Logical Fat Fallacies

People say ridiculous things about fat people, most of which are actually logical fallacies. They require some degree of cognitive dissonance or suspension of disbelief to be true. Those things are collected here so we can all marvel at the ridiculocity of it all. Submit the dumb things you've heard to ckaricai at aol dot com along with a note about how you'd like to be cited in your post.

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Stupid: The guy who made the woman cry.

Not stupid: The person who posted this response.

However, if fat weren't a four letter word to so many people, the guy wouldn't have bothered with the utterance and the woman wouldn't have cried at all. If it were me, I'd shout after him "fuck off asshole!" Not much of a zinger, but it would make me feel better.

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When diet companies go rogue

http://rachelecateyes.tumblr.com/post/78983486349/my-image-has-been-stolen-and-being-used-on This is unfortunate but sadly common. I hope she sues.

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About submissions

Thought I'd post a note about submissions. They don't have to be exact wordings of something that happened. They can be short summaries, long summaries, anecdotes, something you saw on the internet, something you overheard or saw while out and about, a picture, a link, a video - as long as it's about something stupid someone said about fat people it counts.

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Whenever I complain about how fat people are treated, I get accused of having a low self esteem and a lack of confidence. Otherwise, why would it bother me so much?

--submitted by Michelle

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Not So Niceities

One of my neighbors likes to tell me she thinks I've lost weight every time she sees me. Now, this woman is awesome. She's a tough lady who's been through a lot: cancer, the army, catholic school(!) and manages to maintain a sense of humor and zest for life despite everything. I love that about her. But oh my does it drive me crazy when she says "You look like you lost weight. Whatchu been doing?" And every time I tell her I haven't lost any weight and that I don't diet. Sometimes I switch it up and launch into discussions about how diets have a 95% failure rate, which somehow turn into discussions about low impact exercises we both like (walking for her, aqua workout for me) and always end up at how she's failing at losing those 20lbs her doctor keeps telling her she needs to lose (Because diets don't work!).  I've simply resigned myself to having this conversation regularly for the rest of my life--or until I move.

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I called them out on the fat-shaming. (Aren't there a million things to make fun of Christie about, without ever getting to his weight?). I told them fat prejudice *is* harmful, citing my doctors who spent 15 years misdiagnosing me because they looked at my figure and assumed I was overeating. I got several young men telling me I needed to have a sense of humor and a little joke never hurt anyone. One even went so far as to look up my profile pics and tell me I shouldn't be so "sensitive" and shouldn't blame others for my low self-esteem because he thinks I'm beautiful... Gag me. I don't need your validation, thanks. This guy. . .assumed that I would have low self-esteem and be thankful when he assured me I was beautiful. He was very offended that I wouldn't accept his 'compliment.'

--submitted by Diana, Regarding a fat joke a guy made about Chris Christie:

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From the comments section "Again, calories != fat. Carbs and fat together == fat, because if the body is burning sugars, it stores fat."--mtnrunner Um, what? O_o

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Where Does Obesity Come From?

We think poverty makes people obese and that obesity makes people poor. It's harder to understand exactly why.

I have so many thoughts about this kind of reasoning about the links between poverty and fatness. I don't even know where to begin. I will say that the comments section of this article from The Atlantic is chock full of ridiculous presumptive gems about fat people.

My favorite: "I know this is just an anecdote but it my experience it is much more acceptable among poor and lower class women to be a "BBW" and that could be why they have a higher rate of obesity Young professional women today are obsessed with fitness and weight loss. When these women aren't at work or out at night, they are dressed in workout attire. Also, marathons are a very big trend among young professionals in cities."--Franc Jasig

First of all, full disclosure; I'm a fat black female professional. I workout and I'm not obsessed with it, and shocker, I'm also not obsessed with food. But, how did he know I wear workout gear when I'm relaxing at home? Does he have the sweet NSA hookup? Oh dear, maybe I should put a piece of tape over my laptop webcam after all. 

But mostly this comment is ridiculous because, it is not more acceptable in Black communities for us to be fat. Thin Black people say equally fallacious things about other fat black people as anyone else. I'm guessing the thinking goes--if you see one fat black woman ever in your life, then the rest of us must think it's okay.

And the idea that black culture is so different from mainstream (read white) culture as to be shrouded in mystery so deep that the ability to see to see actual people diminishes is equally ridiculous. I'm just plain tired of hearing this dumb statement from people who aren't Black.

So please,

More logical fallacies from the comments section:

"People who work in jobs where there is little interaction with others outside their own worksite have much less incentive to stay thin and dress fashionably, so they usually don't, especially in blue-collar situations."--poolside

Yeah, blue collar folks don't know what exercise is or that fashion exists, obvi.

"I thought eating more calories than your body burns caused obesity, not poverty. What's true is that eating healthy requires a minimum of planning, shopping, and cooking. It does not need to be expensive, but it does require that you have your "stuff" together."--Honey Badger

Yup, it's true. Every time you eat a burger, you're one step closer to a shelter. And only being able to spend $20 to feed three people for a week requires no planning at all. You just go to the store and throw random things into a cart and tell the cashier to surprise you.

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Yelled by passersby from numerous cars as my fat sister jogged up a long steep hill near her house: "Good job! You can do it! Way to go!" My sister's private response, "I KNOW I can do it, I do it every day." Logical fallacy: Fat people never exercise, therefore if I see a fat person exercising, it must be her/his very first time EVER. Also because if they exercised regularly they would surely not be fat. Even though these people were trying to be nice, their words showed that they buy into common stereotypes about fat people.

submitted by L.J.

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My husband and I are both 250+ and were shopping for a car. When we walked on the lot, I explained the car and specifics that I was looking for. . .something like a Honda Civic. . . .We got the stink eye from the salesman, then he turned to my husband and said something along the lines of ‘You’re going to want to look at something a lot bigger.’ We laughed in his face and turned and walked away. Fact – Cars (even compact ones with small engines) have a very large mass and a built so that performance is not disrupted by load Fact – We arrived driving a compact car (actually smaller than the one we bought) without difficulty for us or the car Fact – That salesman didn’t want to make a sale that day

Submitted by Kelly

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What a Great Start

Submissions on the first day! Thanks to the awesome people who submitted posts. Keep em comin folks.

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Person at a professional conference: Oh, you're a professor? I honestly didn't think there were any um, heavy-set people teaching in our discipline. (This was said without irony. Just surprise. I guess she thought I was part of the catering or conference center staff, despite my name badge and me being listed on the program as a presenter.) Me: What? Her: Oh, I didn't mean to be rude, I just thought that since appearance is so important, it would make it impossible for someone, um, larger, to be successful. Me: That is the most asinine thing I've heard all day. Excuse me. Why it's a fallacy (in case it isn't obvious): 1. There are fat people everywhere, in just about every job on the planet. 2. Thinking that appearance is "so important" is glossing over a lot of what's really important in our discipline. 3. Conflating "fat" with having an appearance that would make it impossible for one to succeed is just stupid.

Submitted by Andrea

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I wish I could say the following weren't true Reason a young man gave me for liking fat women: Fat people eat more so they have more bowel movements. More bowel movements make a woman's anus bigger; therefore fat women are more accommodating when it comes to anal sex. I heard that over 10 years ago and it so horrified me that I can't ever forget it.

submitted by Emily Dominguez

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At the Gym

Scenario: At the Gym, being told I should workout--while I'm working out. I'm literally exercising and being told by some skinny person that I should workout!!!

Logical Fallacy: Fat people don't exercise - ever. It's impossible otherwise they wouldn't be so fat.

Why it's stupid: 1. Fat people do and can exercise. Exercise doesn't always lead to weight loss. It does however increase fitness levels.

2. Fat people are fat for all kinds of reasons, not just overeating.

I would find this funny if it weren't so exasperating.

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Submit your logical fallacies

Got a logical fallacy that you heard today, yesterday, ad nauseum? Submit it to ckaricai at aol dot com. If it fits I'll post it!