Thank you Carrie and Graeme,
I agree with what both of you have mentioned below and would like to also add
a further note about weight and body-size as a form of social control.
Despite being unreliable to indicate physical or mental health, or the
character of a person, weight and body-size discrimination is pervasive.
Though virtually every other 'ism' is given zero tolerance (overtly at
least), "weightism" or weight/body-size discrimination is omnipresent at home,
school, tv, office, etc.
This in turn, relates to the social determinants of health. E.g. People
considered obese (yet qualified) are passed over for thinner 'more suitable
and professional looking' candidates... lower incomes... exclusion from
groups, activities... isolation.
Rejection of weight and body-size discrimination is up against a super-
profit 'perfect-body-promising' industry... which is only further
substantiated by biomedical and individualistic lifestyle approaches to
defining, and getting to: 'good' from 'bad'.
To reject and deconstruct 'weightism', will be beyond difficult but would, I
believe a bigger movement towards health than all the great "anti-obesity
technologies" ;)
vanessa
Quoting Carrie Brown <[log in to unmask]>:
> Thank you Graeme, I believe weight is an unreliable indicator of
> physical health. I know many people within the "acceptable weight
> range" with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and who are not
> physically active or who don't eat well enough to achieve health
> benefits. I also know many people who are above the "acceptable weight
> range" who are physically fit and extremely healthy.
>
> I think in the next couple of years we're going to find that obesity
> rates have decreased, but overall, people's physical health has not
> improved. Because all those people who do not fall into the overweight
> or obese category do not get the message because they are not being
> targeted and don't feel that they are at risk.
>
> I'm afraid as a society we've created the situation where we look at
> each other and judge health and character based on appearance. This is
> extremely disconcerting, especially in a world so desperately in need of
> acceptance, empathy and compassion.
>
> Carrie Brown
> Health Promotion Liaison
> Northern Lights Health Region
> 11202 - 100 Ave.
> High Level, A.B. T0H 1Z0
> Phone: (780) 841-3204
> Fax: (780) 926-7375
> [log in to unmask]
>
> "Take care of ourselves and each other, spend time with loved ones, take
> breaks when necessary and enjoy each moment on this lovely green and
> blue planet." ~Tooker Gomberg~
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Social Determinants of Health [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Graeme Bacque
> Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 11:08 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [SDOH] anti-obesity technology
>
> One more serious issue to point out about this whole obesity obsession -
>
> this kind of excessive state and medical-sanctioned focus on impossible
> standards of physical appearance and performance is in fact a known
> aspect of fascism. It indicates a degree of social intolerance which is
> becoming extreme.
>
> These kind of 'standards' have been used deliberately and systematically
>
> to denigrate and oppress women, non-Europeans, religious minorities and
> persons with disabilities (among others) for centuries.
>
> The original history underlying this probably dates back to Biblical
> times, where a person's physical characteristics were routinely
> associated with either 'good' or 'evil'. This became highly evident in
> Europe during the Burning Times. The Nazis escalated this form of
> persecution to an extreme degree during their reign.
>
> This is a no-win situation and the worst form of victim-blaming -
> although the person affected may actually be primarily a 'victim' of
> society's scorn over physical attributes which are entirely beyond their
>
> control and which may not even specifically be a health issue. In the
> end it boils down to other peoples' sense of aesthetics being offended
> as opposed to being a valid indicator of someone's true state of
> physical well-being.
>
> I for one find this obsessive, narrow, judgmental, out of context
> official focus on certain physical characteristics (to the exclusion of
> most other personal attributes) to be highly alarming. People need to be
>
> valued in all their diversity, no matter what color, shape or size they
> may come in.
>
> Graeme
>
> Adam P. Coutts wrote:
> > an innovative individual protective mechanism for the impending
> > obesity epidemic! I think it's US based.
> >
> > http://www.harrietcarter.com/Detail.cfm?pth=13&Cat=111&prod=4594&sr=1
> >
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