Friday, September 3, 2010

I Can Think of More to Say

[trigger warning: weight]


Ugh. Just ugh. I keep Feministe and Feministing on my blogroll because they introduced me to sex positivity, to cisgender privilege and the fact that women are raped because they are in the presence of a rapist, not because their routines are a little too predictable. That's not to say I agree with everything that's ever said on either site. Especially not this from Feministe:

Can you judge health with a naked eye? It’s true, you can’t. But let’s be honest, there’s not an epidemic of fat runners out there.

and:

In all, this demonization of the BMI is odd. I’m outside my normal BMI range, but I’ve never had a doctor say, “Boy, are you overweight!” I have had doctors ask me what’s happening when I come in for my yearly check-up and my weight’s gone up or down. They’re never concerned when I’ve put on ten pounds; they’re concerned when I tell them it’s because I’ve stopped exercising. Likewise, no doctor talks about my weight when she does routine blood tests, listens to me breathe or feels my glands.

"Epidemic" of "fat"? Nice word choice there, asshat. As to never having a doctor bring up yourweight? Lucky fucking you.

This attitude hurts people in so many ways, but I'd like to address two ways it hurts people that most people don't think of.

1. Overweight people are assumed to be sick because they are overweight.

It's like a "Get out of diagnostics free" card for doctors. Are you 100 lbs overweight? Every illness, including eye problems, will be blamed on that weight. Don't believe me? That's exactly what happened to The Hubby. When his MS first appeared, the first symptom was pain and loss of colour vision in one eye. This is a huge red flag for MS, but three doctors went looking for diabetes, didn't find it and stopped looking. His eye returned to normal with no treatment, again typical of MS, and then the gastrointestinal distress started. When I say "gastrointestinal distress", I mean losing 40 lbs in 6 weeks. That's almost 1 lb per day. That's insane. That's unhealthy. That, combined with the eye problem is a 100' tall neon sign blinking MSMSMSMSMS. And every single doctor shrugged and said, "Well, good for you! 60 lbs to go!"

The Hubby now has permanent nerve damage from Vitamin B deficiencies. Good for him.

2. Thin people are not tested for heart disease and other conditions because we have become convinced these diseases are solely the result of being overweight. Thin people are only slightly less likely to experience heart disease than overweight people. However, doctors won't even think heart disease- even if you display classic symptoms of heart disease- because that's for fat people.

Arthritis? Fallen arches? That's what happens to fat people- unless you're me and I had to fight to get x-rays to prove that my arches have collapsed. Mind you, the doctor was looking at my newly archless foot and denying that anyone my weight could have collapsed arches. If you've never seen flat feet up close, that's like looking at a stab wound and saying, "I don't see how a knife could be involved here."

The takeaway lesson here? Fat pride may seem like a movement that would only improve the lives of the overweight, but it would improve all our lives substantially if we could just get doctors to join in.

10 comments:

  1. The bigger underlying problem with her post (and her entire way of thinking, in fact) is that if she's going to post it on a feminist blog, she should really take into account the purpose of focusing on weight serves in this case, which is to totally ignore the real problem by demonizing an already demonized class of people. We can address health without addressing body shape or size. An unhealthy choice or situation is an unhealthy choice or situation, no matter what a person looks like.

    Unless you're Monica. In which case fat people just need to stop eating donuts. Yes, all of them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FAIR AND BALANCED!



    KING OF TERROR


    add comment moderation to your BS or more people will die with you...


    NO GODS AND NO POLITICS WITH THESE LITTLE IDIOTS!


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyEISfS15g4&feature=player_embedded



    plush safe he think

    http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/D14781/d1478164x.jpg




    http://vimeo.com/13704095


    but with recent revelations about James Randi, I think he likes DICKS!


    ____________________

    THE SECOND COMING!

    THE END OF ATHEISM

    FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smwrw4sNCxE


    THE B**BQUAKE - 911

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeblvLoVJCA&feature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpZZ2PPBzP8&feature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvSljPf9on4&feature=related

    you are going to pay the price for this….

    THE RUBBER DUCKY OF PSEUDOSCIENCE III - JAMES RANDI



    http://daddytypes.com/archive/hofman_rubber_duckie.jpg

    there is a lot of sh*t to flush!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg2AezJo8aQ

    THE HEAD OF THE INFIDEL!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojR-XRt4rrA

    Is America burning yet?

    Maybe we need some more...

    we use the DIVINE against the ESTABLISHMENT... you?

    we do better DEMOLITIONS than you, savage...

    RENOUNCE YOUR ATHEISM AND JOIN THE SOCIALIST FAITH!

    let them know if the MDC continues more people will die...

    the WORLD TRADE CENTER PROPHECY - THE DANCE OF DEATH

    WORLD TRADE CENTER PROPHECY

    FLUSH ATHEISM!

    Actually it is a ROYAL FLUSH!!!

    Let me show you how ATHEISTS were partially responsible for 911

    These ATHEISTS NEED TO BE ON THE TERRORIST WATCH LIST!

    You don’t even have SCIENCE on your side…

    You’re a perfect example of when PHILOSOPHY becomes an ENEMY OF LIFE...

    http://stephenlaw.blogspot.com/2010/06/playing-mystery-card.html

    not quite samantha with her *supernatural spit*, eh?

    this isn't one of your little WORD GAMES...

    blasphemy is a DEATH SENTENCE

    you people actually BELIEVE the BS you preach!

    GOD 1 - atheists 0

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQcNiD0Z3MU

    Atheists,

    you are ENEMIES OF GOD AND ARE GOING TO BE ANNIHILATED...

    Repent and turn to God or be destroyed...

    YOU HAVE NO CHOICE...

    my interpretation of the STATUE FIRE... it symbolizes the SPIRITUAL DEATH of atheism...

    http://www.salon.com/news/2010/06/15/us_lightning_strikes_jesus_statue

    http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/6/16/1276680110544/The-King-of-Kings-statue--005.jpg

    http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2010-06/54332292.jpg

    http://friendlyatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/butterjesus-1.jpg

    PRINCESS DI IS WEARING A NEW DRESS!

    http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/a_speech_by_hrh_the_prince_of_wales_titled_islam_and_the_env_252516346.html
    ______________________________
    http://skepticblog.org/2010/04/06/would-i-ever-pray-for-a-miracle/

    Shermer, I WANT TO SEE YOU BEG FOR A MIRACLE...
    ___________________
    we do like your music Lady Gaga, but...

    The B**BQUAKE - 911

    Let me show you the FATE OF TRAITORS...

    http://www.loiterink.com/photos/products/182_3424_500x500.jpg

    they are incapable of telling the difference between SCIENTIFIC *FACT* AND
    RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL *TRUTH*... FATAL ERROR!

    they also preach a *VALUE FREE SCIENCE* called *POSITIVISM* that ignores the
    inequalities of wealth and power in capitalist civilization...

    for a sample taste of PZ Myers' GARBAGE...

    http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/06/sunday_sacrilege_imagine_no_he.php


    how can these HEADLESS IDIOTS BET AGAINST GOD!!!


    http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/pascals-wager.htm

    THE BOOBQUAKE - 911!

    http://dissidentphilosophy.lifediscussion.net/philosophy-f1/the-boobquake-911-t1310.htm

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chunky runner here and what of it? :D

    Bout 18lbs "overweight" but whatever, 40 miles a week baby, and I'll tell you, nothing gets you hungrier. Love my food, love to run, and haters can kiss my round ass and get a fuckin life.

    I'm bi, beautiful women have never been "one set size" for me. Slim, average or big girls... all gorgeous when they've got a keen wit and a good brain. At least I think so.

    Peace, love and chocolate cake xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm still just astonished at Monica's gall, her arrogance, and her lack of insight.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i'm going to spare you all the hell i went through, when my hip caused me to gain weight, and all of the sudden i had every. fucking. medical. person. EVER! trying to tell my that my being "fat" CAUSED me to be born with the congenital condition of hip displaysia.

    even doctors who KNEW that the causality was backwards, who KNEW that the reason i gained weight was that i literally woke up one day and couldn't MOVE jumped on board with the "it's because your FAT FATFAT FATTY FAT!!!"


    and they're STILL DOING IT despite KNOWING WHAT'S REALLY WRONG!!!


    i recently had a talk with my [new! better!] pain management doc about how the current way we're doing my meds is NOT helping with the pain. and she said "well, lose some weight, i'm sure it's just increased body mass that's the problem."

    except - i've LOST weight. which i pointed out. "well, lose MORE"

    i weigh LESS than i did with the more effective med regime. it's BS. *cry*



    doctors won't EVER come on board with it, because then they'll lose a reason to dismiss their patients. see, if doctors had to take EVERY patient, and their complaints, seriously, they wouldn't be able to take as MANY patients. because they wouldn't be able to say "your leg collapses every time you put weight on it? well, you're 20 pounds over weight. lose weight!"
    i did lose weight. they diagnosed the problem. i was on total bed rest for 6 months. gained it back. the problem had NOT been fixed - but those re-gained pounds meant that i was not longer a person with a diagnoses, no! now i was, yet again, a person with fat.


    *headexplode*

    ReplyDelete
  6. denelian, might I venture to guess that part of the reason you lost the weight your pain management doc thought wasn't enough was - gasp - because it is so utterly unappealing to eat when one is in pain?? Geez, if my nonexistent medical degree and I were in pain management, I'm not sure I'd take inadvertent patient weight loss as an immediate good thing. :p

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have to agree that the way Monica handled that post was stupid - the doughnut comment especially - however there are some good points in her post. Like this:

    But, by and large, (pardon the expression) weightier people suffer health problems that are well documented. It’s not that thin people are necessarily fit. It’s that America as a whole is unhealthy, and one of the ways we can document our decades-long decrease in activity is by documenting our expanding waistlines.

    I don't see what's wrong with this statement. The same is happening in Australia, because we are becoming more like Americans.

    There are some aspects of the fat acceptance movement that are awesome and extremely important - I think the tackling of the above stupidity and prejudice in doctors is especially important. I also think the dissection of illnesses related to obesity is also important. There are some well documented reasons to keep your weight down, but a lot of it is woo. Trust me, I'd rather have an extra 10kgs on my arse coming out of an operation than be underweight 10kgs, as its massively beneficial to have a bit of extra padding when recovering from any illness.

    But there is a lot of bullshit too in the Fat Acceptance movement. There is a lack of reality on their blog, where everyone is a special snow flake, where no one has any form of responsibilty for their own weight. Although I do believe that there is a percentage of overweight people who cannot prevent weight gain, I think the vast majority of people fall into the normal categories of requiring more activity and a little less food in their daily habit.

    I've been banned from Shapely Prose for having the audacity to disagree with them on something (I wasn't a troll and I didn't flame). It really proved to me that they are no different from Christian fundies who can't handle talking about their beliefs straight up with anyone who doesn't agree with them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. C.Nymph;

    oh, you're totally right - that plus what i call "accute intermitent involuntary bulemia"
    [because when i DIDN'T, i had a SLEW of doctors who said stupid shit like "well, don't throw up if you don't want too". so i made up a name for it, they'd hear the name and then say "i've never heard of that, what is it?" and i'd say "oh, it's a common condition amongst people who are given meds with a MAIN SIDE AFFECT OF NAUSEA. but, to be short,it's what I go through, daily, because my meds make me vomit"]

    so i FINALLY was put on a constant dose of phenegrin - gained weight back. docs wanted to take me OFF, because apparantly the damage done by throwinng up 10+ time a day was LESS IMPORTANT than whether or not i was 20 pounds overweight.

    at one point, i got up to 230 - but that was when everything was at it's WORST and ALL i could eat was bread and chocolate. both of which make you gain weight, if you eat more than some small amount...


    sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  9. also - what was done [not done? negligently not done] to PF's husband, i've gone through...

    i was anorexic in hish school - not meaning to be, just i NEVER had time to eat, was waaaaaaaay active.

    when i hurt my knee and was all the sudden NOT ACTIVE, i finally hit my ideal weight - between 150-160 pounds.

    everyone FREAKED. doctors went on and on and ON about how i was now FATFATFAT! and i'd say "but your CHARTS *ALL* say i should weigh 150-160, i weigh 152, what's big deal?"

    the big deal was that i gained weight. period.


    i quit seeing doctors for YEARS.


    that period, when i finally got the "diagnoses" [hip displaysia, nerve damage and etc]? i love 67 pounds in 5 weeks. i was FRANTIC with worry about it.

    and i kept being told "keep up the good work". so i'd say "Sure, i'm gonna throw up an extra time every day JUST FOR YOU!"

    and every doctor [except my GP] laughed at my "joke", except the one who said "make sure to rinse your mouth really well, after you throw up, so you don't damage your teeth. and don't use your fingers to induce - if you need help inducing, let me know!"


    fuckers

    ReplyDelete
  10. not "love", sigh, "LOST 57 pounds"

    it's saturday, i got nuthin

    ReplyDelete

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