You're Just Choosing To be Fat

Ah, that tired old song. Joannadeadwinter covered the topic very well in her post at the fabulous Fierce, Freethinking Fatties blog. She inspired the rant which follows below:

It's the same thing as those jerks who go on about how gays "choose to be gay" and they could just as well "choose to be heterosexual." Um...no. We are born with our sexual orientation hard-wired, and we are also born with certain metabolic tendencies programmed into our DNA. Some people are predispositioned to gain weight, while some could eat an entire cow slathered in cheese sauce and topped with bacon and won't gain an ounce. There isn't a right or wrong. It just is what is.
Now, people can make choices to eat healthy foods as opposed to dining at McDonald's for three meals a day, and many fat people DO make the choice to eat healthy foods. Fat people also (are you ready for it?) oftentimes exercise. There are unhealthy fat people who sit on the couch all day watching television, chowing down on a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and chasing it with a liter of Mountain Dew. News flash--they are probably depressed as hell. And it doesn't help to have a-holes saying vicious things to them. Hate never helped anyone get better.
There are also healthy hefty folk who are happy, eat a balanced diet, and work out.
I try to fall into the second category.
I was not heavy as a teenager, but I've always been big-boned. I literally cried when I could no longer fit into a size 9 boy's jeans. I thought of myself as "fat" at a size 6. I was actually glad when I had oral surgery and could only eat pureed food because I shrunk down to 108 pounds. I also felt like ten tons of crap in a five pound sack. And--get this--I was aiming to get down to 100 pounds.
These days I weigh 275 pounds. Would I like to lose weight? Yes. But why shouldn't I be able to accept myself as I am in the meantime? How dare anyone say hateful things about me for my size? These jerks don't even know me!
By the way, I'm pretty sure none of these heavy haters look like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie their own damn selves.

Take Back the Fat

A response to a post at Fierce, Freethinking Fatties about reclaiming the word "fat."

Just like gay people reclaiming the word "queer."  I say, yes!

I don't mind being called fat, as long as it's said in a factual manner rather than in a sneering way. I'm fat, I'm middle-aged, I'm medium height, I have long hair. All of these things are simple facts. None of them is "good" or "bad."

I do despise the word "obese." It's such an awful word. It implies "unhealthy." I am a healthy fat person. I have fibromyalgia so I do have to choose my workouts a little more carefully lest I feel like I've been run over by a truck for a week, but I do my own aqua aerobic workouts in the therapy pool at work, and I walk a LOT on my job. I do not have type II diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease. And in my line of work (caring for the elderly) I notice that these diseases occur equally as often in slender or average weight individuals. Ergo, they are primarily AGE RELATED diseases, in my opinion.

Larger people are more prone to arthritis in the lower extremities. Very slender people are more prone to problems with osteoporosis. Everyone has certain issues. But it should not be automatically assumed that a large person is unhealthy or that he or she doesn't exercise.

C'mon, Queen, tell it like it is!

There was a portion of an interview with Queen Latifah over at the wonderful Pam's House Blend blog. Pam is speculating whether the Queen is in the closet and imploring her to come out if she is, as hers would be a great voice for the GLBT community.

This is my reply to the article:

What you're all saying makes a lot of sense. Of course it matters not to me whether or not Queen Latifah is bi, gay, or straight. She's a great actress and an intelligent, strong woman. If she is gay, I would only respect her all the more for being lesbian and proud.
One thing I admire her for is not being ashamed of her build. As a big woman myself I walk a fine line between being big and bold and saying "any of you who don't like it can kiss my fat ass" and hating myself for not being a stick figure.