It is important to note that media plays a critical role in conveying and delivering information on social issues, which shapes the narrative and public attitude towards the problem at hand. The given analysis seeks to focus on the seemingly controversial and highly misunderstood fat acceptance movement and body positivity, which was exacerbated by both mainstream media as well as social media. The media portrays the fat acceptance movement as a glorification of obesity, whereas it simply wants to end body shaming since obesity cannot be fully attributed to personal responsibility due to systemic issues with modern nutrition.
In order to thoroughly and comprehensively discuss the social movement of fat acceptance, it is important to understand what obesity truly is as a disease. Obesity is a health condition that is strongly associated with many cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and other negative health outcomes. Obesity is a loss of balance between an individual’s energy expenditure and intake, where adipose tissue is enlarged due to the accumulation of fat as energy storage. Therefore, the consumption of too many calories above the levels being burned prompts the body to store the excess energy as triglycerides in adipocytes.
Thus, a poor diet can make a person prone to consuming calories from foods with no nutritional value, such as processed food. Being physically inactive reduces energy expenditure, and the latter leads to an increase in the amount of energy turning into fat. Food addiction is a form of mental health disorder where one consumes food for coping purposes. The risks of being obese are significant since it drastically increases a person’s likelihood of developing further health complications, such as cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, type 2 diabetes, stroke, lethargy, and sleep apnea.
By this time and age, it was proven repeatedly that systemic problems require systemic solutions, and personalizing issues rarely works, if not at all. It should be noted that fat acceptance caused a serious controversy among the public, and the media played an important role in both supporting and attacking the fat acceptance movement. For example, one of the most prominent American comedians, Bill Maher, repeatedly mocked and criticized the social movement of fat acceptance (Real Time with Bill Maher).
He essentially misrepresented what fat acceptance stands for and further promoted fat shaming and individualization or personalization of obesity (Real Time with Bill Maher). Another popular and influential comedian, Bill Burr, has attacked fat acceptance activists by body shaming and fat shaming people with obesity (Bill Burr University). They grotesquely misrepresent what the movement is about by proving that the social problem requires more urgent addressing. Therefore, there are major limits to the media image of the social problem.
One should be aware that the fat acceptance movement is not about the glorification of obesity or the promotion of the condition. It is about tackling the culture of fat shaming because it is inherently wrong to fight a social problem by shaming its victims (Dionne par. 6). On the contrary, such an approach has never worked, just as shaming and humiliating the poor, homeless, or drug-addicted does not solve the social problems of poverty, homelessness, or addiction. Although there is a sense of recognition that these issues should not be personalized or individualized since they carry a systemic nature, there seems to be low acknowledgment when it comes to obesity.
The problem of nationwide obesity, diabetes, or cancer is a public health issue, not an intentional and personal choice to be such. The vast majority of obese individuals realize that being excessively overweight is harmful to health, but it is not up to the public or media to shame them for it. The media portrayal of the fat acceptance movement missed a substantial amount of context and complexity of the social problem.
It is stated that “the ultimate roots of drug use lie in the social environment rather than inside the individual” (Social Problems 320). In other words, fat acceptance and body positivity is about stopping the shaming and accepting that obese individuals are people deserving of dignity and self-worth. Their weight should not be the criteria to determine their character or moral position in the social hierarchy. It is essentially the first critical step in improving public health and addressing the issue of obesity. Instead of making fatness a personal trait, the movement seeks to put attention on its real enablers, such as the Big Food and poor government regulations of the American nutrition system.
In conclusion, the media has failed to convey and spread the central message about the fat acceptance movement and has gone even further into fat shaming tactics that are useless and harmful to address the problem. The social movement seeks to stop the fat-shaming culture prevalent in society as a first major step towards better public health in terms of obesity as well as mental well-being. There is no justification or reason why obese individuals should be degraded or shamed for their condition since the problem is systemic, requiring comprehensive solutions.
Works Cited
“Bill Burr – Fat Activism Is Out of Control in Hollywood.” YouTube, uploaded by Bill Burr University, 2022. Web.
“New Rule: Fat Acceptance | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO).” YouTube, uploaded by Real Time with Bill Maher. 2022. Web.
Dionne, Evette. “Here’s What Fat Acceptance Is—and Isn’t.” Yes! Solutions Journalism, 2019. Web.
Social Problems: Continuity and Change. University of Minnesota, 2015.