Dr. Feelgood
intellectual nerd
From my own perspective, hating anyone is a waste of energy; the most I'm willing to commit to is a mild distaste.
But we all know that some people are so upset at the thought of fat people that they froth at the mouth. Of course, there may be many contributing factors, going back to the individual's personal history, etc., but I think one important factor is a belief in magic.
We humans are contrary creatures: at the same time we long for luxury and admire asceticism. In virtually every religion you find an ascetic tradition, an idea that, if you deny yourself enough, you will somehow be rewarded. If, in other words, a woman starves herself from a bloated, whale-like size six down to a size three, she ought to be rewarded with happiness. But of course, she remains the same person, with the same attitudes, and if she was dissatisfied before she will remain dissatisfied no matter how thin she becomes. If she believes this -- consciously or unconsciously -- she will feel cheated by the universe. And if she then sees a larger woman who is not obviously miserable, she may feel as if that person has stolen the happiness that was rightfully hers. How can you not hate someone like that? I don't know to what degree this is a component of fatphobia, but it seems to me to be a real phenomenon. What do the rest of you think?
But we all know that some people are so upset at the thought of fat people that they froth at the mouth. Of course, there may be many contributing factors, going back to the individual's personal history, etc., but I think one important factor is a belief in magic.We humans are contrary creatures: at the same time we long for luxury and admire asceticism. In virtually every religion you find an ascetic tradition, an idea that, if you deny yourself enough, you will somehow be rewarded. If, in other words, a woman starves herself from a bloated, whale-like size six down to a size three, she ought to be rewarded with happiness. But of course, she remains the same person, with the same attitudes, and if she was dissatisfied before she will remain dissatisfied no matter how thin she becomes. If she believes this -- consciously or unconsciously -- she will feel cheated by the universe. And if she then sees a larger woman who is not obviously miserable, she may feel as if that person has stolen the happiness that was rightfully hers. How can you not hate someone like that? I don't know to what degree this is a component of fatphobia, but it seems to me to be a real phenomenon. What do the rest of you think?
