[OT] Why are so many Americans "overweight"
- Thread starter The Forsaken One
- Start date
S'mon said:
Hm, interesting point. I guess you're just a murderous lot.
I can't help thinking that ease of access to murder has something to do with it, though. It doesn't seem to be quite as big a taboo in the US as in most other Western countries, either.
Thats a loaded remark!!
Actually guns, killing, explosions ARE a big US landmark (whether is is or isn't in other countries i couldn't say). Gun toys, gun games, Gun/action movies, ad nauseum!! 24/7!! Its part of out culture. Gun crimes are common because having a gun makes it easier!
Rashak Mani
First Post
Michael Moore had something about this Gun Culture... he said Canada has more or less the same number of guns per person and a murder rate much smaller than the US... I will try to find the link...
Wicht said:
Maybe they are nicer than the rest of us.
Just because they have a lower gun crime rate than other places doesn't have anything to do with the fact that killing people with guns is easy than if we had to do it the old fashion way. If you had to kill someone with a knife, up close and personal, you'd hesitate more than if you could kill them at an easier distance.
I know several streeters (i am an aberration in my neighborhood - i'm not a criminal!) that used to be childhood friends that testify to the same thing: If you have a gun, everything is settled quickly. If you have a knife or bat or something, things get real complicated. If you both have guns, its a news story at 6:00 o'clock.
Heck, we've had a rash of killings in my neighborhood in last couple months that are gun related. Apparently we are developing a real gang problem. duh. They are about 7 years behind on that revelation. Thats not to say we don't have our share of stabbings. But no one goes after someone with a knife if they can get a gun.
Don't take me for some bleeding heart liberal, however, i like being able to get my hands on a gun quickly, just in case i might need one. Guns can also be a useful deterant against such crimes as well. I just don't kid myself about how they can escalate the crime statistics, or the stakes.
Wicht
Hero
Rashak Mani said:
Access to guns is harder to obtain in Canada than the US, however I am not convinced that mere access (or lack of access) to guns explains the cause of violence.
Violence in America has little to do with the legal availability of guns. Some of the places with the tightest access have the highest amount of crime. (Another recent study has shown that crime was very low in Britain prior to 1903 when Britain passed their first law restricting access to guns - today with no legal means of obtaining guns, gun violence in Britain is higher than ever.) West Virginia is very gun heavy and very crime free.
Owning a gun has nothing to do with violence. One must have the intent of using it violently. I myself have three guns in the house, but no intention of shooting another person with them ever. Gun related deaths in the US are often gang related and drug related (or alcohol related). The typical American however is not a criminal, at least not in my experience, and I have never met anybody who has been shot, outside of veterans.
This has come a long way, by the by, from talking about the weight problems of Americans.
To return to the topic of overweight Americans and their obsession with soft drinks, I thought I'd post some excerpts from Liquid Candy (from the CSPI):
By 1998, soft-drink production had increased by nine-fold [from 1942] and provided more than one-third of all refined sugars in the diet...
Carbonated soft drinks account for more than 27 percent of Americans' beverage consumption. In 1997, Americans spent over $54 billion to buy 14 billion gallons of soft drinks. That is equivalent to more than 576 12-ounce servings per year or 1.6 12-ounce cans per day for every man, woman, and child.
In the 1950s, Coca-Cola's 6½-ounce bottle was the standard serving. That grew into the 12-ounce can, and now those are being supplanted by 20-ounce bottles (and the 64-ounce Double Gulp at 7-Eleven stores).
Soda pop provides 10.3% of the calories consumed by overweight boys, but only 7.6% of calories consumed by other boys.
By 1998, soft-drink production had increased by nine-fold [from 1942] and provided more than one-third of all refined sugars in the diet...
Carbonated soft drinks account for more than 27 percent of Americans' beverage consumption. In 1997, Americans spent over $54 billion to buy 14 billion gallons of soft drinks. That is equivalent to more than 576 12-ounce servings per year or 1.6 12-ounce cans per day for every man, woman, and child.
In the 1950s, Coca-Cola's 6½-ounce bottle was the standard serving. That grew into the 12-ounce can, and now those are being supplanted by 20-ounce bottles (and the 64-ounce Double Gulp at 7-Eleven stores).
Soda pop provides 10.3% of the calories consumed by overweight boys, but only 7.6% of calories consumed by other boys.
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Ralts Bloodthorne
First Post
Swooning with delight.....
I LOVE this topic. Number one, I love the fact that this has not degenerated into a flame war.
Everyone has been tossing around stats. I will not. For one simple reason. I can prove that sunspots, combined with gorrillas in the Congo jungle, is the number one reason for murders. I can prove anything you want with stats, just like so many news and scientific groups do. (That's a topic for another thread though)
Now, I've been in a lot of places around the world, and seen a lot of things. None of it as a tourist.
I hate to say this, but GASP! Europe has fat and ugly people too! GASP!
BUT! They do not ostracize and cruelly torment the overwieght like they do here in America. It's commonly known in Europe, that you get fat, it happens, big deal.
Crime is bad everywhere. If it wasn't, why would China be lining several thousand people up each year and executing them? In America it's a different level of violence that mostly results in violent murders.
But even in Germany, a place where sex costs you 50 DM's for 15 minutes, there are still rapes.
But the PERCEPTION of crime figures into obesity.
So, I'll start with emotional.
Fat kids are tormented beyond belief. (So are skinny kids, different kids, or unpopular kids) The only way to worse off than the fat kid, is to be a fat new kid. Now, fat kids aren't the only ones tormented, and that can have an affect on obesity too,
With the advent of 2 parents working, and still sticking to 2-parent families (A topic for another thread) a lot of these tormented children are left adrift in a sea of apathy, indifference, and emotional neglet.
They have three alternatives:
Rage. Rage at tormentors, rage at thier parents, rage at society. These are the kids we see in the news. They PERCIEVED themselves as friendless (Hell, those kids that pulled the Columbine thing has only five friends. FIVE friends, crap, I don't have that many now. I don't think I could stand being with 5 other people outside of gaming!)
Apathy: These guys give up. Eventually, they end up in dumpsters, or snapping and ending up on the news. Apathy sometimes manifests as suicide.
FOOD (You knew I had to get on topic sooner or later) These kids turn to food as comfort. Food does not tease them, does not take a crap in thier shoes during gym, does not slam a textbook against the back of thier head when no-one is looking. Plus, with as unpopular as they are, the pleasure that eating brings them is as close as they percieve they will ever get to sex.
Fear.
Fear has a lot to do with obesity. No, it doesn't always melt the fat off of you, but it can make you fat. Fear is dependant also on where you live, and your home environment.
If you are afriad to walk down the street for fear of being beaten by a crazed Englishman wielding a club, or shot by a drug-filled African American, or raped by a porn reading caucasian American, or karate chopped into tenderlion steak by a incense wielding Tiawanese illegal immigrant, or stolen and sold on the slave market by an illegal Mexican immigrant without shoes or the ability to speak, then you don't go outside. You don't find out that the world is not as bad as the press makes it sound. You stay in your enclaves (your car, your job, you home, a resteraunt) and do not go out to other places, and eat, because eating is better than being afraid.
Media
Ally McBeal is seen as sexy. OK, I imagine boppin' her would be like trying to screw a xylophone. BUT, that isn't the image getting into many young people's heads. Ally McBeal is sexy, Tom Candy is not. It doesn't matter how much personality someone has, the only thing worse than being fat, is being scarred. (Well, you could be fat and scarred, then you're just screwed)
As one poster pointed out: His surgically perfect friend saw a "natural" woman on a film, and reacted with ridicule and disgust.
Very typical.
My wife (for example) wears long sleeved baggy shirts, baggy pants. She wears a 38 male waist, size 9 combat boots, and a serious bra. I was waiting for her in a club (we were actually, gasp, choke, having a night out with the kids at a baby-sitter for the first time in over a year) when she walked in. She was wearing her levi jacket, and a pair of tight jeans (still, her thighs look huge in them.) Next to me sat this scrawny, 100 pound little girl, with boobs bigger than her head that defied gravity like only silicon can.
"How can a woman that fat come in here?" she sneered, "Shouldn't she be at McDonald's?" (My wife if 5' 6" and wieghs in at 205 lbs) All of Hootie McBoobs friends started sniggering, and I stood up and looked at Hootie.
"Move it, bitch." I growled. One look at my scarred face, and she moved over by her friends. My wife walked over, and took off her jacket.
She was wearing a black tank-top, and I saw Hootie's face. She was jealous, and angry, and bright red.
You see, my wife is a power-lifter. She could be competition level, but she does it for enjoyment. When she picked up her drink, it looked like she has a softball under her skin instead of a biceps.
"Fat girl thinks she's hot." Hootie said.
RIGHT THERE! That's another problem. Now my wife could have picked up Hootie and snapped her over one knee with no problems. Hell, the woman curls over 100 lbs (over 25kg for our metric friends) and Hootie only wieghs over 100lbs because of the silicon jabbed into her.
Perceptions. Thanks to media, even though my wife is in excellent shape, is stronger than many men, and a combat vet, she's fat. She's overwieght. She needs to lose 50-100lbs.
BS
She's 30 and in better shape than most people. She can dance all night, work all day, and still have time for **ahem** with me.
Media portrays everyone that can stand there, and you cannot count every rib on them, or looks as cut as a movie star, as overwieght. If your face is not perfect, you are ugly (god forbid you have teenage acne scars, a nasty scar from a car wreck, or broke your nose in a skateboard accident) Hell, when they made Mel Gibson wear the moulage for Man Without A Face, he still looked better than I do!!!
This in turn destroys self esteems. Not good enough clothing), my daughter wanted a pair of pants that cost more than my work boots, becuase "everyone has them"), ugly, "overwieght", different by race, religion, hobbies, whatever: Then your self esteem gets destroyed.
And once again, we have the 3 choices.
Rage
Apathy
Food (Food actually can tie into the other two)
Wealth
Oh yes, Europe is richer than we are. Things are cheaper. BS. If that was true, why was some of my friends able to black market crappy ass $25 Levi jeans for over 100 DM easily. Hell, talk all you want about Europes innate superiority, but once again, that is perceptions or go ahead and bash Europe, that's just the same thing.
I spend $300 a month on food. 3 growing children who are extremely active, a powerlifter wife, and a garbage disposal such as myself (4-6000 calories a day). Meat, vegetables, grains, sugars, everything. My 21 cubic feet fridge and 25 cubic foot freezer is FULL of food, as is the larder and kitchen shelves.
What does that have to do with anything? Simple. I can AFFORD that much in food. My wife pulls in enough to purchase that, buy car insurance, make our morgage, pay our utilities, and buy treats. If your in the know, I pay Washington State electrical rates, meaning I pick up the bill for Southern California too.
Not enough food? Go to the foodbank. They issue out better and more food for people who walk in off the street than some people that live in other countries see in several months.
Food is cheap and easy in America. People starve due to pride, ignorance, or the apathy of themselves or thier neighbors.
Now, the perceptions on wealth affect us.
We have to eat rich foods. We never eat normal fast food meals, we eat Supersize. God forbid the complete fraggin stranger behind us thinks we might not have the money to buy the Supersize meal.
(Let's look at wealth for a moment. How many of you are running machines that benchmark out above 1 GHz, have a TV in the frontroom larger than 21", have more than half of the WotC releases for 3E? Now, what about our brethren in other countries? We have enough wealth that we tease someone, not because they are wearing nearly rags, or home-made clothing, but because they aren't wearing Gucci to HIGH SCHOOL!)
Entertainment
Nothings been said about this. I figured not to many wanted to open this can of worms, but let's hit it up anyway.
When I was a kid, we played Cops&Robbers, Cowboys&Indians (That's right, I played that bad, evil game that taught us to stalk other children and massacre them with pop-guns), tag, hide and seek, climbed a tree, built a treehouse. You couldn't KEEP me inside without almost tying me down.
Raining? Who cares. MUD-TAG! Mud fight!
Snow? SNOWBALL FIGHT!
Tornado? Uh-oh, hide in the basement. I was a kid, not a mental deficient.
Now, what will most kids do. It's bright and sunny outside. They play video games.
OK, let's look at why....
Now, people are petitioning American schools to get rid of dodge ball. Why? Because it damages childrens self esteem. Cowflop. Because someone might get hurt? So what, I could get run over by a runaway icecream truck driven by a bigfoot who is hopped up on crank.
Anyway....
Schools don't support freestyle fun. Kids are learning all about how if you walk outside, an Englishman with a bat will run up and club you for your cell-phone, an African American will mug you for your shoes with a pipe, ect ect ect.
Outside is dangerous.
Pollen count. Pollution. UV rays. Holes in the ozone layer. Resurrected T-Rex's eating people in downtown LA.
It's getting rediculous.
Many parents don't want kids to play outside, because they might get hurt. We're not talking the projects of Compton, we're talking middle of Butthole Indiana. They might get stung by a bee, might break an arm (that leads to cronic pain and emtional/mental scarring) or god forbid, might fall down and skin thier knees. Bugs are outside. (Ohhh, icky!) It might rain on you. (You'll get pnuemonia and die!) Oh please.
And this stereotype of what it is like outside is further encouraged by sensationalist media hype (It's all about MONEY, not news) and parental fears.
So kids get more sedentary entertainment. Besides, it's easy, and no matter what, everyone is equal on the electronic battlefield.
Education
Now, here is something sticky.
Everyone is equal.
WRONG!
Everyone is born equal.
WRONG!
Men and women are the same.
REALLY REALLY WRONG! I can't help but wonder if these people have ever seen a member of the opposite sex naked.
Now, kids naturally pick on those percieved as weaker or different. The schools rarely stop it. Before you call me on this, I have 3 kids in school. Unless you want to come and spend a week or two with me, going to the school because of this or that, attending PTA meetings, ect, are in school, or have children in school, don't try to tell me I'm wrong.
Schools aren't stopping it. They teach that it is wrong to humiliate or torment someone different, but they don't put anything behind it. So there is no consequences for this.
This teaches kids that there are NO repercussions. Now, nobody can understand why younger people aren't heading the warnings on violence, drugs, food. Simple. There are no repercussions for actions taken during school. Those actions that are punished, are waaaay out of proportions. See, it's OK to torment a girl for being overwieght until she swallows a bottle of pills. But if you have had all of the "sneaky" physical abuse you can take, and say "Touch me again, and I'll kill you, Fred." You get suspended forever and ever. Fred doesn't even get asked why he got threatened.
So kids are taught there is no repercussions for making someone feel as if they are lower than dog-crap. There are no reactions to any action. They will never be punished for anything they do, by thier bodies, or by society. AS LONG AS YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.
Plus, it's the way obese kids are treated. If the cheerleader is depressed, they search and counsel for the reason. If a fat girl is depressed, they write it off as because she is fat.
Chemicals.
Now, I have seen some people say that they blame hormones, other people say that scientists have proven that there is no connection. To that, I say: "Are these the same scientists who proved that there was no link between nicotine and cancer?"
Or, to use statistics against you.
60% of American's are fat. Of those, 75% are below the poverty line (in America, it's $25,000/year).
The cheapest foods are loaded with the most chemicals, the most steriods, have the most fat.
Hmmmm, if the majority of fat people, eat hormone treated, chemically treated, genetically enhanced food, doesn't it seem a bit coincidental?
"But statistics and scientific studies show...." So what? Scientific studies show that at any given moment, there is at least one sunspot on the face of the sun. Every murder ever committed happened during a sunspot's existance on the face of the sun. So, scientifically, and statistically, sunspots caused all of those murders.
Let's examine something else. 12-14 year old girls are walking around with enormous breasts, and looking like they are made of bread sticks. So what we have, is a coat-hanger, draped with the latest fashions, with grapefruits tacked on at chest level.
"They stuff thier bras." So, girls did when I was in school.
"It's the pill." Oh BS. Not every single one of the preteens, or early teens are on the pill.
But studies show.... So what. If every single girl you look at in your study is on the pill, it doesn't prove a damn thing. Show me your methods, show me the studies methods, or the "scientific accuracy" of that study doesn't mean squat.
We have no clue as to the long term affects of these chemicals/steriods/horomones. We've only been using them for a few years, relatively speaking.
"But the FDA said...." So what. These are the same people that have liscensed such wonderful things as Flamidamite (sp?) and many other monsterous things that screwed tons of people up.
What do these chemicals/hormones/steriods do to insulin production and management.
How am I supposed to believe a group of scientists who say that there is no link, when it is the same group of people who haven't curing ANYTHING lately, slam any new theory or invention, and are so hidebound, we're lucky that they haven't disproved fire.
I truly believe that there is a link between all this and obesity.
Society
Here, I will cover everything from work, to vacation, to perceptions.
Work & Vacation-Get up at 0530, shower, eat, drive to work, work till your done (anywhere from 8-15 hours), drive home (possibly doing errands), try to spend quality time with the kids/spouse, fall asleep. Go on vacation? HAH! Let's see, the last time I worked for a major Corp, I went on vacation, and had to take my cell phone. I was called no less than TWENTY times during vacation, to ask on various projects, where memo 11328-23bn-yadda yadda yadda was, ect ect ect. It wasn't a vacation, it was working out of the damn office.
Many Americans do this. Waaay to many. Because they feel guilty, because they are neglecting thier home life, thier spouses, and themselves, they turn to alcohol, drugs, or both. And either end up in rehab, divorced and living on the street, or overwieght.
Some people don't eat enough, so thier body goes in starvation mode, and then when they begin eating again (the project is over, they are out of the field, ect ect ect) thier body stores it all as fat.
Perceptions-I was viewed as overweight, and to some people, I still am. When I was military, I wieghed over 200 lbs. Know I weigh in at 185. I'm only 5' 10". Maximum wieght for me before obesity sets in is 175.
Guess what. I'm not obese in any way shape or form, and never have been. My body requires a tremendous amount of fuel. If I don't, I drop a lot of wieght, real quickly. I get sickly, tired, and irritatable.
My wife is viewed as 50-100 lbs overwieght.
But, we both are a lot stronger and heavier built (admitted, a lot of it is bone mass in the two of us) than other people our size, and contain a lot of raw power.
Why does this fit into perception? Simple. Many people see me as as skinny. I don't have massively cut biceps, no neck, and washboard stomach. My wife is thick bodied (powerlifting strikes again) and worried more about power than appearance (as opposed to a body-builder, who is worried about appearance rather than power) and so she is viewed as obese.
My three daughters, all of whom excersize with thier parents (it's a family activity) because they have always been included in our excersize, are seen as skinny little things.
Perceptions again. The obese kids are more popular than my daughter? Why? Because she refuses to play the catty little preteen games. I managed to teach her about honor, and these Ally McBeal wannabees hate her for it.
BUT, my oldest feels she is too fat. Because some grotesque little stick figure whose parents are tweakers (yes, I know the little witch's parents, both of them would sell YOUR soul for another hit of meth) called her fat.
So, if you are normal, healthy weight, you are called fat. Your perceptions make you believe that the accusation is true. No matter what you do, you can't seem to lose the wieght. After awhile, you give up, and drown your misery in food. Now you are fat.
See, perceptions also affect what people believe. I read the countries with the highest standards of living on the list above.
One small question: Why aren't people sneaking over thier borders instead of ours?
Could it be the not-so-subtle racism in Europe? (Before anyone says that Europe is not prejudiced, let me tell you, it the late 80's, many swimming pools did not like black GI's in there, because they were afriad it would come off and leave a ring, taxi-drivers didn't like to pick up blacks, and so on and so on)
Wait, it could be because of the unemployment? No, the unemployment is less in Europe, according to those statistics.
See, those statistics fail to take into account: Cost of living. Average Income. National Immigration. Crime. Ect, ect ect. Those are dry, lab stats. Not real life.
So many people believe that America is overwieght. All of us. So what? Some countries believe that America is a bunch of gun-toting, overwieght, ignorant, 5th grade education, crack smokers who have orgies every night and worship Satan.
Guns
I know, it's all because of guns! We shoot each other over food! Or we kill our nieghbors, and eat them! See, we are all secret cannibals.
I love those statistics. Guns kill people. Really? Then mine must be defective. I've had a shotgun for 10 years, and guess what, it's never killed anyone on it's own. I must have gotten gypped.
People kill people. Plain and simple.
Please, the alrgest causulty producing single event on America soil was not performed with guns. It was performed with box-cutters, razor blades, scissors, and ultimately, 3 airplanes.
Now THAT caused people to eat more. Stress. Stress causes overeating.
Guns don't. Ever try to eat a gun? No matter how much I season it, it is still tough and tastes bad.
Crime (whether done with a gun, or a troll-doll) doesn't directly cause obesity. You don't get jacked for your loaf of bread and Kentucky Fried Chicken, you get jacked for your wallet.
Then you go home an eat 2 pizza's and a gallon of icecream.
It's perceptions. Nothing more, nothing less.
When you get right down to it. There is no easy answer to why some people are fat (around the world, not just in America) and some are skinny. Overgeneralization is the worst for of ignorance. It makes you a sloppy thinker.
See, I'm skinny. Is it because I excesize, run a few miles each day, and am a househusband (that's right, a househusband, wanna make something of it?) who chases after 3 kids? I've lost all definition. Is it because I'm crippled for life in an industrial accident, because I'm not working 10-14 hours a day?
I eat 2-4 times as much as most people. I eat raw red meat. I have a horrible diet.
My metabolism is high geared. Without excersize, my body eats my own tissues, same as if I cut back on my food.
Too many overwieght people say I have it easy. Really? If I don't excersize, my body immediately cannabalizes it's own tissues. If miss ONE meal, I drop 2-5 pounds. I eat just as much as you, my friend, but have to fight to keep from turning into a skeleton, and a sickly one at that.
Do I feel that all overweight people are like that because they cannot control thier diet?
No.
Like life, the overweight thing is more complicated than people realize.
//end soapbox mode
Chris Rock said it best. Don't eat red meat? NO! Don't eat GREEN meat.
I LOVE this topic. Number one, I love the fact that this has not degenerated into a flame war.
Everyone has been tossing around stats. I will not. For one simple reason. I can prove that sunspots, combined with gorrillas in the Congo jungle, is the number one reason for murders. I can prove anything you want with stats, just like so many news and scientific groups do. (That's a topic for another thread though)
Now, I've been in a lot of places around the world, and seen a lot of things. None of it as a tourist.
I hate to say this, but GASP! Europe has fat and ugly people too! GASP!
BUT! They do not ostracize and cruelly torment the overwieght like they do here in America. It's commonly known in Europe, that you get fat, it happens, big deal.
Crime is bad everywhere. If it wasn't, why would China be lining several thousand people up each year and executing them? In America it's a different level of violence that mostly results in violent murders.
But even in Germany, a place where sex costs you 50 DM's for 15 minutes, there are still rapes.
But the PERCEPTION of crime figures into obesity.
So, I'll start with emotional.
Fat kids are tormented beyond belief. (So are skinny kids, different kids, or unpopular kids) The only way to worse off than the fat kid, is to be a fat new kid. Now, fat kids aren't the only ones tormented, and that can have an affect on obesity too,
With the advent of 2 parents working, and still sticking to 2-parent families (A topic for another thread) a lot of these tormented children are left adrift in a sea of apathy, indifference, and emotional neglet.
They have three alternatives:
Rage. Rage at tormentors, rage at thier parents, rage at society. These are the kids we see in the news. They PERCIEVED themselves as friendless (Hell, those kids that pulled the Columbine thing has only five friends. FIVE friends, crap, I don't have that many now. I don't think I could stand being with 5 other people outside of gaming!)
Apathy: These guys give up. Eventually, they end up in dumpsters, or snapping and ending up on the news. Apathy sometimes manifests as suicide.
FOOD (You knew I had to get on topic sooner or later) These kids turn to food as comfort. Food does not tease them, does not take a crap in thier shoes during gym, does not slam a textbook against the back of thier head when no-one is looking. Plus, with as unpopular as they are, the pleasure that eating brings them is as close as they percieve they will ever get to sex.
Fear.
Fear has a lot to do with obesity. No, it doesn't always melt the fat off of you, but it can make you fat. Fear is dependant also on where you live, and your home environment.
If you are afriad to walk down the street for fear of being beaten by a crazed Englishman wielding a club, or shot by a drug-filled African American, or raped by a porn reading caucasian American, or karate chopped into tenderlion steak by a incense wielding Tiawanese illegal immigrant, or stolen and sold on the slave market by an illegal Mexican immigrant without shoes or the ability to speak, then you don't go outside. You don't find out that the world is not as bad as the press makes it sound. You stay in your enclaves (your car, your job, you home, a resteraunt) and do not go out to other places, and eat, because eating is better than being afraid.
Media
Ally McBeal is seen as sexy. OK, I imagine boppin' her would be like trying to screw a xylophone. BUT, that isn't the image getting into many young people's heads. Ally McBeal is sexy, Tom Candy is not. It doesn't matter how much personality someone has, the only thing worse than being fat, is being scarred. (Well, you could be fat and scarred, then you're just screwed)
As one poster pointed out: His surgically perfect friend saw a "natural" woman on a film, and reacted with ridicule and disgust.
Very typical.
My wife (for example) wears long sleeved baggy shirts, baggy pants. She wears a 38 male waist, size 9 combat boots, and a serious bra. I was waiting for her in a club (we were actually, gasp, choke, having a night out with the kids at a baby-sitter for the first time in over a year) when she walked in. She was wearing her levi jacket, and a pair of tight jeans (still, her thighs look huge in them.) Next to me sat this scrawny, 100 pound little girl, with boobs bigger than her head that defied gravity like only silicon can.
"How can a woman that fat come in here?" she sneered, "Shouldn't she be at McDonald's?" (My wife if 5' 6" and wieghs in at 205 lbs) All of Hootie McBoobs friends started sniggering, and I stood up and looked at Hootie.
"Move it, bitch." I growled. One look at my scarred face, and she moved over by her friends. My wife walked over, and took off her jacket.
She was wearing a black tank-top, and I saw Hootie's face. She was jealous, and angry, and bright red.
You see, my wife is a power-lifter. She could be competition level, but she does it for enjoyment. When she picked up her drink, it looked like she has a softball under her skin instead of a biceps.
"Fat girl thinks she's hot." Hootie said.
RIGHT THERE! That's another problem. Now my wife could have picked up Hootie and snapped her over one knee with no problems. Hell, the woman curls over 100 lbs (over 25kg for our metric friends) and Hootie only wieghs over 100lbs because of the silicon jabbed into her.
Perceptions. Thanks to media, even though my wife is in excellent shape, is stronger than many men, and a combat vet, she's fat. She's overwieght. She needs to lose 50-100lbs.
BS
She's 30 and in better shape than most people. She can dance all night, work all day, and still have time for **ahem** with me.
Media portrays everyone that can stand there, and you cannot count every rib on them, or looks as cut as a movie star, as overwieght. If your face is not perfect, you are ugly (god forbid you have teenage acne scars, a nasty scar from a car wreck, or broke your nose in a skateboard accident) Hell, when they made Mel Gibson wear the moulage for Man Without A Face, he still looked better than I do!!!
This in turn destroys self esteems. Not good enough clothing
), my daughter wanted a pair of pants that cost more than my work boots, becuase "everyone has them"), ugly, "overwieght", different by race, religion, hobbies, whatever: Then your self esteem gets destroyed.And once again, we have the 3 choices.
Rage
Apathy
Food (Food actually can tie into the other two)
Wealth
Oh yes, Europe is richer than we are. Things are cheaper. BS. If that was true, why was some of my friends able to black market crappy ass $25 Levi jeans for over 100 DM easily. Hell, talk all you want about Europes innate superiority, but once again, that is perceptions or go ahead and bash Europe, that's just the same thing.
I spend $300 a month on food. 3 growing children who are extremely active, a powerlifter wife, and a garbage disposal such as myself (4-6000 calories a day). Meat, vegetables, grains, sugars, everything. My 21 cubic feet fridge and 25 cubic foot freezer is FULL of food, as is the larder and kitchen shelves.
What does that have to do with anything? Simple. I can AFFORD that much in food. My wife pulls in enough to purchase that, buy car insurance, make our morgage, pay our utilities, and buy treats. If your in the know, I pay Washington State electrical rates, meaning I pick up the bill for Southern California too.
Not enough food? Go to the foodbank. They issue out better and more food for people who walk in off the street than some people that live in other countries see in several months.
Food is cheap and easy in America. People starve due to pride, ignorance, or the apathy of themselves or thier neighbors.
Now, the perceptions on wealth affect us.
We have to eat rich foods. We never eat normal fast food meals, we eat Supersize. God forbid the complete fraggin stranger behind us thinks we might not have the money to buy the Supersize meal.
(Let's look at wealth for a moment. How many of you are running machines that benchmark out above 1 GHz, have a TV in the frontroom larger than 21", have more than half of the WotC releases for 3E? Now, what about our brethren in other countries? We have enough wealth that we tease someone, not because they are wearing nearly rags, or home-made clothing, but because they aren't wearing Gucci to HIGH SCHOOL!)
Entertainment
Nothings been said about this. I figured not to many wanted to open this can of worms, but let's hit it up anyway.
When I was a kid, we played Cops&Robbers, Cowboys&Indians (That's right, I played that bad, evil game that taught us to stalk other children and massacre them with pop-guns), tag, hide and seek, climbed a tree, built a treehouse. You couldn't KEEP me inside without almost tying me down.
Raining? Who cares. MUD-TAG! Mud fight!
Snow? SNOWBALL FIGHT!
Tornado? Uh-oh, hide in the basement. I was a kid, not a mental deficient.
Now, what will most kids do. It's bright and sunny outside. They play video games.
OK, let's look at why....
Now, people are petitioning American schools to get rid of dodge ball. Why? Because it damages childrens self esteem. Cowflop. Because someone might get hurt? So what, I could get run over by a runaway icecream truck driven by a bigfoot who is hopped up on crank.
Anyway....
Schools don't support freestyle fun. Kids are learning all about how if you walk outside, an Englishman with a bat will run up and club you for your cell-phone, an African American will mug you for your shoes with a pipe, ect ect ect.
Outside is dangerous.
Pollen count. Pollution. UV rays. Holes in the ozone layer. Resurrected T-Rex's eating people in downtown LA.
It's getting rediculous.
Many parents don't want kids to play outside, because they might get hurt. We're not talking the projects of Compton, we're talking middle of Butthole Indiana. They might get stung by a bee, might break an arm (that leads to cronic pain and emtional/mental scarring) or god forbid, might fall down and skin thier knees. Bugs are outside. (Ohhh, icky!) It might rain on you. (You'll get pnuemonia and die!) Oh please.
And this stereotype of what it is like outside is further encouraged by sensationalist media hype (It's all about MONEY, not news) and parental fears.
So kids get more sedentary entertainment. Besides, it's easy, and no matter what, everyone is equal on the electronic battlefield.
Education
Now, here is something sticky.
Everyone is equal.
WRONG!
Everyone is born equal.
WRONG!
Men and women are the same.
REALLY REALLY WRONG! I can't help but wonder if these people have ever seen a member of the opposite sex naked.
Now, kids naturally pick on those percieved as weaker or different. The schools rarely stop it. Before you call me on this, I have 3 kids in school. Unless you want to come and spend a week or two with me, going to the school because of this or that, attending PTA meetings, ect, are in school, or have children in school, don't try to tell me I'm wrong.
Schools aren't stopping it. They teach that it is wrong to humiliate or torment someone different, but they don't put anything behind it. So there is no consequences for this.
This teaches kids that there are NO repercussions. Now, nobody can understand why younger people aren't heading the warnings on violence, drugs, food. Simple. There are no repercussions for actions taken during school. Those actions that are punished, are waaaay out of proportions. See, it's OK to torment a girl for being overwieght until she swallows a bottle of pills. But if you have had all of the "sneaky" physical abuse you can take, and say "Touch me again, and I'll kill you, Fred." You get suspended forever and ever. Fred doesn't even get asked why he got threatened.
So kids are taught there is no repercussions for making someone feel as if they are lower than dog-crap. There are no reactions to any action. They will never be punished for anything they do, by thier bodies, or by society. AS LONG AS YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.
Plus, it's the way obese kids are treated. If the cheerleader is depressed, they search and counsel for the reason. If a fat girl is depressed, they write it off as because she is fat.
Chemicals.
Now, I have seen some people say that they blame hormones, other people say that scientists have proven that there is no connection. To that, I say: "Are these the same scientists who proved that there was no link between nicotine and cancer?"
Or, to use statistics against you.
60% of American's are fat. Of those, 75% are below the poverty line (in America, it's $25,000/year).
The cheapest foods are loaded with the most chemicals, the most steriods, have the most fat.
Hmmmm, if the majority of fat people, eat hormone treated, chemically treated, genetically enhanced food, doesn't it seem a bit coincidental?
"But statistics and scientific studies show...." So what? Scientific studies show that at any given moment, there is at least one sunspot on the face of the sun. Every murder ever committed happened during a sunspot's existance on the face of the sun. So, scientifically, and statistically, sunspots caused all of those murders.
Let's examine something else. 12-14 year old girls are walking around with enormous breasts, and looking like they are made of bread sticks. So what we have, is a coat-hanger, draped with the latest fashions, with grapefruits tacked on at chest level.
"They stuff thier bras." So, girls did when I was in school.
"It's the pill." Oh BS. Not every single one of the preteens, or early teens are on the pill.
But studies show.... So what. If every single girl you look at in your study is on the pill, it doesn't prove a damn thing. Show me your methods, show me the studies methods, or the "scientific accuracy" of that study doesn't mean squat.
We have no clue as to the long term affects of these chemicals/steriods/horomones. We've only been using them for a few years, relatively speaking.
"But the FDA said...." So what. These are the same people that have liscensed such wonderful things as Flamidamite (sp?) and many other monsterous things that screwed tons of people up.
What do these chemicals/hormones/steriods do to insulin production and management.
How am I supposed to believe a group of scientists who say that there is no link, when it is the same group of people who haven't curing ANYTHING lately, slam any new theory or invention, and are so hidebound, we're lucky that they haven't disproved fire.
I truly believe that there is a link between all this and obesity.
Society
Here, I will cover everything from work, to vacation, to perceptions.
Work & Vacation-Get up at 0530, shower, eat, drive to work, work till your done (anywhere from 8-15 hours), drive home (possibly doing errands), try to spend quality time with the kids/spouse, fall asleep. Go on vacation? HAH! Let's see, the last time I worked for a major Corp, I went on vacation, and had to take my cell phone. I was called no less than TWENTY times during vacation, to ask on various projects, where memo 11328-23bn-yadda yadda yadda was, ect ect ect. It wasn't a vacation, it was working out of the damn office.
Many Americans do this. Waaay to many. Because they feel guilty, because they are neglecting thier home life, thier spouses, and themselves, they turn to alcohol, drugs, or both. And either end up in rehab, divorced and living on the street, or overwieght.
Some people don't eat enough, so thier body goes in starvation mode, and then when they begin eating again (the project is over, they are out of the field, ect ect ect) thier body stores it all as fat.
Perceptions-I was viewed as overweight, and to some people, I still am. When I was military, I wieghed over 200 lbs. Know I weigh in at 185. I'm only 5' 10". Maximum wieght for me before obesity sets in is 175.
Guess what. I'm not obese in any way shape or form, and never have been. My body requires a tremendous amount of fuel. If I don't, I drop a lot of wieght, real quickly. I get sickly, tired, and irritatable.
My wife is viewed as 50-100 lbs overwieght.
But, we both are a lot stronger and heavier built (admitted, a lot of it is bone mass in the two of us) than other people our size, and contain a lot of raw power.
Why does this fit into perception? Simple. Many people see me as as skinny. I don't have massively cut biceps, no neck, and washboard stomach. My wife is thick bodied (powerlifting strikes again) and worried more about power than appearance (as opposed to a body-builder, who is worried about appearance rather than power) and so she is viewed as obese.
My three daughters, all of whom excersize with thier parents (it's a family activity) because they have always been included in our excersize, are seen as skinny little things.
Perceptions again. The obese kids are more popular than my daughter? Why? Because she refuses to play the catty little preteen games. I managed to teach her about honor, and these Ally McBeal wannabees hate her for it.
BUT, my oldest feels she is too fat. Because some grotesque little stick figure whose parents are tweakers (yes, I know the little witch's parents, both of them would sell YOUR soul for another hit of meth) called her fat.
So, if you are normal, healthy weight, you are called fat. Your perceptions make you believe that the accusation is true. No matter what you do, you can't seem to lose the wieght. After awhile, you give up, and drown your misery in food. Now you are fat.
See, perceptions also affect what people believe. I read the countries with the highest standards of living on the list above.
One small question: Why aren't people sneaking over thier borders instead of ours?
Could it be the not-so-subtle racism in Europe? (Before anyone says that Europe is not prejudiced, let me tell you, it the late 80's, many swimming pools did not like black GI's in there, because they were afriad it would come off and leave a ring, taxi-drivers didn't like to pick up blacks, and so on and so on)
Wait, it could be because of the unemployment? No, the unemployment is less in Europe, according to those statistics.
See, those statistics fail to take into account: Cost of living. Average Income. National Immigration. Crime. Ect, ect ect. Those are dry, lab stats. Not real life.
So many people believe that America is overwieght. All of us. So what? Some countries believe that America is a bunch of gun-toting, overwieght, ignorant, 5th grade education, crack smokers who have orgies every night and worship Satan.
Guns
I know, it's all because of guns! We shoot each other over food! Or we kill our nieghbors, and eat them! See, we are all secret cannibals.
I love those statistics. Guns kill people. Really? Then mine must be defective. I've had a shotgun for 10 years, and guess what, it's never killed anyone on it's own. I must have gotten gypped.
People kill people. Plain and simple.
Please, the alrgest causulty producing single event on America soil was not performed with guns. It was performed with box-cutters, razor blades, scissors, and ultimately, 3 airplanes.
Now THAT caused people to eat more. Stress. Stress causes overeating.
Guns don't. Ever try to eat a gun? No matter how much I season it, it is still tough and tastes bad.
Crime (whether done with a gun, or a troll-doll) doesn't directly cause obesity. You don't get jacked for your loaf of bread and Kentucky Fried Chicken, you get jacked for your wallet.
Then you go home an eat 2 pizza's and a gallon of icecream.
It's perceptions. Nothing more, nothing less.
When you get right down to it. There is no easy answer to why some people are fat (around the world, not just in America) and some are skinny. Overgeneralization is the worst for of ignorance. It makes you a sloppy thinker.
See, I'm skinny. Is it because I excesize, run a few miles each day, and am a househusband (that's right, a househusband, wanna make something of it?) who chases after 3 kids? I've lost all definition. Is it because I'm crippled for life in an industrial accident, because I'm not working 10-14 hours a day?
I eat 2-4 times as much as most people. I eat raw red meat. I have a horrible diet.
My metabolism is high geared. Without excersize, my body eats my own tissues, same as if I cut back on my food.
Too many overwieght people say I have it easy. Really? If I don't excersize, my body immediately cannabalizes it's own tissues. If miss ONE meal, I drop 2-5 pounds. I eat just as much as you, my friend, but have to fight to keep from turning into a skeleton, and a sickly one at that.
Do I feel that all overweight people are like that because they cannot control thier diet?
No.
Like life, the overweight thing is more complicated than people realize.
//end soapbox mode
Chris Rock said it best. Don't eat red meat? NO! Don't eat GREEN meat.
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