Oh, you guys. Ohhhhh, you guys.
Fat and Health at Feministe
You may have already heard about this one, or read it. It got 124 comments before comments were closed *cough*, which about triples the comments Feministe guest posts usually garner. To quote one comment from notemily,
WHAT IS THIS I CAN'T EVEN--
I don't keep Feministe, Feministing, Jezebel, etc. on my blogroll, mostly because there's something about their tone that usually doesn't mesh with my reading style, which is not to make a judgment call on the blogs themselves, but is meant as a comment on my own reading preferences.
But when something like this piece of ignorant flippancy pops up on my radar? I've just got to point it out and say, really, people? Is this really what you want in your feminist blogs? (And judging by a good 3/4 of the comments, no, no it is not what you want in your feminist blogs.)
To read any of a number of sound arguments for why Monica's post is uninformed at best and sexist, hateful and classist at worst, simply read the comments. I really can't say it any better than some of the commenters have already done.
I just found that entire post, and some of its comments, so upsetting I can't even express it civilly. Some of the comments were just heartbreaking. And go NotEmily go!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSince comments are closed, I would like to mention that it cuts both ways. Thin people are more likely to die of heart attacks because doctors are conditioned to think that heart disease is a result of extra weight and can't happen to thin people. The same goes with diabetes as an adult.
ReplyDeleteThis attitude helps no one and hurts everyone, but as long as Monica has never gotten lip from her doctor, everything's okay, right?
It's truly hard (in my limited experience) to find doctors who don't immediately focus on weight as the be all and end all. A family member of mine who is on acutely necessary atypical antipsychotics (which can lead to weight gain and metabolic syndrome) is constantly having the doctor fight to lower the dosage simply to see if there is weight loss, despite the fact that this person's behavior and mood deteriorates each time the dose is lowered. Like, hi, doc, take a hint. I know you don't like looking at overweight people because you have your own hang-ups (and this doctor does), but not going hypomanic is maybe a little higher priority than an extra 15 pounds when your patient is otherwise physically healthy. (Good BP, good cholesterol, low resting heart rate, etc.)
ReplyDeleteMonica's attitude, if her response comments are anything to go by, will not be changing due to new and more accurate information at her disposal. :p
sigh. as a fat person, i think i have become used to being regularly crucified- but it is particularly awful that it is on a feminist blog! jezebel just had a horrible article asking if rachel zoe weighed enough to get pregnant. WTF?
ReplyDeleteFunny thing was, the Jezebel piece that spawned this whole thing was actually much more enlightened. (Not something I really expect from Jezebel.)
ReplyDelete