No, Food Shaming Fat People Isn’t Okay (Or Helpful)

Food shaming isn’t specific to a certain body type. Humans seem to have a love-hate relationship for food, or probably it’s some kind of internalized ‘pleasure-guilt’ which compels us to try and shame others for consuming food. For skinny people, the reasons might be different. Few of my skinny friends often get torment by random desi people asking if they ever eat.

Creating consciousness in someone about their body type it probably our national sport in Pakistan.

I mean, come on people!
If someone’s skinny, that doesn’t mean they’ve been starving for ages, or that their is something wrong with their bodies.
Food shaming for fat people is even more sinister.
Here’s the thing, even fat people need food in order to survive and function. If someone’s overweight, it doesn’t mean they’ve had an unlimited supply of food stored in their bodies, which they can go on burning for energy for ever and ever.
Fat people need to eat, too.
I came across a post on social media where a guy was ranting about how it’s important to tell fat people how they look, in order to save them from diseases that can be caused by obesity.
(dies).
I can actually visualize that person fat shaming people and saying awful things about their bodies. Obesity isn’t as simple as you think it is.
“Stop being fat because you look awful.”
“Stop eating so you can lose weight.”
“Stop being fat so you can become healthier.”
Eating disorders and stress eating aren’t simple, either. You can’t shame someone into curing their eating disorder. You can’t body shame someone into a different body shape. When we talk about obesity, for some, the causes can definitely be unhealthy lifestyle — changing one’s lifestyle itself is a process. Fat shaming disrupts the process. I remember when I tried to adopt healthy eating many years ago, my mother freaked out to see I was having proper meals at lunch. She was used to seeing me skip lunch (due to which, I would end up munching on carb-loaded snacks, later. And surprisingly, my mother wouldn’t bat an eye). But, when she saw me eating portion-controlled meals so I can get out of the habit of eating junk, she thought I needed to get back to the starvation routine.
Assuming that fat people are going to have an unlimited supply of energy, because they have a lot of fat in their bodies… that’s some level of crazy. When I used to skip lunch, I would suddenly feel a lot of physical weakness and lethargy, which would lead me to eating snacks.
One can argue that no one’s stopping anyone from eating. All people need to do is to eat healthy and control their portions.
Well, it’s skill not okay to food shame anyone. For one thing, shaming can only make eating disorders worse. For another, when we are trying to get into a healthy lifestyle, it’s a process that needs time, kindness, and patience. Fat people can get bullied into starving or getting into unhealthy diet plans. But, it doesn’t help with forming a lifelong healthy lifestyle.
Whether it’s portion control eating, healthy eating, or an active lifestyle, it’s going to need work. Fat people ARE going to need food that will keep their bodies functional and energetic, because starvation has never made anyone healthy. Believe it or not, fat people live and goals other than trying to achieve a body shape YOU want them to have.
