Christine said:
I think what's really been interesting about this thread and the one two weeks ago, same subject, is the aggressiveness against anyone who even dares to talk about being overweight in a negative way. It's just not allowed to be discussed even if it's respectful. The same folks who think we shouldn't talk about someone's weight have no problem slamming the person who had the opinion (Cheryl Tiegs in this instance) over their looks using pretty negative terms. Cheryl Tiegs is a 68 year old women who, in her latest foray into the media, obviously didn't get "done up" to present herself. Many 68 year old women have "lost" their figures, are showing the effects of too much sun, and don't look like they did when they were 20. I have actually been astounded to read the comments about her aging. It seems to me that all bets are off when it comes to women who start to wrinkle.
I've already stated my objections to the objections
and I had too many quotes to respond to, so I'll just say this.
It makes me laugh to hear/see people spout off about "health" when we ALL have things we're doing that make us unhealthy today, in our society. My job as a cardiac nurse entails educating people to better health after they've come in to the hospital for a major cardiac event. Before I can educate them, though, I need to understand who they are and where they're coming from to see what it is that contributed to a particular event, because it's in no way a one size fits all solution, if you'll pardon the pun. There are a LOT of factors that fit the bill, and very often, weight isn't one of them. As an example, poor diet choices are way up there, even though many people don't recognize them as a factor for themselves. Because their weight is within normal range they miss that their dietary choices may still be contributing to coronary artery disease. (I think, actually, your eating a whole container of ice cream to gain weight would be a good example of that, but further, we as a society, in the U.S., are eating poorly, when you look at what a proper diet
should be.) The thing is, my job isn't to judge, it's simply to educate. I actually start my discussions with patients by saying I struggle with the same things they do, because I've found just that little bit of acknowledgement helps put people at ease and in a better place where they can listen to what I have to say that is meant to help them, and their very lives may depend on it, so I do my best to get it right. It's very challenging helping the rail thin engineer whose father died of a heart attack at the same age and just had a heart attack himself, see that a high stress job working 90 hours a week, under constant pressure from his bosses, traveling three weeks a month, eating most meals in restaurants, not sleeping much, and regularly arguing with his wife and family about his lifestyle, is contributing to poor health. ("But he's thin, why would he have a heart attack?" is what you hear from visitors in the room, it's uncanny. "Geez, I have no idea, just one of those things, I guess" is often the response.
)
So yes, I will point out the hypocrisy of someone like Cheryl Tiegs talking about "health" when it's pretty obvious from her history she has some issues herself, just like the rest of us in one way or another. An overweight person may have issues that could be improved, and it's out there for the world to see. But it's no different from many people who also have issues that could be improved that are less evident to the world. Very, very few of us are perfect when it comes to health. If you weigh risk factors on a scale, excess pounds in someone with an otherwise healthy lifestyle is not a lot different from stress disorders in someone who lives an unhealthy lifestyle; over time, each contribute to disease, and in fact, all things considered, excess weight could actually be less of a health issue on those scales than some of the other non-weight factors that are common today, as some posters here have correctly pointed out.
Beyond that, there are numerous psychological, sociological, even political, reasons why I think mainstreaming people of all shapes and sizes, along with people of color, persuasion, abilities, etc., is positive for all of us.
Gasp! Pearl Clutch! Hand Wring! I am concerned about her health. So very concerned. AKA--A size 18 should hide in her Troll Hole and not emerge until she is a size 8.
