Is it Unethical to be “Anti-Fat”?

There are better analogies than racism

I don’t think this is a good future. Does that make me prejudicial against overweight people?

In the April 24th episode of Fresh Air, Dismantling the Anti-Fat Bias, a journalist named Virginia Sole-Smith outlines the premise of her book Fat Talk. A big part of her overall thesis is that bias against fat people is equivalent to other prejudices, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and so on.

She says, “by continuing to pursue thinness, you are on some level maintaining your complicity with white supremacy and patriarchy.” That’s a pretty bold claim. And maybe a little manipulative in that it conveniently associates anyone who might disagree with her into easily discredited categories. What, you think people would be happier with less body fat? Then I guess you must be some kind of Nazi.

But I’m trying come to understand her position, and I can see some rationality in equating anti-fat attitudes with prejudices against race or gender, if you think that weight as an unchangeable circumstance, similar to skin color or sexual orientation.

On that matter, Sole-Smith says, “weight is not a matter of willpower, this is not within your control.”

I agree that willpower is a flawed concept, and not a route to losing weight. However, control is a different thing. People can, and do, exert control over their weight. It happens…