Holo

from m-w.com

Main Entry: race
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, generation, from Old Italian razza
Date: 1580

b: a class or kind of people unified by community of interests, habits, or characteristics <the English race>


I was thinking about how prejudice against the overweight is very similar to racial prejudice, and how fat people are a race as defined above. Let me say I am NOT a PC freak by any stretch, but after thinking of this I wanted to put it out there since even on an understanding and cerebral board as this I still see fat prejudice come up and want to throw out this argument:

Like people of color, fat people have obvious defining characteristics that separate them visually from the dominant race in Western society. They're larger in size, and due to weight gain have differing appearances due to change in shape. Just as black people generally have defining characteristics such as darker skin, fat people have attributes that make them differ from the norm.

The biggest argument against the overweight is that it's a choice to be fat, and it's because the person is lazy. Health of an overweight person is also a rationalization for prejudice due to research pointing overweight contribution to various illnesses such as diabetes. Most members of western society do at least one thing per day that damages their health, whether it be smoking, excessive drinking, eating impure(junk) foods, driving aggressively, and even breathing impure air can cause as much possible cumulative damage as overweight.

This rationalization is but a smokescreen to hide the true fact that fat is considered unattractive due to the appearance of overweight people, just as many racists find people of color unappealing for their darker skin or facial features and perceived lifestyle in absence of any knowledge of the individual. Due to the definition stated above I conclude that prejudice against the overweight is just as racist as hating blacks, Asians, etc.


So why not not discriminate against fatties...they should go on a diet! Ok. Then smokers should quit, alcoholics should get on the wagon, and all junk food companies should go out of business. See the transparency of this argument? the true discrimination is left bare. Overweight people are disapproved of according to defining physical characteristics and perception of personal choice, the same as many prejudices against those of color. I submit this qualifies fat people as a race, since they can't lose weight by wishing for it any more than a black man can be white at will. Even if they went on a diet right now it would be months before they would be the accepted norm body mass. We can conclude from this that their appearance cannot be readily changed such as non-racial groups that are disapproved of such as hippies or yuppies. A yuppie can grow his hair and a hippie can cut his and wear a suit, but a fat person cannot be thin in an afternoon just as a colored person can't be white.

So why am I making a point about race? Because our current social mores don't approve of racism, but predjudice against the overweight, by above definitions a racial group, is a-ok. Why? Even if you don't accept them as a race, why is it ok to be prejudiced against a group for most of the same reasons for which people of color have been dealt discrimination?

Please lend your opinions and arguments

__________________
I happen to like the words "fuck", "cock", "pussy", "tits", "cunt", "twat", "shit" and even "bitch". As long as I am not using them to describe you, don't go telling me whether or not I can/should use them...that is, if you want me to continue refraining from using them to describe you. ~Prince