The fact that Fat Acceptance rarely discusses the unfeminine aspects of fat or the masculine aspects of size/bulk is another problem. By the time Fat Men started coming into Fat Acceptance the ideology of Fat Acceptance was already too customized for Fat Women to be much of a benefit Fat Men.

To those who imply it might be acceptable if a woman was “venting out” about men in general, try to reverse the gender roles. Gender liberation must be based on the respect for all kinds of different voices of oppression and pain.

I have been abused by my peers since daycare all through school and highschool. I always defended girls when I noticed they were being discriminated against (e.g. harassed, forbidden to play soccer with the guys)., but I’ve never been defended by girls when I was being harassed, humiliated and abused (daily). Instead, those who did it were the most popular boys in daycare/school highschool, attractive to girls who often participated in my abuse (I was abused for being chubby, clumsy, for wearing glasses, for being too smart and knowing too much, for playing different, more solitary kinds of games etc.)

By the way, I am a vegan, pacifist and anti-capitalist who devotes most of his time to activism.

It is impossible to explain why one general statement is wrong without using other general statements.

I tried not use absolute statements saying something like one group only only experiences one reaction and the other group does not. I also did not try to say for certain what is the mindset of other groups or people.

I can say that I have heard few Fat Men that agree with statements that claim Fat Men are far more accepted than Fat Women. I also have heard very few Fat Men who do not support Fat Women need for Fat Acceptance.

William

And yet, you just made a whole bunch of them.

I agree with Fred a little, I think that Men have Fat Issues on a different level than Women. Fat Men usually hide their Fat more than Fat Women. I am far less surprised when seeing a Fat Woman in a swimsuit or even a bikini than a Fat Man in swimming trunks.

Fat Women routinely wear tops and bottoms in tight clingy material, but Fat Men wear baggier clothes. Fat Women do short sleeve shirts less than Fat Men because of arm fat.

Yet almost any where else on the body Fat Women are more often willing to display a curve or fat roll in public. A Fat Guy will let his belly bulge a shirt, but there will be extra room in the rest of the shirt.

It is just hard to make general statements about these issues.

William

My username on Gaia is T.e.n. Feel free to add! LOL And I totally joined Gaia for the same reason… funny how that works out, hmmm?

That being said, I’m male, 6’4″ and about 250lbs. To be honest, I never considered myself fat, though I readily admit being large in both height and dept.

It’s my honest belief that everybody needs feminism, regardless of gender, sexual preference, height or weight.

Though as a tall northwestern-European male I don’t doubt that I “benefit from patriarchy in many ways”.
I’m also acutely aware that even if I were to ignore the ways that it hurts me by either forcing me into a template, or having other people see me through this distorted lens, it directly hurts the people around me, including those I hold dear. I don’t think that’s an acceptable situation.

So yes, I agree: fat men need feminism.

Robbert

I just realized I made it look like if feminist said “all men are X” they were speaking from a place of pain, and in doing that, I kinda made it sound like the feminist is the eternal victim.

What I meant to say was that assigning a negative behavior to one group of people is divisive and unacceptable.

And really, justice-seeking people shouldn’t be publicly inflamatory. Save that tripe for your therapist.

If I lie down, will someone kick a pencil through my head?

The guy behind me snorted “feminist card.” I turned to the guy and said the card had no reference to feminism.

When someone who identifies as being feminist says something like “all men are pigs,” that’s not a feminist statement. That’s an inflamatory remark based on pain and betrayal.

I know it isn’t fun to hear remarks like that, but isn’t possible to separate baseless inflamatory remarks from the political philosophy of feminism?

And sisters, is it possible to remember we’re all human when we’re hurt and venting?