An Open Letter to Fat Acceptance Bloggers

Dear Fat Acceptance Bloggers,

Believe me when I say, hooray for you. It’s great you’re working in any way to get all shapes and sizes accepted in society. As a fat gal myself, I appreciate the work that goes into this.

However, over the past few weeks I’ve seen some startling things in FA blogs, and frankly I can’t not mention this to you and to any of your readers.

I’ve seen claims that people should not try to lose weight. This is fair enough if a person is at their natural weight level, is eating well and moving enough. For some people that weight level is higher than for others, and that’s okay. Working to help people accept and embrace these larger sizes is fantastic, but blogging on the net doesn’t give you the right to guilt or harass people who – for whatever reason – decide they wish to lose weight.

I’ve seen claims that body weight cannot cause joint pain. Fact is, it can. For example, when I am at my heaviest, my knees and ankles are incredibly painful. My frame is not made to carry the weight I do, hence the pain.  When I lose weight, no more pain. And before you say “but there might be another reason” I’ve had X-Rays and scans it’s simple trying to make my frame do more than it should. End of story.

I’ve seen claims that lifestyle is not a factor in weight. I’m sorry, but that is just out and out bullshit. Certainly for many people, it isn’t. For many people genetics, medical conditions or medications are the deciding factor, but at the same time you cannot tell me that someone who is eating nothing but junk food couldn’t be healther and, yes, thinner, if they changed their lifestyle.

Claims that are based purely on your own beliefs, with no medical or proven backup should be labeled as such. You are more than doing your readers a disservice by publishing your opinions as fact, you are being dangerous. It’s not okay to tell people to stay fat if their bodies are meant to be thinner. It’s not okay to enable unhealthy living, simply because YOU think it’s okay.

Body acceptance is important, I fully endorse the concept in every way, but there needs to be an understanding from you and from anyone else that all bodies are different, that some people are naturally fat and some people aren’t. By telling people that it’s really okay to just be as fat as they can be, you’re risking their health. It’s one thing to decide your own lifestyle, it’s totally another thing when your lifestyle choices are pushed onto other people as fact and the only way.

For the most part, fat acceptance bloggers are a reasonable and wise lot, but like any group on the internet, there’s rogues with their own agendas. I urge each and every fat blogger on the net to review their blogrolls from time to time. If you see dangerous or upsetting behaviour from someone on your blog roll, take them off. Don’t endorse them.

Finally, think about some full disclosure. Are you, FA Blogger, fat because of a medical condition, genetics, medications or something else? Let your readers know WHY you are over weight, so they can see where you’re coming from. If it doesn’t work for YOU to work out or whatever, that doesn’t mean you should discourage others from doing so, and it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work for anyone.

Thanks.

PS. I also know many of you delete comments you disagree with. Apart from obvious trolls, there’s no reason to do this at all. Certainly you have the power to do it, and it’s your blog and therefore your rules, but if you aren’t able to actually discuss your opinions, then there’s something wrong.