A Campaign to Ban 'Fat Talk' -- PC gone completely amock?

Well, we all know that obesity is an epidemic in the Unites States and is poses severe healthcare and societal problems for Americans. Now, check this out -- some people want to ban talking about weight problem:

Article

Coming soon to a college campus near you: a ban on "fat talk." O.K., so the ban is voluntary — and temporary — but it's designed to get students to think about the psychological effect of even seemingly innocuous comments like "Omigosh, you look so good — have you lost weight?"

Starting Oct. 18, thousands of young adults on at least 35 campuses will participate in Fat Talk Free Week, a national campaign to eliminate language that is damaging to students' body image. The initiative's motto: "Friends don't let friends fat-talk." Participants learn, for example, that when a gal pal asks if those jeans make her butt look big, the best answer may be to persuade her not to ask the question at all.

I mean sure, let's remove scales from locker rooms (read the article, it's true). Let's install junk food vending machines. And then, let's roll over and die of heart decease and diabetes. Some great PC idiocy going on here.

If you've ever been overweight and then successfuly dropped it you know how awesome it feels to have people say, "Oh Em Gee, did you drop some L B's? Damn, lookin' good!"

More importantly, the number of obese individuals who think they're just a little out of shape (a gross underestimate) is disturbing. Sometimes it takes someone bringing it up.

....what's next? Are they going to ban ugly talk? Are they going to ban socially awkward talk?

This is the stupidest thing I've heard in a while.

Being overweight or underweight in the case of Anorexia is dangerous and could be life threating in some cases, it should be discussed in a respect manner.

I'M FAT,

i know it and too bad.

you're FAT too! lol, what are we gonna do about it!

can't talk about it, tho.



dumbest thing i ever heard.

maybe if you are north korean, all americans are fat!


geeze, burn these people who want this.

yes, you heard me correct.

burn them!!!

That's just ridiculous. Fat people should feel bad. Learn to take care of yourselves and you won't have to worry about getting your feelings hurt when people speak the truth.

The worst are all the excuses.. make change not excuses. Excuses make me wanna

reply to post by JohnnyTHSeed



give us a pic, skinny minny.

you got 0% body fat?

what you doing on ats?

All this PC rubbish is getting out of hand, & it is making people more suspicious of each other I think. People wont interact with people other than their 'own type' for fear of an innocent comment causing some form of mysterious offence.

Down here in Australia it got taken too far for me several years ago, & I refuse to go along with it. Around the SE coast we have colonies of small penguins, cute little things, nobody has a problem with them, they are well protected, except one group for some INSANE, INSECURE reason, & yes, it is insecurity within yourself to make such complaints.

We were forced by law to change the name of these harmless little animals, I wont say what it is becuase I refuse to call Fairy Penguins anything else, that is their name, get over it the small group of gays who felt personally insulted by a name of a bird older than your own family history in this country !!!

The more we 'protect' people the more we isolate them & us. Everyone, get over your little insecurities, stop imposing them on the rest of the world. If you cant fit in the confines of a seat & overflow onto another, you are fat, so what, its not my health your hurting.

If your nice to me I'll be nice to you, stop thinking the world hates you & every comment is aimed at personally hurting you, its not. My girlfriend is fat, she knows it, she says it, & like those complaining should, she's doing something about it, she isnt blaming the world around her & doesnt expect the world to change for her.

reply to post by SNAFU38


correct!

what's next?

male pattern baldness?

lol, wtf?

too tanned?

''Participants learn, for example, that when a gal pal asks if those jeans make her butt look big, the best answer may be to persuade her not to ask the question at all.''

LOL.

That's just going to make most girls assume that the answer to their question is ''yes'', and that their friend is avoiding giving a straight answer to spare their feelings.

Talk about counterproductive !

reply to post by fooks


No I don't have 0% body fat, nor would I want to... I rather enjoy having a functional body.

Why am I on ATS?
Because I'm at work taking a break and enjoying a mug of Columbia's finest.



Pic is me

''Participants learn, for example, that when a gal pal asks if those jeans make her butt look big, the best answer may be to persuade her not to ask the question at all.''

LOL.

That's just going to make most girls assume that the answer to their question is ''yes'', and that their friend is avoiding giving a straight answer to spare their feelings.

Talk about counterproductive !

Definitely. The correct response would be "It's not the jeans that make your butt look big."

Any temporary experiment to make one consciously aware of the words they use is a good experiment as far as I'm concerned. For a campus to suggest a day or a week long awareness campaign that is purely voluntarily is hardly a polemical issue that needs to be politicized or seen as a harbinger of nefarious doom of biblical proportions.

Part of being able to deny ignorance is to become more consciously aware of every action and every little word. For example, think you aren't narcissistic? Try counting the number of times you use the word "I" throughout your day. The number of instances will shock you!

Now, take it one step further and try not using the word "I" at all for a day! It can be almost guaranteed that you cannot do it on your first try, however, if you feel so inclined, try doing it for a week...or a year. Even after a day, let alone a week, or even a year, the impact it has upon your psyche is mind-boggling!

We are not just what we eat, nor the sum of our parts, nor are we just our nurture on top of our nature, but we are also every little thing we think, say, and do. Every little thing we think, say, and do, whether unconsciously or consciously impacts who we are and who we will be tomorrow. Choosing to be consciously aware and taking our words seriously and choosing them with care (just as we are taught to do with our actions) isn't Political Correctness Gone Too Far, so much as it is becoming awake and taking one's destiny into one's own hands.

And isn't that what the likes of ATS are about? Denying ignorance, awakening from the great slumber, and learning to think for ourselves rather than going through life in a somnambulistic daze, accepting the lies and half-truths that others tell us at face-value? You'd think that people on ATS would be applauding a social experiment such as this that encourages those same values!

Originally posted by fraterormus
Any temporary experiment to make one consciously aware of the words they use is a good experiment as far as I'm concerned.

Wait, it's not "words". Come on now. It's not like the whole campus decided to avoid the words "bacon" or "burger" for a week. Or "pee". You are willfully deceiving yourself.