On the other hand, the growing social acceptance of the undemonisation of sexuality (and in particular female sexuality) is a beacon of hope, since it shows it is possible to remove the social stigma from a previously taboo behaviour or set of behaviours

Not if the desire to demonize moves to something else,-you’re unlucky and disappointed if you’re a fat woman that loves sex! What if fat people throw off fat hatred what poor sods are going to have to be demonized in our stead?

The sticky is that the ability to see the need to right one wrong, is not necessarily matched by the end of the NEED to do it.
One of the most surprising things about the ‘war on obesity’ is how many of these needy people are highly educated in the disciplines of rational and logical thought and yet so in need are they, that they actually use these disciplines to justify their investment in things that are simply, WRONG.

What also gives me pause for thought about your sentiments Meg, is that a lot of the WoO, is inherently sexist. It has been a hell of a lot of it’s momentum by discounting women telling them frankly that their experiences have not happened, don’t count for anything (yes even though they haven’t occurred), we have been TOLD we are liars, and cannot be trusted to speak for ourselves, even though we are not mainly suffering from an actual illness, mental or otherwise.

Class intersects with this, even though we have been treated outrageously the feminist mainstream doesn’t really get it, they should be hopping mad about this riding roughshod over the integrity of so many women, yet they are strangely ambivalent, lukewarm even, they certainly do not display their usual outrage and anger, sometimes they seem somewhat approving of certain aspects.

What it ODES feel like though is that every time an intersection gets mentioned, we have to backtrack and say, well, you know, these two things are not all-inclusive of each other – things don’t just depend on these conditions. And I feel like that derails the conversation and frames things in such a way as to take the emphasis off of those intersections. Those intersections are important to discuss. Unless someone says, hey, fat hatred is SOLELY AND TOTALLY related to calssism, I just can’t interpret a “you know, fat hatred is used to make war on the poor” as being an exclusive statement.

I’d also suggest that while for some, even many, the “war” on fat people is really just a proxy for class warfare, I don’t this explains all fat hatred. Its easy for us progressives to forget that plenty of people who oppose class warfare quite strongly and genuinely still find time to hate fatness. Class issues, race issues, and gender issues absolutely intersect with fat issues in profound and meaningful ways, but neither alone nor collectively explain all fat opposition.

When, in reality, as she and the people who read her blog KNOW, Kate is participating in the war on the war on obesity. *grin* I don’t know if you spend much time reading fat politics blogs but, and I admit a touch of vanity here, bloggers are working just as hard as fat acceptance organizations to spread the word about HAES and self-acceptance.

The War on Obesity IS a war on the poor, just as much as it is a war on the fat. I don’t think acknowledging that aligns one with the proverbial forces of evil here.

And that is the fundamental problem with the US health”care” “system.” It isn’t designed to provide health care; it’s designed to make money for health insurers. To the tune of about $100 BILLION a year.

Seems to me that $100 billion could provide an awful lot of health care to a whole bunch of people … even if they are fat.

And Meg, I LOVE Michael Gard.

We need to make peace with our bodies with self-care and self-appreciation – INDEPENDENT OF WEIGHT!

Please see my full article on this subject here: http://www.kellybliss.com/lifestyle_coaching/real_problem.php

Be well,
Kelly Bliss

I’m so tired of being scared and angry.

Why, oh, why can’t people see that limiting fat people’s access to health care — that is, charging them a $3000 deductible rather than a $500 one for going to the doctor, etc., is only going to CAUSE PEOPLE TO BE SICK, and thus COST MORE????

Why cut off basic preventative care for fat people? Are they CRAZY? No. They just hate us and want us to be sick and die.

Fat people can be healthy. But not when they are denied access to health care.