[Y]ou do not have anything interesting to say to someone who is struggling with obesity. You do not have better willpower than they do. You do not “care about myself” more. You are not more “serious about a healthy lifestyle” because you took off the eight pounds you gained at Christmas. You are no more qualified to lecture the obese on how to lose weight than I am qualified to lecture my short friends on how to become tall. You just have a different environmental and genetic legacy than they do. You’re not superior. You’re just somewhat thinner.
My reactions?
First, I'm somewhat sympathetic to the whole fat acceptance movement. I think that fat people are unfairly marginalized and aren't treated very well. I must confess that I'm guilty of that as well, as I occasionally realize that I tend to treat more attractive people better than I treat the chubbier ones. It's not fair.
However, I think that a lot of people in the fat acceptance movement go way too far. The aforementioned quote is a perfect example. For example, the author insists that skinnier people are NOT "more serious about a healthy lifestyle." Now that's just foolish. Sure, some fat people are doubtlessly more serious about health than some skinnier folks. To say that trimmer folks are absolutely not more serious about their health, however, is sheer denial.
Ditto for the steadfast denial that trimmer folks care about themselves more. I realize that combating obesity is not simple, and that some people will struggle far more than others. People who deny this are oversimplifying greatly. However, when somebody denies that trimmer folks do, on the average, care about their physical well-being more... well, that's simply over the top.
Those are two objections to what the author said. Both of these can be chalked up to exaggerated rhetoric. On the other hand, when this person says that thinner folks "just have a different environmental and genetic legacy than they do," then that's completely wrong. Environment and genetics do play a major role -- a very significant role, in fact -- but so do physical activity and dietary habits. Let's not deny that.
Therein lies the problem. Fat acceptance proponents are absolutely correct to demand better treatment of the overweight. However, this does not justify denying that one's eating and exercise habits play a major role in their condition.
