Let’s be honest: society hates fat people. A biologist and public health professional weighs in about society’s hypocrisy around fatness.
There’s a double-speak nature in the conversation around fatness.
Here in the United States but also in societies around the world, the wellness, healthcare and medical industries speak often about the longitudinal effects of excess weight on health, while culturally, society is seemingly more focused on the aesthetics of a person’s body size. Sometimes, it seems as if the two sides are conflated: people will wax on about the health ramifications of obesity as a smoke screen for simply not liking the physical manifestation of excessive weight.
How many times have celebrities—Lizzo, Gabourey Sidibe, or Rebel Wilson, for example—been critiqued about their weight because it’s “not healthy” when these same critics actually have no clue into their medical histories and actual state of health? But it sounds more compassionate to feign concern about the presumed state of health due to one’s fatness than to just to be honest about how we don’t find beauty in excess fat tissue.
Now let’s be clear: there are folks who are quite explicit about their disdain for fatness. However, I’m specifically addressing the references that aren’t so overt. For instance, how do certain designers only offer clothing sizes up to a size 12? Why do companies use models with strong jawlines and swan-like necks for their makeup and fragrance ads? Why do TV and films feature main characters with slim waists and chiseled abs?
Isn’t this harmful though? This veil of using health as an argument to stigmatize fatness?
Now, here’s the thing: I am a biologist and public health professional by training, so empiricism is the name of the game for me. Facts, supported by deep evidence, are what I use when taking in information. When it comes to weight, research has shown that the more fat tissue one has on their body, the higher likelihood the individual will develop a myriad of health conditions in the long-run (you can read more on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s webpage on healthy weight here). But, the dynamics around obesity, health, and aesthetics need to be sorted and demarcations made between the three. Being “healthy” and being “aesthetically pleasing” are not one in the same. When it comes to fatness however, the lines become blurred.
The Health Of It:
Before we get into obesity, let’s quickly discuss fats. Fat (also known as lipids) is actually incredibly important to one’s health and is one of the four macromolecules or “building blocks” of our bodies (lipids, carbohydrates, protein, and nucleic acids are the full squad); fat is a part of many different aspects of human physiology.
There are different classes of fats, from sterols to triglycerides to fatty acids, and these fats have different functions within our bodies. Fats are a part of our cell structure, assist with biological processes (such as those related to immunity and reproduction), and are a form of energy when carbohydrates are unavailable. In a nutshell—nuts are excellent forms of omega-3 fats by the way—fats are actually quite essential to our health and should be consumed in a healthy diet and not avoided.
Fats become an issue when an increase in storage of fat tissue (adipose tissue) occurs. Once our bodies have utilized the amount of fats needed to keep us going, any other fat that is consumed is stored. If we’re consuming more fat than we are using, weight gain happens.
Medically, obesity (also referred to as adiposity) is defined as a disease of excessive fat (adipose) tissue, usually confirmed via a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30 and waist circumference. It is this extra fat tissue that can potentially affect the human body in negative ways, from blood pressure to sleep diseases, heart disease, and more. A main way excess fat tissue causes health issues is through secreting proteins called adipokines. Adipokines are cytokines of fat cells, and cytokines are specifically proteins that cells use to communicate with one another in the context of the immune system. When released by fat tissue, adipokines can influence various cellular processes that result in inflammation as well as insulin resistance, both which can have detrimental health effects.
The Aesthetics Of It:
People don’t like obesity. Fatness. The overweight. Corpulence isn’t shown in movies as lead characters, or fashion shows rocking the latest Chanel suits. From an aesthetics standpoint, fatness is deemed despicable. As a result of this overall distaste, deep stereotypes and stigmas regarding fatness have developed about larger individuals. The stereotypes that plague larger persons revolve around the idea that obesity is a disease of control and thus in the control of the individual.
Throughout centuries, fatness has been synonymous with laziness, a lack of discipline, and failure. There’s very little acknowledgement of the myriad of factors, both internal (genetics, medications, injury, etc.) and external (such as built environment and accessibility). The psychological effects of the societal stigmatization of obesity has been discussed in modern research as being a public health issue. The stress of these stigmas can actually initiate the same pathophysiological responses that fat tissues do, thereby creating the same pathways to disease as excessive fat tissues itself.
In addition, the genesis of fat phobia—and the stigmas we see today—has deep roots in racism and religion. From a racial standpoint, the creation of a physical portrait of white supremacy used Black bodies as a tool; whiteness was associated with leanness. The antithesis of this depiction is fat or sloth or inferiority which was tagged to Blackness. The austere tenets of Protestantism were employed towards maintaining a slim physique as a sign of moral superiority. Combined, fat phobia has its roots in both which can still be seen today.
Anti-fat sentiments are infused into every aspect of modern society, from the film industry (which has a history of fat-shaming actresses and requiring them to lose weight, especially for romantic lead roles), to television shows and fashion, which quite openly express anti-fat sentiments as well. Even within the healthcare industry, examples of anti-fat sentiments affect its victims. So the conversation surrounding the overarching societal view of fatness is one that is not only negative, but also detrimental to the health of its victims.
The Take Home:
The discussion surrounding obesity is a complex one comprised of health implications, cultural influences, and other variables. While there is an abundance of research that shows an increased risk of adverse effects upon health in the long-term when there’s excess fat in the body, the cultural viewpoints of fatness, (which are visceral and stigmatizing) truly take the forefront of the opinions and conversation surrounding fatness. Whether in fashion or on film, the cultural viewpoints surrounding fatness do not lean on the purported health aspects of excess weight, and certainly are not served on a platter of compassion and understanding of the very multivariate nature of weight and weight gain. Instead, these views are fraught with a disdain of how fatness physically “looks,” as well as the woundingly inaccurate character traits fatness is linked to.
So then let’s call a spade a spade: society doesn’t care about whether an obese person has excellent heart health and blood glucose levels or if their blood pressure and joints are in good shape. No, they just care whether they will “look good” in the clothes on the runway, or will be “beautiful enough” to be a romantic lead in a film and not the butt of jokes on TV. If they aren’t, then as a person, they are deemed lazy with no discipline and unworthy of the freedom to live and enjoy life. That’s horrible, but sit in that. Then maybe as a society we will truly put in the work to humanize the way fatness is viewed and treated.
