

You're right, tho. It's not okay to rag on ppl for being fat or being skinny. The only ppl who need to eat more are the ones w hypoglycemic road rage. I recently told someone to go eat a fucking sandwich, but that was due to their lack of food bitchiness. ; >

I dunno, lady. ppl tend to think the grass is greener on the other side but then they want to piss on the grass.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Ain't that the truth!

[kixie.livejournal.com]

There was a girl in my high school who used to get such shit - she was naturally extremely skinny and I rmemeber running into her in the nurse's office - we were both going for some ibuprofen for cramps - and the nurse would *not* let her leave - insisted on weighing her, giving her a 'talking to' and she was protesting that her mother was like that - many people in her family were, she eats plenty, it's just how the people in her family are. Naturally thin, high metabolism, burn off cals easily, etc. It struck me as a bit unfair that the nurse kept berating her when, honestly, she was fine. Skinny, sure, but healthy - there's more to eating disorders than just being skinny. There's unhealthy skin and hair, pallid complexion, circles under eyes, concentration problems and a ton of other things - attempting to diagnose an eating disorder because someone is skinny is a bit like trying it diagnose a brain tumour because someone has a headache. Being very thin is not, on its own, necessarily an unhealthy thing. Hell, I wish my metabolism were like hers instead of slower than glaciers. She had a lovely face - not at all gaunt, nice skin, shiny hair, lots of energy, well proportioned and was generally quite healthy.

That said, I think it's fair enough for some outrage at the modelling industry because it tends to push unhealthy lifestyles on girls with rather awful disasters like that Brazilian model dropping dead, which was a bit like sacrificing a girl on the altar of vanity. But that's not railing against skinny, it's railing against anger at people (usually a bunch of greedy businessmen) duping young girls into leading lifestyles that are seriously detrimental to their health. Same would be (and is) said of feeders.

[miss-soap.livejournal.com]

Ditto it's possible to be substantially overweight and fully healthy. I have a resting heart rate of 45bpm and can run 5k with ease, yet according to the powers that be, my BMI puts me squarely in the 'obese' category.

Pigeonholing people and/or making pejorative comments based on those pigeonholes is always worrisome.

[kixie.livejournal.com]

*nod* Especially when a person is athletic. Muscle weighs more than fat.

What really irritates me is when doctors - who really shoud know better - shrug off medical complaints saying "well, if you lost/gain weight..."

NNGH.

[miss-soap.livejournal.com]

Muscle weighs more than fat.

Ah, no it doesn't. A pound of muscle just takes up less space than a pound of fat. It's 3x denser. But you knew that :)

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

I always assumed that's exactly what that phrase means - that you'd be look way more toned, but weigh the same as you did when you were more flabby, because the toned muscle weights more or less that same as the bulky flab.

[kixie.livejournal.com]

Oops. No, I totally screwed that one up. :)

[childeric.livejournal.com]

Err, I'm trying to think of a definition of 'weighs more' that isn't 'for a given volume has a greater mass' (or indeed, 'for a given mass has a smaller volume') and failing. Can you explain how 'muscle weighs more than fat' is incorrect?

[ashbet]

I think that ragging on people about their bodies, period, is shitty.

There are behaviors that are detrimental (extreme dieting, extreme overeating, smoking, drugs, etc.) which do sometimes need to be addressed, but ragging on people, skinny, fat, or in between, is just not cool.

I try not to do either, and when I catch myself making an "eat a sandwich" comment (to be fair, generally about celebrities who have become scarily thin in recent years), I do try to internally smack myself on the wrist.

And, yeah. Hatred, bitching, backbiting -- none of that is okay, and none of that is stuff I want to see on my friendslist.

-- A <3

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

Strongly agreed. Sticks, twigs, being called boring; I appreciate that skinny people probably don't cop as much shit out in the street as fat people, but that's no excuse to compensate by being equally insulting in other arenas.

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about this, and if you ever catch me making stupid remarks about thin people, I hope you'll call me on it. Making assumptions about people based on a quick glance at their body type is not OK.

[girfan.livejournal.com]

I agree with ashbet and others.

I certainly wouldn't want anyone to say things about me or to me about my weight, so I don't ever do this to anyone else.

[childeric.livejournal.com]

Absolutely!

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

I'm in the 'agree' camp, along with everyone else on this.

Once upon a time, I was eight and a half stone and ate whatever I liked. My body wanted to be eight and a half stone. Now I'm 12 stone because my body seems to want to be 12 stone - and I'm going to the gym several times a week, so I'm pretty healthy.

I must admit, when people used to tell me I was too thin and needed to eat more, it never really bothered me because I knew how much I ate.

I've gained a stone since I started going to the gym, and it really bothers the chap who runs the gym. He did ask me 'What are we going to do about this?' to which I replied, 'We're going to not worry about it'. They've started a diet club, and have not mentioned it to me, but I have a number of rants all queued up should the occasion arise...