When does one start fearing or hating their fat bodies? The answer to this cannot be an absolute statement. It is a collection of instances; where one feels their body is just not good enough for them. The society around them makes them feel so. This leads to the emergence of Fat Phobia.
The word ‘obese’ no more makes for a health criterion. It has become a word of ridicule. A term that accounts for shame and guilt. Society’s negative obsession with fat bodies further leads to stigmatization of not-so-healthy bodies.
Beauty and Fat Phobia
Fat Phobia is a slow poison. Till the time it consumes your complete body, you will hold incurability. It does not seem surprising to see people being asked to lose weight and become thin to look beautiful. In the world we live in, a fat body is inversely proportional to being beautiful. The more fat on your surface, the less beautiful you become and vice-versa.
However, this is not a new phenomenal judgment. This has continued for ages, from times unknown. Mothers have demanded thin women for their sons in marriage. People have been trolled on social media for portraying a confident self despite having a fat body. Pregnant women are repeatedly reminded of their increasing body weight during pregnancy. Because fat and beauty will just not go together according to the stereotypical society.
Consideration as Inferior
The problem does not lay with constant reminders to people to lose their body weights. The trouble lies in taking them as inferiors. Fat Phobia tags people with relatively larger bodies with physical, mental, and emotional inferiority.
For instance, in a beauty contest, they are denied the lead role. Facing mockery for their big hands and legs, asked not to wear short clothes. And forced to think twice before liking someone of the opposite gender, because according to the popular notion, they deserve nothing but rejection.
Health is the priority
It should be made a universal point, till the time one has a hold on their perfect healthy state, one must refrain from following the trend of reducing their weight. A person may not possess the most desirable body, but they should be left happy to possess a healthy body and mind. Fit should be made the new normal, not thin.
Reasons for a Fat Body
A person may become overweight for innumerable reasons. Gaining weight is often a side effect of certain medications, mostly psychiatric ones. Many people find comfort in food, due to which they tend to dive low on their BMI. Stress, anxiety, and trauma all these accounts for disturbed body weight.
However, obesity is not the real problem. Obesity is not the only root cause of other diseases. Inflicting fear among masses for their bodies leads them to be at greater risk for other ailments. These namely include diabetes, high blood pressure, tachycardia, eating disorders, and many more. These are just a handful of a long list that awaits.
Bullying
The most detrimental outcome of being fat comes off as bullying. The bullies are ready at all times to prey. While some people tell it to be all in fun and games, the reality is far from this. The ones who are judged and bullied at all times, have to go through a lot. This bullying depreciates their mental health and becomes as serious as leading to suicidal tendencies. This points towards a lack of empathy in society.
One should think twice before becoming a bully to others. Bullying follows fat people everywhere they go. Criticizing someone for something that they have no control over is nothing but clear irresponsibility. Irresponsibility towards your fellow mates, their mental health, and their struggles. The reason for the bullying is nothing but Fat Phobia.
Conclusion
It is more than the time that this society gets proper preaching about its callousness and lack of awareness. Convenience in passing judgments should not come at the sake of crushing another person’s self-confidence. In a world where more people are dying of suicides than any life-taking diseases, the world should vouch for more self-acceptance.
The preaching shall come in ways of progressive sentences. They flow as the following. Fat is beautiful. Fat is no shame. Stop fear-mongering people about being fat. Being fat is not a fault.
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