Is People Magazine glorifying obesity or celebrating diversity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does it have to be one or the other? There are fat people, just like there are skinny people. Just because someone exists doesn't mean it impacts my life at all, even if they're on a magazine.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's healthy in the sense that Tess accepts herself and is happy. That is a good message to send to girls. Self acceptance is key to moving forward. Respect others even if they look differently than you do.

My friend just lost over 100 lbs - slowly, I'll add. She's always had good self-esteem, but she KNEW that she wasn't healthy at that weight.

It's not good to be overweight. I see students eat shit all day long and many are overweight or obese. I wouldn't "celebrate" that in my own kids. Why should I encourage that in others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not beautiful or healthy.

Maybe not healthy (but let's be real, being anorexic isn't healthy either, and most super models aren't healthy). But beauty is subjective. And there are actually some things about this photo that I think are beautiful, striking even (like the contrast of the blue with her skin tone).

I like this photo much better than the People Magazine photo. But I don't buy any of those magazines anyhow. They're all ridiculous and uninteresting to me.

frightening

[Anonymous]

Glorifying obesity - seriously? Does anyone actually think that one magazine with an obese person on the cover - among the thousands of magazines with thin people on the covers - is going to make people aspire to obesity? I promise it won't. It won't even make people think that "obesity is OK," although people should think that, actually.

Obesity is not a lifestyle or a behavior or a moral failure, it's a body size. With few exceptions (none that I know of), obese people have suffered for their weight, do not want to look as they do, and have lost weight with varying degrees of success. Yet public debate about obesity assumes that fat people spend all their time binge-eating, don't care about their health or are too stupid to know how to be healthy, and are happy with how they look. Psychological research on willpower shows that it's not actually the magic key to weight loss; fat people do not score lower on self-control. It's very, very complicated biologically. Yes, the calories in < calories out equation is technically correct (absent medical issues), but it's just not that easy 95% of the time. (95%, btw, is the long-term failure rate of attempts to lose weight.)

We all have our struggles and our flaws. Maybe yours is your weight. Maybe it's something else not so good for your health - smoking, drinking too much, abusing prescription meds, driving aggressively, starving yourself, being sexually promiscuous. Maybe it's something not health-related - spending too much money, gossiping, yelling too much, cheating on your spouse, trolling online, generally being a shitty human being.

Anyway, obesity is "OK." It's as OK as any human imperfection. And I don't think that only people who can "pass" for perfect based on physical appearance deserve to be seen in public or celebrated for their accomplishments. No one is obligated to attempt to meet anyone else's definition of beauty. No one is entitled to be shielded from seeing people they consider ugly.

And honestly, if you do believe that people become obese because they've actively chosen a binge-eating, no exercise "lifestyle," so what? It's a free country and I can choose that if I want to. You are certainly free to choose differently and to teach your children differently. Exposure to someone with different values will not change your kids' values, any more than seeing a magazine with the Pope on the cover will make them convert to Catholicism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just sit back and laugh. I am a doctor and I have watched society take issues like obesity and marijuana use and spin them to suit their needs.

This. I'd love to hear more what doctors think then overly sensitive millennials that are so bent on accepting everyone that they even accept the glorification of a woman who is slowly killing herself and holding her up as a role model. I wonder how this same people feel about cigarettes? Tobacco, not marijuana.

In the future, you will hear less of what we think. With web sites like Health Grades, you would be crazy to tell a patient what he needs to hear, even if it is tough news. They will trash you and cost you $$$. We are a really screwed up bunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just sit back and laugh. I am a doctor and I have watched society take issues like obesity and marijuana use and spin them to suit their needs.

This. I'd love to hear more what doctors think then overly sensitive millennials that are so bent on accepting everyone that they even accept the glorification of a woman who is slowly killing herself and holding her up as a role model. I wonder how this same people feel about cigarettes? Tobacco, not marijuana.

In the future, you will hear less of what we think. With web sites like Health Grades, you would be crazy to tell a patient what he needs to hear, even if it is tough news. They will trash you and cost you $$$. We are a really screwed up bunch.

I meant we as in society. The people who want to hear only positive news from the teachers and doctors will be like the Emperor with his new clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glorifying obesity - seriously? Does anyone actually think that one magazine with an obese person on the cover - among the thousands of magazines with thin people on the covers - is going to make people aspire to obesity? I promise it won't. It won't even make people think that "obesity is OK," although people should think that, actually.

Obesity is not a lifestyle or a behavior or a moral failure, it's a body size. With few exceptions (none that I know of), obese people have suffered for their weight, do not want to look as they do, and have lost weight with varying degrees of success. Yet public debate about obesity assumes that fat people spend all their time binge-eating, don't care about their health or are too stupid to know how to be healthy, and are happy with how they look. Psychological research on willpower shows that it's not actually the magic key to weight loss; fat people do not score lower on self-control. It's very, very complicated biologically. Yes, the calories in < calories out equation is technically correct (absent medical issues), but it's just not that easy 95% of the time. (95%, btw, is the long-term failure rate of attempts to lose weight.)

We all have our struggles and our flaws. Maybe yours is your weight. Maybe it's something else not so good for your health - smoking, drinking too much, abusing prescription meds, driving aggressively, starving yourself, being sexually promiscuous. Maybe it's something not health-related - spending too much money, gossiping, yelling too much, cheating on your spouse, trolling online, generally being a shitty human being.

Anyway, obesity is "OK." It's as OK as any human imperfection. And I don't think that only people who can "pass" for perfect based on physical appearance deserve to be seen in public or celebrated for their accomplishments. No one is obligated to attempt to meet anyone else's definition of beauty. No one is entitled to be shielded from seeing people they consider ugly.

And honestly, if you do believe that people become obese because they've actively chosen a binge-eating, no exercise "lifestyle," so what? It's a free country and I can choose that if I want to. You are certainly free to choose differently and to teach your children differently. Exposure to someone with different values will not change your kids' values, any more than seeing a magazine with the Pope on the cover will make them convert to Catholicism.

Exactly. Well stated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just sit back and laugh. I am a doctor and I have watched society take issues like obesity and marijuana use and spin them to suit their needs.

This. I'd love to hear more what doctors think then overly sensitive millennials that are so bent on accepting everyone that they even accept the glorification of a woman who is slowly killing herself and holding her up as a role model. I wonder how this same people feel about cigarettes? Tobacco, not marijuana.

In the future, you will hear less of what we think. With web sites like Health Grades, you would be crazy to tell a patient what he needs to hear, even if it is tough news. They will trash you and cost you $$$. We are a really screwed up bunch.

I'm not going to go and have blood drawn out of my arm if don't want to hear about the results. Nor would a health provider be doing their patient any favors by saying "your lab work looks great!" when there was something wrong.

I have no idea what Health Grades even is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glorifying obesity - seriously? Does anyone actually think that one magazine with an obese person on the cover - among the thousands of magazines with thin people on the covers - is going to make people aspire to obesity? I promise it won't. It won't even make people think that "obesity is OK," although people should think that, actually.

Obesity is not a lifestyle or a behavior or a moral failure, it's a body size. With few exceptions (none that I know of), obese people have suffered for their weight, do not want to look as they do, and have lost weight with varying degrees of success. Yet public debate about obesity assumes that fat people spend all their time binge-eating, don't care about their health or are too stupid to know how to be healthy, and are happy with how they look. Psychological research on willpower shows that it's not actually the magic key to weight loss; fat people do not score lower on self-control. It's very, very complicated biologically. Yes, the calories in < calories out equation is technically correct (absent medical issues), but it's just not that easy 95% of the time. (95%, btw, is the long-term failure rate of attempts to lose weight.)

We all have our struggles and our flaws. Maybe yours is your weight. Maybe it's something else not so good for your health - smoking, drinking too much, abusing prescription meds, driving aggressively, starving yourself, being sexually promiscuous. Maybe it's something not health-related - spending too much money, gossiping, yelling too much, cheating on your spouse, trolling online, generally being a shitty human being.

Anyway, obesity is "OK." It's as OK as any human imperfection. And I don't think that only people who can "pass" for perfect based on physical appearance deserve to be seen in public or celebrated for their accomplishments. No one is obligated to attempt to meet anyone else's definition of beauty. No one is entitled to be shielded from seeing people they consider ugly.

And honestly, if you do believe that people become obese because they've actively chosen a binge-eating, no exercise "lifestyle," so what? It's a free country and I can choose that if I want to. You are certainly free to choose differently and to teach your children differently. Exposure to someone with different values will not change your kids' values, any more than seeing a magazine with the Pope on the cover will make them convert to Catholicism.

Very well put.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glorifying obesity - seriously? Does anyone actually think that one magazine with an obese person on the cover - among the thousands of magazines with thin people on the covers - is going to make people aspire to obesity? I promise it won't. It won't even make people think that "obesity is OK," although people should think that, actually.

Obesity is not a lifestyle or a behavior or a moral failure, it's a body size. With few exceptions (none that I know of), obese people have suffered for their weight, do not want to look as they do, and have lost weight with varying degrees of success. Yet public debate about obesity assumes that fat people spend all their time binge-eating, don't care about their health or are too stupid to know how to be healthy, and are happy with how they look. Psychological research on willpower shows that it's not actually the magic key to weight loss; fat people do not score lower on self-control. It's very, very complicated biologically. Yes, the calories in < calories out equation is technically correct (absent medical issues), but it's just not that easy 95% of the time. (95%, btw, is the long-term failure rate of attempts to lose weight.)

We all have our struggles and our flaws. Maybe yours is your weight. Maybe it's something else not so good for your health - smoking, drinking too much, abusing prescription meds, driving aggressively, starving yourself, being sexually promiscuous. Maybe it's something not health-related - spending too much money, gossiping, yelling too much, cheating on your spouse, trolling online, generally being a shitty human being.

Anyway, obesity is "OK." It's as OK as any human imperfection. And I don't think that only people who can "pass" for perfect based on physical appearance deserve to be seen in public or celebrated for their accomplishments. No one is obligated to attempt to meet anyone else's definition of beauty. No one is entitled to be shielded from seeing people they consider ugly.

And honestly, if you do believe that people become obese because they've actively chosen a binge-eating, no exercise "lifestyle," so what? It's a free country and I can choose that if I want to. You are certainly free to choose differently and to teach your children differently. Exposure to someone with different values will not change your kids' values, any more than seeing a magazine with the Pope on the cover will make them convert to Catholicism.

No, it's not. It's a medical condition. And a very serious one at that.

[Anonymous]

You bash people for their medical conditions? Is that an admirable thing for you to do?

[Anonymous]

Ha. Medical condition.

I am even annoyed that the Nordstrom work out wear online uses lots of plus-sized models. Sorry, but I actually do work out, so I don't need to see someone 75 lbs overweight in the leggings I am thinking about buying.

[Anonymous]

I think glorifying obesity is bad, but normalizing it is worse. I just read that People at the nail salon and one of the fat models said something about reflecting the population. No, we really don't need this. I am happy for models to have the body I aspire to have. I definitely am not into looking at photos of obese people, either. And, I would be horrified if one of my daughters saw one of these horribly unhealthy and super lazy women as a role model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glorifying obesity - seriously? Does anyone actually think that one magazine with an obese person on the cover - among the thousands of magazines with thin people on the covers - is going to make people aspire to obesity? I promise it won't. It won't even make people think that "obesity is OK," although people should think that, actually.

Obesity is not a lifestyle or a behavior or a moral failure, it's a body size. With few exceptions (none that I know of), obese people have suffered for their weight, do not want to look as they do, and have lost weight with varying degrees of success. Yet public debate about obesity assumes that fat people spend all their time binge-eating, don't care about their health or are too stupid to know how to be healthy, and are happy with how they look. Psychological research on willpower shows that it's not actually the magic key to weight loss; fat people do not score lower on self-control. It's very, very complicated biologically. Yes, the calories in < calories out equation is technically correct (absent medical issues), but it's just not that easy 95% of the time. (95%, btw, is the long-term failure rate of attempts to lose weight.)

We all have our struggles and our flaws. Maybe yours is your weight. Maybe it's something else not so good for your health - smoking, drinking too much, abusing prescription meds, driving aggressively, starving yourself, being sexually promiscuous. Maybe it's something not health-related - spending too much money, gossiping, yelling too much, cheating on your spouse, trolling online, generally being a shitty human being.

Anyway, obesity is "OK." It's as OK as any human imperfection. And I don't think that only people who can "pass" for perfect based on physical appearance deserve to be seen in public or celebrated for their accomplishments. No one is obligated to attempt to meet anyone else's definition of beauty. No one is entitled to be shielded from seeing people they consider ugly.

And honestly, if you do believe that people become obese because they've actively chosen a binge-eating, no exercise "lifestyle," so what? It's a free country and I can choose that if I want to. You are certainly free to choose differently and to teach your children differently. Exposure to someone with different values will not change your kids' values, any more than seeing a magazine with the Pope on the cover will make them convert to Catholicism.

No, it's not. It's a medical condition. And a very serious one at that.

So what do you suggest fat people do? Spend every moment agonizing about their weight, obsessing over their appearance, and feeling generally shitty and depressed about themselves and their identity as a fat person in the world? They still have to live in the world and function, whether you like it or not. Fat shaming doesn't really achieve anything, not for the shamers or the ones being shamed. The thing about being fat is a person still has to eat to live. One doesn't have to drink alcohol or abuse narcotics just to live. But we all have to eat in order to survive. That's what makes the problem of obesity so problematic.

[Anonymous]

I think skinny to chubby is a good range for public consumption/advertising. This lady is as gross to see as anorexics are.

The reason is, when I see an anorexic I immediately envision what she does to herself to look like that. The same with a morbidly obese person. So it's either vomiting or gorging oneself= bad advertising for anything.

I wish we'd get over shame as victimization.... Like adding " shaming" to anything makes it an official and horrible way of bullying. Just because you aren't into something didn't mean you are seeking to destroy ones psyche.

And I'm going to sound like an oldster (I'm not) but why are we fighting for our rights to not be victims for doing lousy things like being fat or promiscuous?