"Can you believe all these fat people?"

Miss Jean wrote:
I believe weight discrimination sucks. It is no less vile
than any
other form of discrimination.

Discrimination sucks. Period. No matter what its basis, or
its direction.

--
JJ.

In article ,
Linda Harms wrote:

In article ,
says...


It is interesting to think about. I wonder how others will view me
when I am thin. I wonder how I will view myself. And I wonder how I
will view people who are (still) fat.

carla


What I find interesting is this:

When I am fat, I am invisible. Men don't look at me on the street. If
they do notice me, they frown and look away. When I walk up to the
counter in a store I have to work very hard to get the clerk's
attention.

When I lose weight, people notice me more, pay more attention to me.
Men look at me on the street, sometimes smiling at me, saying "Hello,"
although I don't know them. When I go into a store, the clerk smiles
and asks "Can I help you?"

Isn't that a paradox? The larger I am, the harder it is for people to
see me. You would think it would be the other way around!

That's been my experience too, except that sometimes the attention I get is
unwanted. I'm out shopping in the middle of the day because I work
afternoons and evenings, but I have to ask WHAT is with those clusters of
men outside stores just doing nothing in the middle of the day? You have
to walk past them to get in the shops, and most are not brazen enough to
actually make what I would consider cat calls, but they do a fair amount of
leering and I get a lot more "hello"s from strange men than I used to. I
wish I didn't have a problem with a man saying hello, it's not the saying
hello part that bothers me, it's the fact that they're just standing there
doing nothing, and they stare directly in your eyes from the moment you get
out of your car, and after you walk past they're still frikkin' staring.
It makes me self conscious. Oh, and before you ask, this is not when I'm
dressed for going out, this is like when I have sweat pants and a t-shirt
on, no makeup. If this is some sort of bizarre pack flirting ritual, like
they expect me to actually stop and chat and give them my number or
something, then these guys seriously need to get a clue. Sorry. Rant
over.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

Luna wrote:
pants and a t-shirt on, no makeup. If this is some sort
of bizarre
pack flirting ritual, like they expect me to actually stop
and chat
and give them my number or something, then these guys
seriously need
to get a clue. Sorry. Rant over.

Hey, woman do this too. I know it's true because I saw it
on a Pepsi commercial once. (Or maybe it was a diet Coke
commercial. But, in any case, I'm joking, I'm joking!)

But I am not joking about the basic theme of this thread.
Prejudice and bias sucks. As does what you describe, which
is pure harassment. I think it was Carmen who said it best
with her statement about not wanting to learn that clubs
secret handshake.

--
JJ.
275/192/183, BMI 27.5 - as of Mar 5, 2004
Atkins since Sep 1, 2003
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jjsmythe/my_photos
69.8% of the man I used to be.

From: Luna

I'm out shopping in the middle of the day because I work
afternoons and evenings, but I have to ask WHAT is with those clusters of
men outside stores just doing nothing in the middle of the day?

lol Luna! I once wondered the same thing about the old men who are always
sitting on the benches inside the courthouse and was told "if you sit there you
eventually get to see every woman in town!". Ha ha ha sometimes life's
mysteries are so simple.

Andrea

Andrea Bostrom wrote:
Well, I can speak from experience there's another
side of that
coin. As a "thin" person (low carbing) in an office of
predominantly
overweight people, my diet was ridiculed, I was told I
wasn't eating
enough, why can't I have a donut, etc. etc. and my diet
was mocked.
And yes, I have heard the same mocking comments made by
thin people
regarding overweight people so I know it goes both ways.
And no, I
did not parade around rejoicing in my "thiness" --- my
diet was
simply not accepted and my simple response became "you eat
what you
want to eat and I'll eat what I want to eat".

Andrea

I wonder how many people know, or realize, that it is
harassment in the workplace which is not legal (I describing
U.S. law), not just sexual harassment. I'll let the
wonderful legal and paralegal folks here describe this in
greater detail than can I.

--
JJ.

"JJ"

Finally, one event that felt good and made me quite angry at
the same time; I was standing in line to purchase an item at
the store and a slender stranger next to me, as he observed
people walking through the store, said "can you believe all
these fat people."

To which I would have responded, "Can you believe these rude, judgemental
people with nothing better to say?"
I refuse to be intimidated by such jerks. And their intent IS intimidation.


Connie
************************************************** ***
My mind is like a steel...um, whatchamacallit.

Andrea Bostrom wrote:

Well, I can speak from experience there's another side of that
coin. As
a "thin" person (low carbing) in an office of predominantly overweight
people, my diet was ridiculed, I was told I wasn't eating enough, why
can't I have a
donut, etc. etc. and my diet was mocked. And yes, I have heard the same
mocking comments made by thin people regarding overweight people so I know
it
goes both ways. And no, I did not parade around rejoicing in my "thiness"
--- my diet was simply not accepted and my simple response became "you eat
what you want to eat and I'll eat what I want to eat".

Even while still being overweight (although not nearly as much as
before) I cannot very discreetly turn down a (cake, donut, whatever)
that is being offered in a group. "Oh live a little"... Well, it
was "living a little" that got me in the opposite direction.

But yes, I do agree with you. I've seen thin people get told
they aren't "eating enough". I've seen a lot of the negatives of
both sides. It seems ya can't please anyone. So the best thing
to do is just be yourself.

As a fat person, it seemed strangers felt the need inform me I was
fat, as if I didn't know. I did a mock, tragic shock and said, "So
that's why Vogue Magazine keeps rejecting me for their cover photo!"
Most of the time I just ignore people who are rude and ignorant.


Andrea

In article ,
says...
In article ,
says...


It is interesting to think about. I wonder how others will view me
when I am thin. I wonder how I will view myself. And I wonder how I
will view people who are (still) fat.

carla


What I find interesting is this:

When I am fat, I am invisible. Men don't look at me on the street. If
they do notice me, they frown and look away. When I walk up to the
counter in a store I have to work very hard to get the clerk's
attention.

When I lose weight, people notice me more, pay more attention to me.
Men look at me on the street, sometimes smiling at me, saying "Hello,"
although I don't know them. When I go into a store, the clerk smiles
and asks "Can I help you?"

Isn't that a paradox? The larger I am, the harder it is for people to
see me. You would think it would be the other way around!

That's been my experience, too. I still can't get over the shocked look on
people's faces if I actually dare to SPEAK and say anything they wouldn't expect
from a fat person (i.e., yes, no, I'm fine, how are you?).

--
Saffire
205/168/125 - 5'2.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

In article , Saffire
wrote:

In article ,

says...
In article ,
says...


It is interesting to think about. I wonder how others will view me
when I am thin. I wonder how I will view myself. And I wonder how I
will view people who are (still) fat.

carla


What I find interesting is this:

When I am fat, I am invisible. Men don't look at me on the street. If
they do notice me, they frown and look away. When I walk up to the
counter in a store I have to work very hard to get the clerk's
attention.

When I lose weight, people notice me more, pay more attention to me.
Men look at me on the street, sometimes smiling at me, saying "Hello,"
although I don't know them. When I go into a store, the clerk smiles
and asks "Can I help you?"

Isn't that a paradox? The larger I am, the harder it is for people to
see me. You would think it would be the other way around!

That's been my experience, too. I still can't get over the shocked look
on
people's faces if I actually dare to SPEAK and say anything they wouldn't
expect
from a fat person (i.e., yes, no, I'm fine, how are you?).


Or, I hate to say it, anything intelligent. I get more crap - and have
always gotten more crap - because I am relatively literate, and can
think. Heavens forefend.

--
Nancy Howells (don't forget to switch it, and replace the to send mail).

It's like it's the new pastime or
something. Sad really. :-(
--
Cheri
Type 2, no meds for now.

well, JC has made a hobby of it

katie k