Carrasco 1 Ernan Carrasco Professor Thurman English 1301 02 December 2021 Why Body Positivity Shouldn’t Be Predicated On Every Unhealthy Person Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with at least 2.8 million people dying each year as a result of being overweight or obese (Lee. MP). People have begun to find ways of “inspiring” others to be comfortable in their own bodies no matter the situation, but in doing so, they begin to believe that not eating a healthy diet is okay or “normal”. Lizzo has become a very popular figure in not only the music industry but with her body positivity movement. She has some inspiring issues which she has surpassed, which was her dislike for herself and how she didn’t feel confident in her own body. By doing this, she has shown how you can have “SelfLove”. With lyrics such as, “I know I’m a queen but I don’t need no crown”, she is ultimately feeding the wrong view to her fans. In the article “It’s Not Fine to Be Fat. Celebrating Obesity is Irresponsible” they say, “suggesting that being a size 30 is just as healthy as being a size 12 isn’t a body-positive message either – it’s an irresponsible form of denial” (Cernik. MP). Therefore, body positivity shouldn’t be used to make unhealthy people feel content about their unhealthy lifestyle. As of 2019, 463 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes(Arredouani. MP). Some leading factors that can help lead to diabetes in adulthood are unhealthy eating habits, obesity, and family history. Diabetes has been shown to improve the likelihood to have fatal heart diseases by two to four times that of someone without diabetes. Obesity and unhealthy Carrasco 2 eating habits can also allow for people to be more susceptible to cancer, Alzheimer's, and even Parkinson's disease. Everyone wishes they could be healthier, it’s just natural for humans to want to be better. No one wants to live with issues like this especially if they can be avoided, which they can be. Doctors were conducting some research over cancer and some of the leading factors that they discovered was that obesity had become the second leading factor in lifestyle-related cancers. What is the cost of obesity? As of 2019, 760 billion dollars has been spent solely on diabetes(Arredouani). This is an insane amount of money being spent on something like diabetes when it can, for the most part, be completely avoided. Body positivity has become a greater hindrance towards obesity than it has been helpful. This is because all throughout the movement people are spreading “self-love”, and being happy with the body they have. And yes these are important, but the purpose of spreading body positivity should be to encourage people to improve their unhealthy lifestyles, support them in losing weight, and motivate them to eat healthier. But instead unhealthy people are beginning to feel content with themselves due to those in the body positivity movement and their support. In “It’s Not Fine to Be Fat. Celebrating Obesity Is Irresponsible”, Dr.Wali says, “However, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be criticized. I believe criticism is healthy and it will only push them to lose weight”. Dr. Wali gives us a great statement because if you aren’t being criticized, you're much less likely to follow with dieting and losing weight. While some people may take what Dr. Wali is saying the wrong way and go out and bully those who aren’t as healthy: it is important to understand that what must be done is to aid those who are obese or are falling into unhealthy habits. It has been widely debated that obesity should not be celebrated by any means. This article gives us some great insight into this by saying, “Smoking is an addiction that many struggles to control, but we don’t celebrate it with viral social media campaigns about smoking Carrasco 3 pride”(Cernik) It allows for the issue to be seen outside of just celebrating obesity by showing that yes there are major issues with smoking as people would like to ban it and so on. But smokers do not go out throwing celebrations about smoking because of the unhealthy issues that they may have due to the smoking they have done. It is important to understand that, yes, if you want to eat unhealthily and be obese, that is okay, but it is ignorant and wrong to go and try and have others do this as well, because this can lead to much worse issues for others. The article, “It’s Not Fine to Be Fat. Celebrating Obesity Is Irresponsible” gives us another insight into what professionals think about all of this by stating, “While your own body is your business, actively encouraging unhealthy lifestyle choices and denying health risks in a public space isn’t promoting body positivity – it’s just giving the green light to different kinds of eating disorders”(Cernik). It’s truly irresponsible to be spreading positivity over something that in no means should be positive. Issues like this need nothing but the truth. Telling someone they are morbidly obese isn’t body shaming, because they are. It is important to deliver this opinion in a way that is helpful and not accusatory. Yes, it is harsh and would suck for someone to tell someone this but sometimes the change won’t happen until the hard cold truth is heard. Some counter arguments that people may say are that they are happy with themselves the way they are. This is totally fine, everyone has the right to do as they please, but the issue begins whenever this is seen as normal. A great quote about this is, “Whether we want to gorge on 3kg of chocolate, drink until we vomit in the bathtub or line our lungs with carcinogenic tar, informed adults are free to make their own choices” (Cernik. MP) Ultimately saying, do as you please. But again, if there is hope to be this way, keep it to yourself because by trying to be body positive about doing so, essentially the support is towards a disease because obesity is a disease. In “Fat Acceptance and Fat Pride Movement: Are We Glorifying Obesity in the Name of Body Carrasco 4 Positivity?” they say, “Cosmopolitan sat you in a throne and declared you’re a role model for others who’ve been excluded this way’, you’re ‘downright honest’ and you’re ‘everything the fashion industry needs right now because you ‘don’t conform to the narrow standard of beauty that’s been set by society.’What a load of absolute nonsense”(Verma. MP). Essentially, they are speaking about how someone who is morbidly obese and unhealthy was being seen as a “role model” because of what she has endured. The sad thing is, this just pushes people to be much more complacent with themselves because they are justifying being unhealthy. A role model for people who are overweight, have diabetes, or follow unhealthy eating habits should be someone who was where they were, but has now surpassed that and become a better person from it. A great example of this is Josh Peck. Everyone remembers Josh from when he was on Drake & Josh. Josh at the time happened to be overweight, but after he had finished acting he began to change his ways. He ate healthier and lost lots of weight and now he is in great shape. Josh was able to completely change his lifestyle, because he understood that where he was headed would essentially lead to either his death or the end of his well-being. This is someone who should be a role model, because he was able to overcome his eating habits and get out of that spiraling dyscontrol that he had for his own body. So, at the end of the day, anyone can eat and be however they wish, but the importance is to not spread the issues that you have with yourself to other people. Body positivity shouldn’t be used to make unhealthy people feel content with their unhealthy lifestyle. Body positivity is very important in all types of people, even those who are suffering from body and muscle dysmorphia. It is also important to not be irresponsible and begin to support being unhealthy and eating however is wished and pleased. Will you prefer to Carrasco 5 take offense to those trying to support and help improve your life physically, mentally, and financially, or will you realize that change is needed in order to better life? Works Cited Cernik, Lizzie. “It’s Not Fine to Be Fat. Celebrating Obesity Is Irresponsible.” The Guardian, 10 Apr. 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/10/fat-pride-obesity-public-healthwarnings-dangerous-weight-levels?scrlybrkr=43ba33ff. Verma, Abhinav. “Fat Acceptance and Fat Pride Movement: Are We Glorifying Obesity in the Name of Body Positivity?” Hindustan Times, 4 Oct. 2018, www.hindustantimes.com/fitness/fat- Carrasco 6 acceptance-and-fat-pride-movement-are-we-glorifying-obesity-in-the-name-of-bodypositivity/story-mf6KnAwIkhUOvjtnfHWWSJ.html. Wang, Youfa, et al. "Has the prevalence of overweight, obesity and central obesity leveled off in the United States? Trends, patterns, disparities, and future projections for the obesity epidemic." International journal of epidemiology 49.3 (2020): 810-823. Lee, Kelley. World Health Organization. (n.d.). Obesity. World Health Organization. Retrieved November 10, 2021, from https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/6-facts-onobesity?scrlybrkr=2a37b590#:~:text=Obesity%20has%20reached%20epidemic%20proportions, of%20being%20overweight%20or%20obese. Arredouani, A. (2021). Greater and More Focused Measures Are Needed to Tackle Diabetes and Obesity Epidemics in the Nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council. International Journal of Endocrinology, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6661346
