okay this is probably like, elementary-level stuff for you, but like, is it okay to be fat? even if you don’t have a medical excuse and it’s just because you eat a lot and don’t exercise? is it okay to eat desserts whenever you feel like it even if that’s basically at every meal? is it okay to eat things just for fun and not because you’re hungry? is gaining weight fine even if you’re not skinny? is it really okay?
Let me just start by saying. Yes. It is ok to be fat.
There is nothing wrong with being fat just because you enjoy eating a lot of food. And let me continue by pointing out that literally all of the health issues that are correlated with increased weight also occur in thin populations.
Additionally, when we're evaluating people by their fitness levels, the weight differences wash out. Something that's been demonstrated over and over again.
A fat person who engages in fitness behaviors is quantitatively healthier than a thin person who does not. Fit fat people and fit thin people have similar health outcomes. Unfit fat people and unfit thin people have similar health outcomes.
But we don't moralize thin people who eat desserts for every meal and have never exercised. We don't question whether it's "ok" to exist as an unfit thin person, even though that's also correlated with poor health outcomes.
The reality is fat people are an oppressed class. Society encourages the marginalization of fat people, and it has nothing to do with health.
If it was about health, then society would treat sleep deprived people the same way.
Sleep deprivation is heavily associated with poor health outcomes including things we associate with weight like diabetes or heart disease.
But no one has ever walked up to their coworker who brags about running on 4 hours of sleep and ripped the coffee out of their hands saying "You don't need this, it's for your own good!"
No one has ever written think pieces about how disgusting and morally irresponsible it is to let yourself become sleep deprived. Or dehydrated. Or just extremely stressed out.
All of which are states that are more significantly and consistently associated with negative health outcomes than weight. But we don't ask if it's morally "ok" to be experiencing them.
We don't take it as a hall pass to bully someone just because they are neglecting sleep or hydration or relaxation even if it's on purpose.
No. Because it is, technically speaking, an asshole move to harass people for their victimless lifestyle choices, no matter how unhealthy they may be.
So to reiterate. Yes. It is ok to be fat for any reason. Being fat is not a moral failure. Being fat is not an indication of your health and your health is not an indication of your worth.
It's just bigotry. It's systemic oppression. That is literally the reason it feels like being fat is "bad." Because there's constant cultural programming conditioning all of us to believe that.
