Why Can't I Be Fat?

There is a movement in this country to not discriminate against people because of their weight or size.  As a person who is not small I applaud this movement.  For too long there has been support and even laws to protect other minorities while “Fat” people are not only open to daily ridicule but blatant discrimination.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the healthcare industry.   It has reached the point where insurance companies only want to insure you against being sick if they think you won’t GET sick.  That’s messed up.  The whole reason for having insurance companies in the first place is to absorb the cost when you ARE sick.  If you are overweight they figure you are more likely to need medical care.  Knowing the medical industry and their love of studies I do not debate the validity of this.  So what do they do to the people who need their services most?  They discriminate against them and charge them more even if the obesity is not something they have control over.   People can be alcoholics or drug users and they are said to have a “Sickness.” Fair enough.   Overweight people are simply treated as lazy.  That is unfair.  Not everyone who has a weight problem has control over it.  There are dozens of mitigating circumstances but they are cast aside by our judgmental society and insurance industry.  Where’s the sympathy and understanding for them?  When I was growing up there was an emphasis on being thin.  In our culture thin people are viewed as more attractive than heavy ones.  That’s nothing new.  The level of scrutiny now, however, is higher than I can ever remember.  My father had a crush on Marilyn Monroe and from what I gather he was not alone.  She was a size 8.  Today she would be considered a blimp in our ultra-thin society.  She was an absolutely beautiful woman.  I can’t picture people calling her fat.  Something changed over the years.  It is said to have come from the runways of fashion where models that look like heroin addicts have become the norm.  Watch “The Devil Wears Prada” sometime and you’ll see what I mean.  Somewhere along the way though, people started to make ultrathin into ultrachic.  It was after my generation.  The model I think best exemplifies the X generation is Cindy Crawford.  She still looks amazing.  She was never a toothpick, though.  She was a normal, healthy woman.  Today they would say she was too big.  I listen to young adults talking and the topic that always comes up is, “What gym do you belong to?”  It’s like everyone is in a gym these days.  Society dictates it.  With all due respect to people who suffer with alcoholism, young people treat alcoholics with more respect than obese people.  Why is one considered a sickness while the other is just a weakness?  That is just wrong.  Both people need help.  Then there are the mixed messages all around.  People talk about all the sex in advertising and television and then preach abstinence to their children.  In the same way we have doctors and “Wellness Professionals” telling us to stay away from carbs, fat and meat while commercials and restaurants throw bacon wrapped Angus sirloin burgers in a peppercorn ranch sauce with curly fries in front of us. (Actually that sounds pretty tasty)  One good thing I’ll say about being fat as opposed to other illnesses.  I can gorge myself on pizza and still drive home safely afterward.  Take that Doc!