Why Is It OK To Criticize Skinny People?

[peace-love-couture]

I'm not skinny or thin although I would love to be,probably won't ever happen.Anyways,I've been both underweight and over weight and one thing I don't understand after reading a post yesterday,is why is it OK to criticize skinny people but heaven forbid someone criticizes an overweight person because all hell breaks loose.

When people talk about skinny girls or models,anorexic,vomiting,bulimic,starving and drugs are thrown out,as though there is just no such thing as idk,naturally skinny individuals.I think this is an American thing where people in America assumes everyone is suppose to be a fat*ss.

Yet,if people are talking about an overweight person,heaven forbid lazy,over compulsive eating,fat,and unattractive get thrown in there because it is time to call Oprah because we all know that all these supposed hormonal issues only exist in America and no where else and it is just not impossible that someone could be overweight because they actually over eat and never exercise and blame hormones being put into milk etc.I'm not saying there is no such thing as mia or ana,but not every single skinny person has either or both.

Why is it OK to criticize a skinny person but not a fat person?With over weight people we are suppose to walk on eggshells and tip toe around their feelings but with skinny people it's perfectly fine to get away with saying cruel things.

Also,I know on here,a lot of women like to see certain body types,hair colors,nationalities or famous women insulted and a lot of the guys on here gladly do so to make those insecure females feel bad about themselves,but I'm asking for real opinions

Updates

+1 y

Oh yea,I'm not fat or overweight,I'm at a good weight,but I think it's ironic how people can criticize one size but not the other.

[selfishstars]

It's obviously not "perfectly fine" to say cruel things or criticize people for being fat OR thin, but don't be naive to think that just because there's a push to stop people from judging overweight people negatively based on their weight that negative comments, discrimination, and judgment aren't still extremely prevalent. SOME people walk on egg shells and tiptoe around the feelings of overweight people, but there's still a huge proportion of people who will put down fat people without batting a lash.

I'm not saying by any means that because people still insult overweight people, that it's okay to insult thin people too---just that to say that people are fine with insulting thin people but not fat people is obviously not true. There's often a disconnect between what society says we should do or believe and what we actually do or believe.

I think that the reason why society is more accepting of insults toward thin people than fat people is that for quite some time now, media has told us that being thin is attractive and healthy and desirable, and fat is not. This idea has been ingrained into our society to the point where a lot of people believe "the thinner the better". I think that at some point, people have started to realize that we've made an error. Thin isn't synonymous with healthy and there becomes a point where some people's infatuation with thinness is very unhealthy. A lot of people view thinness as perfection and place unrealistic expectations on themselves when it comes to weight. This, of course, has bred a culture of people willing to do anything to achieve this "ideal", and we see this in the number of people with eating disorders. Because we are now very aware of the prevalence of eating disorders, we're quick to jump to the conclusion that if someone is very thin, they became that way through unhealthy means--in the same way that the "obesity epidemic" has caused us to be aware of being overweight as an issue we need to address and so we jump to the conclusion that any bigger person must have gotten that way because they overeat and are lazy. People who are naturally predisposed to be on one side of the spectrum or the other are unfairly grouped into the same category as people who are the size they are as a result of unhealthy means.

I think, however, that people tend to be more comfortable commenting on someone's weight if they are thin compared to if they are fat because being thin is still seen, for the most part, as a positive thing and so people are less aware that comments about how thin someone is or speculation on why they are that thin is seen as less hurtful. I'm not sure if this makes sense or not, but being called fat pretty much always has a negative connotation and is seen as an insult, whereas being called skinny is only sometimes said in a negative way. As such, saying something about someone's thinness is done more nonchalantly---since its normally seen as a positive thing, we give less thought to

[selfishstars]

What we say or how we say things and whether or not it is hurtful.

Also consider that there are fat acceptance groups working to, well, increase fat acceptance and decrease fat discrimination through education and awareness, and their ideas are beginning to penetrate media, law-making, and our views on what is healthy and what is not. These groups aren't pro-unhealthy behaviour. In general, they're not trying to say, "I should be able to eat as many Big Macs as I want and sit on my ass all

[selfishstars]

Day", but rather, that people come in different shapes and sizes, we should learn to love ourselves the way we are (not to say that people shouldn't try to be the healthiest they can, but that we shouldn't hate ourselves because we don't weigh x amount of pounds) and that we shouldn't be treated poorly or discriminated against because of our weight. On the flip side, thin people haven't yet seen this kind of discrimination against themselves as a big enough issue to form similar groups (at least

[selfishstars]

I haven't heard of any?) and the groups that are associated with thin people tend to be pro-ana groups, which further give very thin people a bad rep.

In the end, it's unfair for anyone to be treated poorly or judged negatively based on their weight. Yes, we are more aware of fat acceptance than thin acceptance and our behaviours reflect that. Hopefully, over time, people will become more aware of how the things they say can hurt other people and care enough to change their behaviour, but

[selfishstars]

Likely discrimination of people based on their weight will never totally disappear.

[Epiphanies]

Excellent answer

[Epiphanies]

I think the criticism of skinny people has been largely over exaggerated. Ask a skinny person how many times they have felt insecure about their weight and compare it to how many times a fat person has felt insecure about their weight, you'll realize that the latter group is much more effected by people's criticism of them than the former.

As for the skinny criticism, it's largely only present in popular media and culture.

I think of it like the backlash after the civil rights movement and women's liberation.

For example,

There's used to be a lot of racism against black people. Nowadays, this is a taboo subject but you still hear claims of "reverse racism". It's more acceptable in the popular media to bash white people than to bash black people but we all know that if racism still exists, there is more racism against black people than white people.

A woman used to be less valuable than her male counterpart. After the 70's, there isn't a lot of antifeminism prevalent. It's more acceptable to rip on men in the popular media. However, we all know that women have a long way to go in order to be equal to men.

Right now, a skinny woman is more attractive than an overweight person. But after the feminist movement, fat-acceptance and the onslaught of anorexia in young women, leaders in our communities have pushed public opinion to be accepting of overweight individuals. So now, it's easier to bash skinny people. However, we all know that it's much easier to live life as a skinny person than as a fat person.

A skinny women may feel a insecure about her body but a fat person constantly feels alienated at every point in their lives. Skinny women are bashed but they're also glorified in magazines, TV shows, movies and ads. You'll be lucky if you see a pluz-sized actress on a few talk shows each year.

[selfishstars]

This is a very thought-provoking answer. Thanks for sharing. :)

[peace-love-couture]

I still don't think that excuses making fun of skinny or thin people.

[Epiphanies]

When is it okay to make fun of anyone? Of course people shouldn't make fun of each other, I thought that goes without saying.

[Starsinthesky]

Being skinny is like the "ideal", so I guess people just think it won't hurt them as much. I've delt with a lot of people at school calling me too skinny, telling me to eat something, to cover myself up when I go swimming because no one needs to see my bones, etc., mostly from guys. One day I just had too much of it and broke down and cried, that's what they needed to see for them to realize how hurtful it was because almost everyone stopped. Making fun of fat people is rarer simply because everyone thinks that it's more hurtful than just making fun of a skinny person.

[Epiphanies]

"Making fun of fat people is rarer simply because everyone thinks that it's more hurtful than just making fun of a skinny person."

Good point

[KarKingJack]

Fuck man, I make this point too.There's a reason why your expert levellll, LOL.

I hate it when people call chix anorexic. Like, I mean, if you'd ever actually SEEN an anorexic person, you'd knooow the difference. I saw some shoots with an anorexic model, actually. And like, she was pure bone. You could see her organs coming through her skin, her eyes near popping out of her skull. It was unnatural. She was clean taking the p*ss too, LOL. They had her wrapped up in bandages and all, amazzing.

But like, its a condition nevertheless. Your more likely to be skinny 'cossa hormones than you are to be fat. I think the idea is though, that when your fat you can't be insulted because you'll feel fat, but when your skinny, at the end of the day, your fukken skinnyyyyy. You don't need people to defend you 'cos your all set. So in a way its a huge metaphorical fat joke, LOL.

When Kate Moss said 'I love being skinny', or something, there was huuuuge outrage like. My ex-girlfriend did a debate about it in school, actually, for a test in class. And like... That's so stupid. I love being skinny, LOL. Well, I'm not skinny, but you get the idea. Its daft.

[selfishstars]

Just so you know, you can't always "knooow" the difference between if someone is anorexic or not. Not all anorexics are super thin. It can depend on the weight they were at when they developed an eating disorder, the length of time they've had an eating disorder for (i.e. how much weight they've been able to lose), the extreme that they've taken it to, or if they've received treatment, gained weight, but have since relapsed and are trying to lose the weight again.

[KarKingJack]

Alright, fair enough. You obviously know more about it than me, like. I'm sure the term is thrown around far more than its due, though.

[NerdyJock]

I was wondering the same thing my self, I'm skinny, 6'4" and weigh about 155-160 lbs, it's OK for people to talk about me but if I mention anything about a fat person I'm just mean. To be honest I think this is a version of the Political correct crap, oh they're fat, we can't make fun of them, we should feel sorry of them. Nah, I jog at least 5 miles a day and since I'm entering training season it's gonna go up to about 30(but that'll be every other day, off days are weights). Oh I use to be the fat kid but guess what I did something about it, I got off my lazy @ss. Stop eating an entire meal as a Snack, everything doesn't have to be fried and no it won't kill you go for a 20 min. jog and I don't want to hear anything about my side hurts or shin splints, I ran 10 miles with shin splints and gonna do it again today, I think one phrase America has lost but needs to get back is "Suck it up and get over it". I guess I went on a bit of a rant there

[Vivaldi]

To understand how skinny you are, you must use body mass index. Tell me what your bmi is. I honestly dont think you are skinny unless your BMI is below 20.

[Vivaldi]

I dont understand pounds and inches since all the countries except the usa use kilograms and metres.

[Butterfly_kisses09]

I agree. I'm a naturally skinny person. I don't try to be skinny or starve myself or anything, this is just the way I am. People are always telling me that I need to eat more, gain weight, and some girls make fun of me because my legs are kind of small like my thighs arn't that big and I'm just a small girl. But the thing is I eat all the time, I guess I just have a fast metabolism so it's almost impossible for me to gain weight unless I'm working out and building muscle. Anyway, it's really annoying to always have people saying I need to eat more and making fun of how small I am. Yet, no one at my school ever says anything about the overweight people. They just say how they can't help how big they are but it's okay for everyone to say stuff about my weight. That's what p*sses me off.

[Anonymous]

I don't get it either. I'm skinny, about 100 lbs and 5'6. I'm not anorexic or anything. I eat alot, but I also exercise and come from a family of skinny people

Over the years I have been criticized for being too skinny, accused of never eating, accused of wanting to be popular so I have developed an eating order as a result. None of which are true.

It does bother me, but I think they're just jealous (well not really jealous, but what else can it be? They're virtually strangers telling me these things. people who know me, know my eating habits)

[TC123]

Yeah I hear that from guys a lot, a girl I used to bicycle with guys would tell her to "eat a steak" gain weight not enough curves whatever. She was really healthy and good-looking and they were usually fat guys.

I think it's a fatass american thing as a guy buddy of mine who talks about this goes after girls whose thighs are bigger than my waste (32" here).

[eSHkidd]

I notice that too. I'm 5'7 and 125 lbs. and get criticized for being skinny. It does p*ss me off though cus America has raised the bar on being average weight. It's like everyones supposed to be eating McDs and not exercising and then hey your normal again

[Anonymous]

I think its because being under weight is still considered better than being over weight. If we see a skinny girl we say "omg she's so thin, she needs help" BUT what were really thinking is " god I want to be like her." its easier to criticize a skinny person because we always think there not as bad as an overweight person. I think it's completely wrong but we still do it for some reason.

[KarKingJack]

We can't help ourselves for anything we do, though. Its a mortal thing ^^ At least your honest, haha.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard anyone really criticize skinny people off the internet. I assume that these fat asses have a level of self-hate and want to pawn that off on someone that is the opposite of them in efforts to make themselves feel better. Misery loves company I guess.

[beans]

I don't understand it either. I guess people like to criticize everything that isn't verage, or believed to be 'normal'. But the ideal is never the average, so they try to make themselves better by insulting those who are above average.

[Biggus_Dickus]

damn you skinny people! eat something!