I've seen this nonsense before and I hate it so much. Not only does it just sound ridiculous, especially "person with overweight," but it's so damn patronizing. I'm sick of the patronizing treatment I receive from the medical community. Fat does not equal stupid, so stop treating us that way. It feels like a pat on the head and a "there there, silly fat person." Anyone who does this crap can get bent.
If I seem like an angry fat person, it would be because I am.
Your last line reminds me of that famous Gloria Steinem book title: “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” And I am right there with you an as angry fat person!
Thank you for talking about this. and thank you to Alina for realizing something was wrong with this horrible trend in the fat-people-eradication industry.
You hit the nail on the head. It's totally the fat people eradication industry.
After a horrible experience with a fatphobic pulmonologist a couple of years ago, I've decided the next time a doctor pulls fatphobic crap on me, I'm going to say, "Since I'm here to see you for Problem X rather than to be eradicated, I would appreciate it if we could focus on Problem X. That is your specialty, isn't it?"
Since the clinic I went to had a "bariatric and weight loss" department, I could also have said, "Seeing as you have an entire division devoted to the eradication of fat people, you can assume since I'm here rather than there that I wish to discuss Problem X rather than being eradicated. Can we please do that?"
"When it is suggested that simply accurately describing higher-weight bodies is such a terrible thing that it requires a semantic workaround, that actually CREATES and INCREASES stigma, it does not reduce it."
Couldn't have said it better. It's the excruciatingly patronizing industry version of a layperson grasping for any glittery word to describe a fat person's size cutely. The truth (that someone is fat) is just too terrible to face, so we have to dance around accurate language because it would be insulting and uncomfortable.
The person-first variant just has the added bonus of reinforcing the pathologizing of body size. (Literally turning an adjective into a noun in order to make it sound more multifaceted than just a size descriptor...)
I’ve been referring to myself as “fat” for a year or two, and that is invariably met with “oh, you’re not FAT…” (sometimes whispering like it’s a dirty word ) or “Don’t say that! No, you’re not!” Hard to know what to say after that. “It’s okay, that’s how I choose to describe myself”? Ugh.
Here are some responses that I use in case they are helpful:
There's nothing wrong with being fat...
Of course I'm fat - are you suggesting there's something wrong with my body?
Higher-weight people, including myself, are reclaiming the word "fat" as a positive/neutral descriptor because we are fat and there's nothing wrong with that.
Hope that helps, sorry that this is even necessary!
I've seen this nonsense before and I hate it so much. Not only does it just sound ridiculous, especially "person with overweight," but it's so damn patronizing. I'm sick of the patronizing treatment I receive from the medical community. Fat does not equal stupid, so stop treating us that way. It feels like a pat on the head and a "there there, silly fat person." Anyone who does this crap can get bent.
If I seem like an angry fat person, it would be because I am.
Your last line reminds me of that famous Gloria Steinem book title: “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” And I am right there with you an as angry fat person!
Thank you for talking about this. and thank you to Alina for realizing something was wrong with this horrible trend in the fat-people-eradication industry.
You hit the nail on the head. It's totally the fat people eradication industry.
After a horrible experience with a fatphobic pulmonologist a couple of years ago, I've decided the next time a doctor pulls fatphobic crap on me, I'm going to say, "Since I'm here to see you for Problem X rather than to be eradicated, I would appreciate it if we could focus on Problem X. That is your specialty, isn't it?"
Since the clinic I went to had a "bariatric and weight loss" department, I could also have said, "Seeing as you have an entire division devoted to the eradication of fat people, you can assume since I'm here rather than there that I wish to discuss Problem X rather than being eradicated. Can we please do that?"
"When it is suggested that simply accurately describing higher-weight bodies is such a terrible thing that it requires a semantic workaround, that actually CREATES and INCREASES stigma, it does not reduce it."
Couldn't have said it better. It's the excruciatingly patronizing industry version of a layperson grasping for any glittery word to describe a fat person's size cutely. The truth (that someone is fat) is just too terrible to face, so we have to dance around accurate language because it would be insulting and uncomfortable.
The person-first variant just has the added bonus of reinforcing the pathologizing of body size. (Literally turning an adjective into a noun in order to make it sound more multifaceted than just a size descriptor...)
I’ve been referring to myself as “fat” for a year or two, and that is invariably met with “oh, you’re not FAT…” (sometimes whispering like it’s a dirty word ) or “Don’t say that! No, you’re not!” Hard to know what to say after that. “It’s okay, that’s how I choose to describe myself”? Ugh.
Here are some responses that I use in case they are helpful:
There's nothing wrong with being fat...
Of course I'm fat - are you suggesting there's something wrong with my body?
Higher-weight people, including myself, are reclaiming the word "fat" as a positive/neutral descriptor because we are fat and there's nothing wrong with that.
Hope that helps, sorry that this is even necessary!