Is fat-shaming wrong?

Before I present my argument, I’d like to affirm that fat-shaming is one of the lowest forms of discrimination we can make others endure. With social media fast replacing our face-to-face conversations, our interactions are increasingly less personalized. This leads to an increase in cyber bullying as those who send or posts these derogatory messages distance themselves from the emotional aspect of their attacks. This makes it easier for those who’d want to berate others based on their weight and body shapes.

However, it must also be abundantly clear that science clearly states that being fat is a health hazard. There is no grey area about this and that’s where the argument comes in. The world is slowly becoming more tolerant on different lifestyles and fat acceptance has been on the rise. The narrative is that people should be proud of who they are and how their body looks. But is there a limit to which we should reach? When telling someone to be proud of their size 10, we’re increasing their confidence but what of clearly fat people bordering on obesity? We’re clearly making them more comfortable of their bodies but we’re also leading them down the same path?

At some point someone’s health is more important than their confidence. At some point we have to say enough is enough and find the most polite way of showing that some level of fat isn’t healthy.

Thus the challenge is presented, how do you tell someone that they’re too fat?

The brutal cycle of being ugly

Someone once asked me, “Why are some people ugly and others not?” This got me pondering and the more I thought about it the more it dawned on me that society has always lied to us.

Ever wondered how you can look at a girl and you can immediately tell her economic background? Ever wondered why you’d find the prettiest girls in the top end private schools and the less so in the less expensive public schools? Ever wondered how you could look at a group of people and completely tell which tier of wealth they belong to?

Well, socialists have a way to put it, trying to make it known that the wealthier you are, the more finances you have to take care of your skin; thus its all about grooming. This cannot be further from the truth as how much can you really hide with make up. Truthfully, gloss and powder won’t change much for majority of people.

I’d like to propose an idea. Please be open minded and follow my logic.

Lets assume there exists 4 girls, 2 of whom are unattractive and the other 2 are attractive. Assume between the two attractive girls, one does well for herself and succeeds in what she does thus being wealthy enough to be in the middle class. She’ll most probably end up dating someone who’s also on the same level as her. If this is the case then her offspring will also be as attractive. Now lets assume the other attractive lady doesn’t do well and is mostly poor. How long do you think she’ll last in that situation? It won’t take long for some wealthy guy to spot her somewhere and sooner or later she’ll be snapped up and get married. Hence, her offspring will also be attractive.

Now lets consider the case for the two unattractive girls. Assume one of them does well for herself and is also in the middle class. Then she’ll get married and her offspring may also be unattractive thus forming the small percentage of the unattractive wealthy population. Assume the other unattractive lady doesn’t manage to get wealthy and becomes poor. She’ll get married and her offspring will be unattractive and poor.

Assume that this cycle goes on for 5 generations. What we’ll find is that a great percentage of those who are poor are also unattractive. With majority of the poor unattractive, then the main way to leave this cycle would be to succeed in education and business. However, the odds are stacked against them because of their financial situation. They don’t get a good education and aren’t given the same opportunities to succeed. This leads to a brutal cycle where its not only your looks that keep you anchored but also your future. What we’re seeing isn’t just the mere product of make-up but of the cyclic nature of life.

Next time you walk among a group of children, try guess their economic status by how they look. You’d be shocked at how many times you’d be right.

Summary : Majority of the poor are unattractive.