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Originally Posted by Willravel
I disagree. Acting counter to the norm requires an understanding of the norm and acting against it in some way.
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Okay, if the "norm" (the standard) is to have a BMI within a certain range, and I'm well beyond that because I'm apathetic, am I conforming to the standard or not?
To conform is to act in accordance or to comply with the norm. The norm is to have that healthy BMI, but I love junk food, hate exercise, and don't care what I look like. Am I conforming to this standard of health? If not, what am I doing instead? What is the opposite to conformity? If I'm not conforming, I'm a nonconformist—a nonconformist who refuses to be bound by a certain set of parameters. Whether this is by accident doesn't matter.
Your understanding of "nonconformity" is a specific (i.e. limited) usage and only applies within a certain context. You might want to use it here, but it would be more accurate for you to say that fat people aren't being activists if they are apathetic to the issue. And it would be true; they aren't likely steeped in fat activism in this case.