The Double-Sided Coin of Weight Shaming - Comments

@ satanicvibes Poor wording on my part, but there's a difference between ADHD and those two eating disorders. Anorexia and bulimia are usually developed as a form of control that spirals out of control. Our society contradicts itself by saying they're bad, then encouraging people to pick them up to "fix" themselves. We need to view them as bad all around because they cause more harm than good and because the acceptance and encouragement of them only leads to more people thinking it's okay. They are two very bad disorders and they can often be deadly.

The choice is ours to walk a middle route where we neither criticize people or lose the bigger issue. Being healthy is important and we should hate disorders not people, we should help people fight these horrible ailments.

I think women on both sides of the scale shouldn't pose in lingerie because that degrades women (see the ted talk on swim suits) so that goes to show we can have every side to the argument. Also, marketing and money aren't going to be ethical now are they? Marketing feeds off of stereotypes, so that can't be a way to find our answers.

I agreed with the article up until you said shaming eating disorders is more acceptable than shaming body types. That's like shaming depression or ADHD. Obviously eating disorders should not be encouraged, but shaming them is awful seeing as how people who develop them have no control over it.

@ theikster Actually, you can, in fact, be overweight and be healthy.

This just summarises exactly how I feel. I'm naturally quite thin, even though I eat maybe even a little more than healthy. Recently, we went on a school trip to Rome, and I didn't eat a lot of my food in a restaurant because I don't like pork. A friend of mine then said 'Do you just, like, not eat or something?' and that really upset me because she was basically trying to suggest I had some sort of eating disorder when she always seems to comment on the fact that I eat like a bit of a pig. I reckon there's (for some reason) a bit of jealousy, even when she's a perfectly average size, and taller than me anyway, so should be a little bigger. I just don't really understand what the fuss is with weight. As long as you aren't overweight, you're healthy, and so shouldn't worry about the media's image of 'beauty'.
I'm sorry, I just needed to rant a little bit. But this is an excellent article, and I'm glad the issue is being addressed.

@ Tholomew Plague I tend to agree with you. I think it's ridiculous we take anyone and put them so high above ourselves that people feel the need to do anything to be like them- including trying to match their body weight. Because then we end up with situations like Amanda, where displaying thin models goes to court because too many people have tried to be like them and developed poor body image and eating disorder. It'd be so much easier if people could be happy with the body they have or realize there are safe ways to change it.

I just think the importance of weight is pathetic. If there is no health issue going on because of the person's weight, then who really cares...

It's because we, as a society, have terrible role models. To be honest. We also put people in positions where we give them some sort of authority over us, with their words. Personally; I'm mid range, but I have been both. And I seriously wish people could just stop listening to others, who clearly know nothing about weigh gain/loss or just natural fat/skinny ness.

I'm 180 and 5'10.5 and I was told to lose weight by a nurse. I'm like 15 pounds overweight, but people still think I'm really skinny. It's all messed up. No matter what weight.

@ HerNameIsAlice It went up and down quite a bit from what his AP interview led me to believe.

Andy isn't actually naturally skinny. He was over weight and decided to lose it when he was thirteen. Just wanted to put that out there.