Are fat people the last group it is socially acceptable to discriminate against?

Question

If he had said that about gay people, or black people, or the disabled...that question would have being deleted..
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AntOhQ2QQDty.zcfw9U4KXpJBgx.?qid=20060629144119AAoWKdm

Answer 1

Yes-I read something on a fat acceptance site once that really got me thinking. Watch any channel on television at any time of day, and watch for the diets/pills commercials. When they say 'fat', imagine it as something else and see if it would be offensive. For example: 'Before I took the pills, I was so Latina that I was ashamed to have sex with my husband. Now, everyone compliments me, and I've never been happier-or whiter!'
It's a bit over the top, but it really shows how offensive these ads are for fat people who don;t think of themselves as disgusting and unlovable.

Answer 2

Hang on a second - you talk about fat people as if they're victims of an unjust system.
A black person can't be anything other than black, a disabled person will ALWAYS be disabled (less abled, differently abled etc) and homosexuals can pretend to be straight, but that doesn't make it true. To discriminate against people who have no control over who or what they are is abhorrent in the extreme.
Fat people, unless they have a biological disorder, are responsible for their own condition. By the way, eating too much is not a disorder. It's time fat people stopped making excuses for their inability to control themselves and either slim down or shut up.
Next you'll be asking for drug addicts, smokers and criminals not to be discriminated against.
For heaven's sake! People who do not take control of their lives are not victims!
Obesity is costing nations an absolute fortune. If we stop discriminating against fat people then thin people should be compensated for not contributing to those extra costs.
As for the question you're asking about - I saw the following questions:
Are all Nigerians rude?
How do you annoy a South African?
Are Americans all A***holes?
These questions are not discriminatory, they're asking other people's opinions - the same with the question you refer to. You are more than welcome to complain and state why, in a reasoned and logical way, in the answer.

Answer 3

Heck no! I've been discriminating against people for YEARS. Lots of good stuff out there. I'm especially fond of taunting the Irish.

As for fat people; you'll need to choose your (fat) camp before you really have a good reason for social outrage.

Shall you ignore your size? Except, you know, when shopping for clothes and such. "I weigh X, and you weigh Y, and I care little about either so screw off." Doing what you can to not run off subcategorizing everyone will put you in a good place to be filled with anger because people are treating you *differently* for whatever arbitrary reason.

But there's ANOTHER group! A different and entirely contrary group to the first! Those who lobby to have obesity treated as a disability. If you want a state-subsidized Rascal scooter and discounted phone bills because of your weight and don't get them, then you're angry because you're NOT being treated differently for the same arbitrary reason your might have been angry about in the other camp.

It all gets so complicated! You can get tweaked up for all kinds of reasons. Short form is this: people can be jerks. Non-fats, uber-fats, whatever. People can open that face-hole and the craziest things can come out of it. And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Sorry.

You CAN, however, accept yourself for who you are. Even if you're one of those aforementioned jerks. Or a stick. Or a beanbag chair with a head. You've got not only the single opinion that matters most at the end of the day, but the only one you can ever really hope to change.

Do what you can to be happy. And drink lots and lots of water because it's really good for you.

Answer 4

It's not right to discriminate against anyone for any reason. Of coarse there will always be some that do.There maybe other reasons why the question was deleted.I didn't see it myself.I've seen some that should of been but wasn't but I've seen a lot more that were deleted that should of been and was.Maybe this person insulted too many people.Just the word fat is not a good word to use.Another word that means the same such as over weight would be more acceptable.

Answer 5

They should make more laws and restrict who we can or cannot be angry with, revolted, like, or dislike. I have seen, (in USA) whole families, mum, dad and two kids, collectively weighing more than a herd of whales. I've seen 7 year old kids that were so fat that the tops of their legs were raw where they rubbed together, I did wonder if over feeding these kids was a good or bad thing and although it is not a beautiful sight, I would never hoot abuse at these behemoths. Some of them had shadows that weighed more than me!!! Yes, make more laws, ones that stop people like me even rubber necking the slab crushers. I did have one fat girl friend once, she was the nicest and most loving person I have ever known. Personally, i love Olive Oil, Popeye's wife. skinny women with tiny bottoms and tiny boobs, really turn me on. Let's do away with all freedom of speech and the freedom to call a spade a spade.

Answer 6

Seems like you arent a blonde or a redhead and you also seem to forget that fat people are like they are because they decided to eat (only very few are fat because of sickness)
The groups you are addressing (gays, blacks, jews, disabled etc) cant help being what they are, but the fat people could change if they wanted.
People that smoke are leagaly discriminated, so why not discriminate people that eat :P

Answer 7

Try being a vegetarian on this forum, people just like hacking on anyone who doesn't fit into their ideas of how people should be.
Sadly there are idiots everywhere. This is an example of how someone can hide behind an avatar to be offensive and rude just for the fun of it.
It isn't fun for the person on the end of their abuse and rudeness.
Would these people act the same way face to face? I dont think so.

Answer 8

who says it is socially acceptable to discriminate at all? in fact i feel it abhorrent to discriminate against fat people in the same way as it is to discriminate about ginger haired people.

being fat sometimes gets people down and the last thing they need is conceited people making them feel worse.

I am guilty of following the socially acceptable desire for aesthetics, however i stand firm on discrimination as one who has and will always at some point have to endure it.

Discrimination is an act of projection by people who feel truly inadequate upon those who have obvious points of weakness. it is un imaginative and displays the true nature of the bigot.

Answer 9

It depends on your definition of "socially acceptable". Different (sub)cultures find it acceptable to discriminate against:
- white trash
- stupid people
- muslims
- christians
- smokers
- recreational drug users
- addicts (alcohol, other drugs, gambling, etc.)
- popular or high-achieving teenagers (not just the ones who harass other students)
- introverted academics
- fathers (many cultures believe that a child cannot be raised correctly without a mother figure present, and many corporations offer limited or no parental leave for fathers)
- etc...

Answer 10

I think the mentally ill is the group that society feels it is okay to discriminate against. They make up a large portion of the homeless, yet most people just think they are alcoholics or lazy.