"Fat Acceptance" and WLS

Let me start by saying that I am 40 years old, I have zero social media accounts (except for this OH account, not sure if that counts, and I've never been a huge follower of Hollywood or current pop culture.  I say all of that to say that this idea of "fat acceptance" is most certainly old news to 99.9% of people here that are more "in touch" than I am.  But to me, it is new.  I mean, I had heard of the Health of Any Size thing before I got surgery, but didn't pay much attention.  But now it seems like it is a huge subculture. 

 

An acquaintance had mentioned a person named Tess Holliday and body acceptance.  I didn't have any idea who she was/is - so I goggled her and was introduced to this seemingly large (no pun intended, honest) movement of fat acceptance.  #effyourbeautystandards  celebrating being fat etc. etc. etc.

 

Again, not being involved in social media or pop culture, I really had no idea such a thing was going on in such a big way. (Er... again, no pun intended.)  

 

I'm very curious to hear from those of you that are far more in-touch with current culture than me.  How does this movement feel about WLS?  Are we rejected for trying to lose weight or are we embraced for trying to have a healthy body and take care of ourselves?  How do YOU as a WLS patient (or potential patient) feel about this movement?  

 

Also... Is this really a social justice type of movement (some blogs I saw led me to believe they felt it was political) or is it more like a fetish thing?  I hope this question isn't offensive.  I'm truly not able to figure out the context of this all for our current culture at large.  (Ug... again, no pun.) 

 

Is this a widely accepted viewpoint or a small minority? 

 

Please, someone clue in this clueless person (me).   Thanks so much! 

 

 

Now being thin, I realize there was more of a stigma against my fatness than I even realized....So some of it is saying "I am a beautiful worthy person too" .... that being said some of it is fetish too...about men who like fat women etc. Don't google feeders/feedees if you don't want to know about that craziness.

There's definitely a non-fetish movement to normalize fatness. Try looking for "Health at Every Size" or HAES for more info on that movement particular.

You will definitely find camps in the HAES/pro-fat movement who view WLSers as traitors who've had "unnatural" surgery, and they can toss around words like mutilation, amputation, cheating, that sort of thing. Pretty ridiculous if they're trying to go by "everybody can be healthy," which is rather a load of bunk if you look at the science behind the concept.

Now why would anyone bother to look at the science? :)

I have no problem with body acceptance.  As a counselor, and as someone who has studied health psychology, it's vital to accept our bodies and cherish them.  It's complicated with women, because media often distorts body image and promotes and ideal that is unrealisti****il very recently media highlighted thin, white, young women as the ideal, for instance.  (There's a great documentary called Killing Us Softly about women, body image, and the media.)  Men are even starting to get eating disorders at increased rates, though they are woefully underdiagnosed.

The problem with fat acceptance is that being obese is not necessarily a state of health.  I don't know that Health of Any Size is accurate, because the majority of individuals who are overweight have health issues which vary in seriousness.  The other problem is that, rarely, people past 40, 50, 60 who are overweight and obese have health equivalent to people with typical healthy weight.  Typically they have far more deteriorated health at these ages.

Frankly, I think the real question is who likes being 400 pounds?  I certainly don't miss wearing pads all the time, ordering all my clothes online, and being barely able to walk.  Hygiene is much easier now. Life is better.

As a counselor, I draw the line at ability and wellness.  If fat, or conversely thinness, does not cause health or mobility issues, then I see it as a non-issue.  Fat acceptance is an issue when it causes denial. 

There is no getting around it: 400+ pounds is absolutely not healthy.  Even if all your blood tests are great (mine certainly were), your body has more pressure and deteriorates.  Your heart begins to enlarge due to effort,  The bones wear at a rate several times higher.  It's no different than a car--if you load up a car and drive it ragged of course it will wear out sooner.

Psychological acceptance doesn't negate the laws of physics or biology, unfortunately.

Even at 290 lbs there are things that are definitely more difficult.  I don't have any real health issues right now at age 44, but I know it's a matter of time.

That's how I was...I fluctuated between 260-293 for over 10 years and at the beginning of those years, I was "healthy". No pains, great blood work, could exercise with no problems. I felt great, despite my girth.

By the time I hit my late 30's, I was a mess. My blood pressure was rising every year, my right knee had gone kablooey on me, and I would get winded by walking mere feet. I could barely support my own body weight.

My father and one of my sisters both had heart attacks at age 43. I had my RNY at 41. Even though my heart was in good shape ( the cardiologist was floored...lol ), I figured things could head south pretty quickly. I think I probably dodged a bullet. 

This is a movement I follow pretty closely. It means different things to different people. For myself, it's meant not attaching self worth to body image, as much as possible. It's also meant not waiting for some arbitrary weight to start living my life. Etc 

There are factions who are against all diets (because they believe they don't work, and only make people feel worse about themselves, which, turns out, is mostly true)

wls is also divisive, but I think it's because there are some who have difficulty separating weight loss for health and vitality vs aesthetic reasons. 

There are some who advocate for the way obese people are portrayed in media and entertainment, and just calling bull**** when they see it.

ive seen a lot of the popular advocates openly struggle with the idea of loving themselves, while still trying to be active, and pursue weight loss options. I don't see it that way. I think one flows from the other.

i love myself, therefore I believe I'm worth putting the effort into leading the healthiest life I can. 

Here are a few people I follow if you want to google a bit more. And unfortunately, they are all women, maybe there are dudes out there, but I haven't seen...

Lindy West

Glitter and Lazers

Dana falsetti 

Jessamyn

 

Sorry that got a bit rambly!

Lindy West is pretty badass!  I...lost most of my post. :P

I think you can strive towards health at any size, and it's especially important for us to do this while obese or overweight.  I think the zeal of the "I can eat as much as I want and I'm healthy at big sizes" sadly takes away from the message.

I've seen pictures of Tess Holliday and other plus-size models pop up on my feed on Facebook. I took the message as beauty is not dependent on weight and body acceptance as accepting the body we have at this moment, be it fat, thin, saggy, flappy, etc. That's just my take. I could be completely wrong.

I've never paid much attention to the Health at Any Size people. I don't care how anyone else feels about me having WLS. I was dying by slow degrees and it was my last chance.

I don't see fat acceptance as a social justice issue. I think some people do.