The real elephant in the room

21st December 2007

The real elephant in the room

posted in Fat Bias, Legal Issues, Pop Culture |

If Paul Campos were running for president, I’d consider backing him. Seriously.

If Campos used an ounce of the methodical reporting, rational examination of the numbers and plain ole’ common sense he uses to deconstruct stereotypes and discrimination against fat people towards, say, the American economy, the nation would be much better for it.

In his latest column, “Yet another excuse,” Campos takes on right wing idiot Michael Savage, who recently suggested America’s health-care woes could be solved by interning fat people in what he euphemistically calls “work camps.”

Savage, the appropriately-named conservative radio host, vented his disgust toward “fat women” and claimed non-thin Americans do not deserve access to health care. Ironically, as Campos points out:

That a shameless demagogue like Savage advocates concentration camps for people with what he considers inappropriate bodies is bad enough (Savage’s parents, it’s worth noting in this context, were Jewish).

There are many people who believe fat people don’t deserve equitable access to health care, or insist that fat people ought pay more for equal coverage. But – or so I would hope - there are few people who would agree with the shock-jock that fat people should be rounded up and corralled in concentration-like camps.

But as Campos notes, “The same sort of ignorant hysteria that fuels Savage’s foaming at the mouth also inspires more respectable, but potentially much more dangerous, suggestions from our political elite.”

Case in point: Barack Obama in the Dec. 7 Democratic presidential primary.

During the debate, the presidential hopeful claimed the Medicare system could save a trillion dollars – yes, a trillion – if we hopped aboard the obesity time machine to 1980 - see the Big Fat Blog discussion of it here.

And, of course, it’s common knowledge that former fattie and diet-industry shill Mike Huckabee, who’s steadily gaining amongst conservative voters, has turned his own battle of self into a national crusade against fat(people).

“The theory, it seems, is that an ounce of weight loss is worth a pound of Medicare spending,” writes Campos of Obama’s remark. He then goes on to briefly deconstruct the claim, before ultimately concluding:

…The reason Medicare costs are skyrocketing is because Americans are living longer and longer lives, and very old people almost always eventually become very sick people, who are very expensive to care for.

Indeed, those who wish to do their patriotic duty, in fiscal terms, ought to aim to die of massive heart attacks at the precise end of their economically useful lives.

The reality is that a significant portion of the anti-fat hysteria that has gripped the culture over the past decade is driven by a desire to find any plausible excuse for not doing what every other developed nation in the world does: provide basic health care for all citizens.

It seems the real elephant in the room isn’t obesity at all, but rather, our attitudes towards fatness and the current system affording health care to privileged Americans.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Fat Bias, Legal Issues, Pop Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On December 21st, 2007, Michelle

said:

Speechless. My goodness…

posted on December 21st, 2007 at 3:37 pm

2 On December 21st, 2007, B.S.A.G.

You know Michael changed his name to “Savage”, right? His actual last name is Wiener.

posted on December 21st, 2007 at 9:11 pm

3 On December 22nd, 2007, Quiwi

This just goes to show that the world gets scarier and scarier for fat people, and yet everyone insists that being fat is a conscious choice that people make. I’ve never in my life met anyone who said “You know what? I don’t have enough issues in my life, I need to spice things up a little…hmm…I know! I’ll gain some weight, get disgusted/pity stares from total strangers, how’s that for attention! Let’s see, as a hobby, I think I’ll take up juggling between appreciating who I am, and loathing every ounce of my being for ‘letting myself get THAT BIG’! And as a service to miserable folks who cannot be happy unless someone else isn’t, I will fully commit myself to be the butt of endless jokes, an epidemic to be stopped, the boost to weak superiority complexes, and generally the scapegoat for all that is wrong in this world! Whoo-hoo, all right, pass me those nasty-ass Twinkies, can’t you see I’m on a mission?”
You know what, for a presidential race that at first glance appears to be the most diverse, fat hatred appears to be one of those rare consistencies among the candidates. I’m sorry to say, I may not want to vote at all if it gets any worse than this

posted on December 22nd, 2007 at 4:39 am

4 On December 22nd, 2007, Meowser

Actually, Quiwi, it’s even worse. I actually got called a junkie (yes, they used that very word) and a liar yesterday on a so-called feminist board for attempting to point out that not every fat person (or even most) is gorging him/herself all day long. They don’t think we consciously go out of our way to be fat — they think we have no idea that we’re “sugar freaks” and “carb addicts” who live for our fries and donuts and Twinkies and sigh with pleasure like a crackhead getting a fix when we put one of these things in our mouths, and once we start we just can’t stop.

All the ridicule and shaming and shunning supposedly doesn’t matter to us because those foods are sooooooo good, soooooo irresistible, that we’d put up with anything, do anything, to just keep eating and eating and eating them. Loved ones get shoved out of the way, society gets flipped the bird, we just keep stuffing ourselves and flinging the wrappers out the window because we care for nothing but our own pleasure. That is how the haters see us.

Yes, I recognize that can very well describe someone with binge-eating disorder (and in many cases, bulimia also). But most of us just eat like anyone else does. And for those who do suffer from EDs, where did people get this “how dare they” stuff in the first place? Perfectly reasonable progressive types turn into mouth-breathing freepers when it comes to this, all compassion totally flies out the window. It’s truly bewildering.

posted on December 22nd, 2007 at 1:57 pm

5 On December 24th, 2007, Rachel

And for those who do suffer from EDs, where did people get this “how dare they” stuff in the first place?

Right. This is why anorexia is glamorized and bulimia is just gross.

I used to spend quite a bit of time on pro-ana sites. There were lots of girls/women who would come on the board asking how to “become” anorexic; I have yet to see a request for advice on how to “become” bulimic.

posted on December 24th, 2007 at 10:31 am

6 On December 25th, 2007, Fat Girl

Great post- thanks for pointing me to that article.

I get so frustrated with this sort of thing, and how everyone thinks that fat people are a great scapegoat for all the problems we have in the country. It’s not just us, either- everyone else thinks the US has problems because of fat people.

I love how they make it sound like it’s so easy, too. “Oh, if we just reduce the obesity rate..”

You know, I’m all for that, I really am. But I don’t think it’s a simple matter of just getting people to lose weight. The question we should ask is are all these weight-related illnesses possibly also related to the things that are making us fat? Rather than the fat just outright causing them? Maybe we ought to start looking at how to reduce THOSE things and see what follows.

posted on December 25th, 2007 at 5:59 pm

7 On December 26th, 2007, Amy

This isn’t related, but I thought you might want to know. My friend went to buy a Hungry Hank game (he studies children’s lit and thus children’s culture) and got the last one. He was talking to the saleswoman about it, and she said the company has discontinued the item. I don’t know anything else, but I thought it might be something you’d like to look into.

posted on December 26th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

8 On December 27th, 2007, Rachel2

I am too angry at this to post right now. My gawd. Yeah.

posted on December 27th, 2007 at 6:55 am

9 On December 27th, 2007, Rachel

Amy: Where did he purchase the game from? As far as I know, it was available from KB Toy Store (whom I wrote a letter to) and from the creator himself.

posted on December 27th, 2007 at 11:26 am

10 On December 27th, 2007, Amy

Rachel: He got it from KB Toys just yesterday. I had sent him the link to your post, so he was kind of geared for a conversation about the game, asking the woman if she had had complaints, etc. She said that they sold really fast, she had heard some bad things about the game itself but not received any actual complaints, and that when they went to reorder it, that’s when they found out about it no longer being sold. Unfortunately, that’s all the information I have.

posted on December 27th, 2007 at 6:44 pm

11 On May 1st, 2009, Sandy

Fighting fat is already quite tough for most. No one gets fat by own will. And they make it worse by doing or saying things like this. We don’t want another point to divide the humans into categories, fats and thins.

posted on May 1st, 2009 at 2:32 am