In case you haven't heard it lately, it's not a moral failing to be fat.

[nobrainnopain@social.tchncs.de]

@afewbugs @polypunk @disabledanarchist you’re freaking out and compare me to Trump. Do you know Godwin‘s law?

[disabledanarchist@kolektiva.social]

@nobrainnopain @afewbugs @polypunk I don't see anyone freaking out here, friend. Perhaps you need to interrogate your own biases if this conversation is making you uncomfortable.

[nobrainnopain@social.tchncs.de]

@disabledanarchist @polypunk you don’t know my weight. And it’s not about weight that I laugh about Trump. But I don’t think that someone should tell me what I do think is funny. That’s the point you haven’t got,
You’re assumption are wrong.

[nobrainnopain@social.tchncs.de]

@disabledanarchist @afewbugs @polypunk maybe I should, I’ll sleep on it. And you should take a look at Godwin‘s law before comparing others to Trump in a discussion.

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@disabledanarchist @polypunk @nobrainnopain I believe Godwin's law refers to Hitler not Trump, and Godwin himself has rescinded it. But you didn't answer my question, what do you believe political correctness to mean?

[nobrainnopain@social.tchncs.de]

@afewbugs @disabledanarchist @polypunk Why should I as you think comparing me to Trump is a good idea.

[anarchademic@kolektiva.social]

@sean @disabledanarchist

Sean,

Yes, the causes of different body weights have changed historically, and are shaped by things including food additives/product substitutions, environmental toxins, and cycles of starvation.

But, FYI (in case you or others are not already aware) there are a lot of fat activists who would be troubled by the assumption in that article that 'preventing ob*sity' is a desirable goal, since it assumes 'ob*sity' is inherently bad.

Here are some sources on those points (though some also make conventional negative assumptions about weight & use potentially offensive language)

From thermodynamic to metabolic understanding of weight (toxins, starvation), a few examples from an extensive literature:

Obesity as malnutrition: the dimensions beyond energy balance
https://www.nature.com/articles/ejcn201331

The environmental account of obesity: a case for feminist skepticism [n.b. the 'environmental account' refers to things like urban design rather than endocrine disruptors] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21114084/

Prenatal Exposure to Multiple Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Childhood BMI Trajectories in the INMA Cohort Study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37850789/

Canaries in the coal mine: a cross-species analysis of the plurality of obesity epidemics [animals in research labs have also gotten fatter over the years, despite controlled environments]
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article-abstract/278/1712/1626/73594/Canaries-in-the-coal-mine-a-cross-species-analysis

Body weight is not a good guide to health (though health is not a moral metric):

Cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass index and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39537313/
Relationship Between Low Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Mortality in Normal-Weight, Overweight, and Obese Men https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/192035

Long‐term Effects of Dieting: Is Weight Loss Related to Health?
https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/spc3.12076

More sources: https://libguides.pratt.edu/fatstudies

[disabledanarchist@kolektiva.social]

@nobrainnopain @polypunk I'm asking you to consider who you're hurting with your jokes. It ain't Trump. I'm not only speaking of weight but ability, too. I used weight as an example, but there's countless other examples of disability being used.
Ableism is pervasive in our societies, and everyday mocking of disabilities allows it to persist. It subtly implants in your mind that certain people are less than based on diverging from the ideal, which is a cis-het, able-bodied, white male in their 20s-40s, any other deviation is bad and should be considered shameful.

This exact conversation is why I haven't really been talking about this subject much lately. Most people right now are less interested in interrogating their own biases and are being reactionary. Which sucks, and it's annoying, but there's more pressing work for me lately. My hope is this would catch people with open minds and they would think about how they are contributing to oppression in their lives. That's obviously not you, enjoy your ableist jokes, I have bigger fish to fry.

[anarchademic@kolektiva.social]

@Netraven

Do you have a source for the claim that Nazis invented BMI? Thx
As far as I'm aware, the calculation was based on the work of an 1830s statistician, and promoted by a U.S. researcher in the 1970s.

[coho@mountains.social]

@disabledanarchist
For the last few years I've become fascinated with our cousin great apes, gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos. And one thing they all have in common are rounded, bloated, pot bellies. If you are in the great ape family, it is a sign of good health, and good digestion,( including farting) to have a nice round belly, We are also great apes, and it shows how neurotic and removed humans are from our biological reality, and the natural world, that we've become obsessed with flat bellies, and perfect bodies. Obsessing about looks and the body is a huge waste of time, and is a giant energy drain. Non Human great apes are, stronger, more agile, and in many ways smarter than us. They never worry about their pot bellies. The more I accept my great apeness the better I feel.

[netraven@hear-me.social]

@anarchademic I think I might be mistaken, sorry. I'm not sure where I picked that up.