I have a sort of friend who was recently quite vocal in his dislike of this page because he believes 99% of fat people choose to be fat and if they wanted to be thin they would get thin. What should I tell him? I'm almost positive hes wrong but I dont know enough about either side to agree or disagree. I know that I believe every person has inherent worth and it sounds to me like this page is protesting against injustice fat people receive and I support that, but do you know how I could respond?
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We have an awful lot of resources linked from the FAQ and the archives (you can find a search box on the main page, or append “site:http://thisisthinprivilege.tumblr.com” to a google search). You should also look at Health at Every Size sites. There are a huge number of studies out there that show that weight loss simply does not work in the long term, that the vast majority of people gain back everything they lose, and that 2/3 of people gain back more, and that this is true whether or not they stay on the diet. Indeed, a “success” in a diet or weight loss drug study is claimed when people lose 5-10% of their starting body weight. That’s it. Why? Because that’s all most people can lose and keep off. There are a whole stack of studies out there showing that weight is nearly as inheritable as height.
But even people who choose to be fat (and they exist) deserve to be treated well. No one deserves to be treated the way fat people are treated. No one. Period. It should not matter why someone is fat, nor is it any of anyone’s business why anyone is fat. You can find a bunch about that in the archives, too.
In short, your friend is both factually and morally wrong. Basically this entire blog is about that. But you’re not going to convince him, because frankly, he simply wants to hate fat people, and, like any bigot, he will be utterly resistant to any facts to the contrary. We’ve posted these studies and articles, and if he’s read the blog he’s seen them, and he doesn’t care. He also simply doesn’t care that fat people are being mistreated. He will listen only to what confirms his prejudice. He’ll even double down if you show him evidence that he’s wrong, in all likelihood. Argue with him if you want to, and good on you for it, but don’t expect to convince him.
-MG
