Size

[flexibeast]

This sort of thing makes me furious:

A woman in Oklahoma suffered for twelve years with a growing ovarian tumor that went undiagnosed. Everytime she went to the doctor, she was told she was just fat and needed to lose weight. After awhile she stopped going to the doctor. It wasn't until she'd become so swollen that the circulation in her legs became compromised and they began to crack and ooze that a doctor finally took her seriously and admitted it wasn't just a problem with "overeating." During an exploratory surgery they discovered a 93 pound ovarian cyst. Yet even then, it was compared to a "big balloon, a big beach ball" and the news reports wrote mockingly of her walking around with a tumor she didn’t know was there.

Luckily, this woman’s tumor was benign. But "obese" women have higher death rates from many cancers than "normal" weight women. Several researchers have looked for reasons for this health disparity and have learned it isn't because of their fat in the way that is popularly believed.

One of my partners, sacred_harlot, is quite a large woman. She's currently suffering from heart and leg problems, which in recent years have curtailed her ability to do as much physical activity as she used to. She still does a fair amount of physical activity anyway, not only because she's a mother of two teenagers, but because she tries to work out on her exercise bike as much as possible. She also eats better than anyone i know: salads are a regular part of her diet, she very much limits her intake of fats and sugars, she drinks lots of water and fruit juices, and she generally limits her food intake overall, having only health snacks between meals.

But none of this matters to the health 'professionals' she's seen in recent times; most of them have made it quite clear that they're not willing to properly address her health issues until she's "lost that weight". There seems to be an implication that she couldn't possibly be doing any of the above things, because otherwise she would obviously be slimmer. And never mind that she was sexually and physically abused as a child by her mother, which recent research suggests may be linked to heart problems; her heart and leg problems must simply be a result of her being 'lazy'. Presumably just like my ME/CFS and fibromyalgia merely reflects my own 'laziness'. :-P

We're constantly lectured about the (some real, some dubious) health costs of being fat; but what about the health costs of our society's fatphobia?

[ Cross-posted to fat_feminist ]
 

Comments

[not-in-denial.livejournal.com]

I've run into a lot of this myself. And then I get told it's easy to lose weight.

Yeah. Right.

Even if my metabolism was brilliant, I have CFS. I can't exercise. A healthy diet will only keep your body healthy, but it won't lower your weight if you can't exercise.

The only way I've found to lose weight for me is to restrict what I eat to meat, eggs and some vegetables. And guess what? A high protein diet like that is no longer a viable option for me because of my bowel problems over the last two years!

And frankly, even if it was? I barely get out of the house these days. Life kind of sucks. Food is a pleasure that I can still take part in, so fuck it, I'm going to keep enjoying it.

Guess I'll just have to stay a fat tranny :p (which would be a much nicer thing to be if I could hide my breasts a little better.)

[surreal-angela.livejournal.com]

That make me absolutely ropeable...

In one study, 31-42% of nurses said they would prefer not to care for obese patients at all. In another study, 17% of doctors said they were reluctant to perform pelvic exams on obese women.

Walk a day in our shoes, bitches!

Most people who are obese, are so (at least) partly due to reasons outside their influence. In my mother's case, a severely underactive thyroid. In my case, a knee operation performed 2 years ago where the surgeon never bothered to tell me that I needed to be in physio to make sure my leg muscles were strong enough to cope with the op. Consequently, the muscles atrophied and my left leg is virtually useless.

People will quite happily offer advice like "oh, why don't you join a gym and cycle to make the leg stronger?" Well, maybe because I am a student dependent on the pittance I receive from grovelling at C*ntrelink and can't afford it.

I used to love doing karate, which has fallen by the wayside because of my knee. I enjoy aqua aerobics, but at $7+ per session, I really can't afford to go.

People have touted the idea of covering gym memberships under private health insurance, which I am all for.. but where are the programs in place for overweight people to get fit? Gyms are so skinny/fit focused...

Maybe one day when I'm a little bit better off financially, I'll start my own 'fat people' gym, with actual support and affordable programs that don't make me feel like a whale...

[weibchenwolf.livejournal.com]

I won't say too much on this, as I tend to begin to use swear words and not much else (except the word 'specialists' and 'medicos').

Thank you.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

I have CFS. I can't exercise. A healthy diet will only keep your body healthy, but it won't lower your weight if you can't exercise.

*sad nod* i've put on lots of weight since i started taking hormones - some of it wanted, of course! - and having CFS has limited my ability to do something about the unwanted parts of that weight.

Food is a pleasure that I can still take part in, so fuck it, I'm going to keep enjoying it.

Indeed!

Guess I'll just have to stay a fat tranny :p

See, it's precisely that self-defeating attitude that means you fatties never change. :-P

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

In my case, a knee operation performed 2 years ago where the surgeon never bothered to tell me that I needed to be in physio to make sure my leg muscles were strong enough to cope with the op. Consequently, the muscles atrophied and my left leg is virtually useless.

Ack, i'm sorry to hear that. :-((

Excellent points re. the financial aspects of fitness. i would add that, in my experience, eating healthily often seems more expensive than eating junk food. Organic food is an example of this: i've often found it to be considerably more tasty and appetising (and therefore more likely to be eaten by me!) than the alternatives (which also have the added 'bonus' of being a good source of various chemicals which aren't necessarily good for our bodies), but it's also noticeably more expensive than the alternatives.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

I won't say too much on this, as I tend to begin to use swear words and not much else (except the word 'specialists' and 'medicos').

i know what you mean. :-/

Thank you.

Heh, you're welcome. :-)

[not-in-denial.livejournal.com]

Oh I don't know, I think being a "fat tranny" is kind of an awesome thing to be :)

[porcineflight.livejournal.com]

There are heaps of examples of this for men and women. One firend who is "obese" gwebnt to a GP for a medical condition unrelated to weight issues. The doctor saw "fat" and pushed a weight-loss drug that has the side effect of diarrhoea - not really practical for a person who wants to go out into the world and be active without fear of this "side-effect" causing major embarrassment. The doctor then promptly forgot what my friend originally wanted the doctor for and had to be reminded. The next time my friend went in to the same doctor, he did the same thing - his routine response to a "fat" patient is to push this drug on them.

There are lots of fat-acceptance activist groups online that are worth checking out to get a feminist perspective on fat and to hear some horror stories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizeism

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

::nods:::

There are indeed Class Issues embedded in fatphobia (amongst other things, of course).