Jacob Riis Beach hosts the day of body positivity and fun, in the city at the heart of the fat acceptance movement
Fat Beach Day events are springing up across the US in an effort to fight back against fat-phobia, reclaim safe spaces for the community and honor plus-size culture. Today, one of these celebrations is being held to coincide with Pride month at Jacob Riis Beach in New York, a location deeply ensconced in the city’s activism space.
Is normalizing obesity really a good thing?
No, but neither is body shaming, and fat people get a lot of that at a beach.
Yup. They just want a single day to enjoy the beach and feel safe and not be judged.
The internet loses its damned mind
A lot of people seem to think that you can shame people out of obesity, which is nonsense. We live in a country where processed foods are cheap and easy when people barely have enough time to relax, let alone cook. Those processed foods are also designed by everything from scientists specializing in creating new flavors to psychologists to get people to buy them, so they do. We also live in a country where a lot of people are expected to just sit in a chair for eight hours with maybe a couple of short breaks and a lot of them end up doing regular overtime (and that doesn’t count commuting time, when they are also likely sitting).
Of course there’s an obesity epidemic. Why wouldn’t there be? But shaming people for being fat when they don’t have time to cook or the energy to exercise and are forced to spend large portions of their lives sedentary is not the solution. You need to attack the problem at the source, not the terminus.
You’re always going to be judged. If you base your own happiness on the collective opinion of society about you, you will never be happy. You can’t control how other people feel, so you need to focus your mental energy on controlling your own feelings.
yeah, I get that.
But here’s the thing.
Everyone feels judged at the beach.
You’re in a state of undress, in public. Bright sun illuminating everything, where the main activity is sitting and staring.
If you’re fat you feel judged for your belly.
If you’re a woman you feel judged for your attire.
If you’re a man you feel judged for your lack of muscles.
If you’re a teen you feel judged (I’m pretty sure this is just a permanent state of feeling judged between ages 13-23).
If you’re alone you feel judged for being alone.
Everyone feels judged at the beach.
But that’s OK because who cares what they think anyway? fuck’em, enjoy the feeling of sand between your toes. See how far you can punt that child. Collect a seashell.
I don’t really want to get into it, but, we have campaigns that actively target people who smoke and/or drink. Two other things that people can indulge in that can and will eventually lead to negative health effects and kill you, much like overeating will.
Again, that is not attacking the problem at the source. Unlike smoking and drinking, you have to eat to survive. And corporations have taken that necessity and twisted it so that people are not making healthy choices.
And there is still the problem of having the energy to cook when you’re a wage slave.
No amount of “stop overeating and exercise” campaigns can solve those issues. You have to attack them at the source.
I’m not porposing or defending any approach here, where do you draw the line between the decision to address the underlying issues and catering to creating isolated environments to shelter the marginalized groups, tho?
I get that taking a breather in a safe environment to help with self-esteem and love is critical so as not to sink below that threshold of constantly feeling overwhelmed that is different for everyone, and I’m in no way seeing a one-day thing as anything else, but as public coordination events, how do you draw the line between the two I mentioned above? First example of going beyond giving breathing room to making a segregation comes to mind as the “pink buses” in which only women are allowed to be feel safe from men that some right-wing politicians bring up from time to time as a similar topic on addressing the cause vs treating the symptom or even causing different problems under such intention.
For the afflicted? No.
For us as a species? No.
For capitalism? God yes.
Thin people consume the least. Once we stop growing we stop needing new clothes. Obesity changes this. Clothes wear out faster, you need new sizes. Obesity leads to depressive states where people buy more to feel better. Speaking of more: eat more! Have some sweets to feel better!
Be bold. Be beautiful. Be you (for us!)
Clothing stores and food chains done with you? Guess you are broken now…
Welcome to the medical system you will now need to rely on to function and stay alive! Till death do we part.
Obesity is an epidemic and it’s too profitable to actually do anything about. They don’t care about you, your feelings, or your health. You are literally livestock to these corporations that you think are caudling you and your way of life. This is a wake up call.
Obesity is difficult to conquer. It requires change and persistence. It requires support. Not everyone can achieve a ‘healthy ideal’ but everyone can do better.
I have a family member with Hashimoto’s disease. Hormone treatment, regular exercise, and a healthy diet keep her as healthy as she can be, but still very obese.
Some people have no control over their weight. Is it fair that they are criticized for having a medical issue? Are you going to ask someone why they’re overweight before judging them?
Does Hashimoto’s disease actually cause obesity? Feels like a lot of people blame thyroid diseases for issues that are actually mostly under their control.
In the grand scheme of things, weight is a physics problem. I seriously doubt that outside of extreme cases that someone would be obese solely from hyperthyroidism.
Hashimoto’s disease is a form of hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is an overactive thyroid.
No, it doesn’t always result in substantial weight gain. Eating less results in rapid energy decrease. Consistently fighting through that exhausting exercise still hasn’t resulted in weight loss for her.
She’s gone to several endocrinologists and nutritionists seeking answers. She was also on dexadrine at three years old, because doctors were medicating energetic children in the 90s. She’s been given plenty of advice and speculation, but still hasn’t received a definitive answer to the problem.
The details of the problem don’t change my point though. Someone could be doing everything they can to address the issue, and will be judged just the same. It’s all the more reason that we shouldn’t criticize others for their weight.
If only fat people KNEW they were fat!! We have to fuck with them. If they could just realize they’re fat and hideous, then they would all be skinny!
Man, if feeling like shit that you’re fat was a solution to being fat, there would be no fat people.
I have a friend whose a professional trainer. Mostly for people trying to lose a fair amount of weight. She says the biggest problem is getting clients to care about themselves and love their body enough to work on feeling better and making progress. She is entirely against fat shaming. It’s only bad for everyone.
Yes it is, because quite a few people are obese, and they deserve to feel normal too.
People in this comment section being shining examples of why some fat people would feel uncomfortable at the beach.
Too many of them think protecting these folks from bullying and harassment on one beach for one day is some kind of threat to civilization. Typical moral panic.
Too many of them think that you can bully a fat person into losing weight.
They’re all completely in control of their weight, and clearly waiting for just the right arrogant condemnation to make a change. /s
Fat-shaming is definitely an issue across the political spectrum, unfortunately.
Pride is for people who were routinely ostracized, beaten, disowned, and murdered because they were different in a way they couldn’t change.
Being overweight is something you can change.
Being fat has always been accepted. It’s just not celebrated, because it’s not healthy, indicates that you don’t take care of your body, and/or you don’t have control over your eating habits. There are rare circumstances when weight is influenced by a medical condition, but generally it’s people eating too much and not moving enough. Being fat is looked down on the same way as being un-showered, wearing dirty torn clothes, or smelling bad. It’s not the person, but the way this person presents themselves, and it can be changed. It’s like if a guy wears offensive slogan t-shirts every day, and gets upset when people aren’t especially nice to him. It’s your own doing, my guy.
Were you kicked out of your family because you’re fat? Were you fired from your job because you were fat? Were you denied healthcare because you were fat? When was the last time someone targeted fat people for a mass shooting?
Fat acceptance is just an attempt at finding victim hood within habitual self-flagellation.
But also, I’ve never fat shamed anyone, I’ve never picked on someone because of their weight, or “judged” them. People who do that are assholes. I’m just upset that pride is being routinely co-opted by other movements like furries, fat acceptance, and all this other nonsense that, again, nobody was ever actually hurt over. I’m sorry you feel judged at the beach, but gay people are routinely murdered because they’re gay and pride is a protest.
There are rare circumstances when weight is influenced by a medical condition, but generally it’s people eating too much and not moving enough.
Do you have any idea how many medical conditions keep people from not moving enough (thereby causing people to eat more calories than they need)? It’s NOT rare. Hell, lower back pain is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor, and guess what’s a lot harder to do when your back is screwed up? Exercise.
I am a bicyclist. I love riding. I ride any chance I get. I also currently have chronic problems in my upper, middle and lower back, including a herniated disc in my low back, and it’s aggravated by bicycling more than anything else. I’ve been seeing doctors for 20 years for my back problems, since I was a teenager. I had back problems when I was a size 2, and I have back problems as a size 12.
People will probably want to respond to my comment by saying that diet is a bigger factor in losing weight than exercise, or that people should adapt and find other ways to be active if they can. What I am saying is that weight, medical conditions, and eating more calories than a person can burn – they’re all connected and it’s a very common problem.
Not being extremely mobile or having chronic pain does not require you to eat more calories than you burn. I have a torn disc and take nerve meds so I obviously don’t lift weights or run like I used to, but Im allowed to moderate my calorie intake.
Age and a slowing metabolism are more pernicious, but even those things don’t “force you to eat more calories than you need”. Nothing is forcing anybody to do that.
Just because something is harder to do, doesn’t mean not doing it is okay. Overeating when overweight is abuse, full stop.
There are people that have a harder time quitting smoking, there are people that struggle not to cut themselves.
Nobody should look at an 8 year old with a cigarette and say “it’s probably just genetic.” Nobody should look at a junkie passed out in an alley and say “yasss, they’re just living their truth!” Nobody should be incensed when they go a hospital complaining about abdominal pain and the doctor recommends they remove a piece of rebar they fell on.
We also extend some sympathy to the cigarette smoker, to the self harmer. Quitting smoking is HARD. It takes a ton of effort, nicotine is literally addictive. Self harm is indicative of any of a number of mental and emotional issues. Those are a nightmare to address
But at the end of the day, they should just grow up and do it, right? Just don’t smoke. Just don’t cut yourself. Just don’t eat to excess. Simple.
Never mind the literal good deserts some people find themselves in. The decades of misinformation from lobbying groups. The fact that everyone has their own one weird trick,so you don’t know who to believe. The fact that the cheapest food is often the least nutritious. The fact that, increasingly, people have to work more hours to get by, leaving less time for things like cooking a proper meal.
There are real societal factors that play into the obesity epidemic. We didn’t get where we are because everyone was collectively like “let’s just get fat, yeah?” - we were all brought to this point by the influences of the world around us. Personal responsibility is all well and good, but it’s also not the whole game.
Overeating when overweight is abuse, full stop.
Cool, now I’m a self abuser. Good to know.
Your comment is abhorrent and misses the point completely.
Have you tried recumbent bicycles? they are a lot easier on my lower back, and there are some real fun designs out there like trikes that could make bicycling a reality again. Or swimming, when I hurt my knees and couldn’t run/bicycle without pain, I started swimming laps, and holy cow is that a lot of exercise if you’re not used to it.
Additionally, refined sugar is addictive. I know my previous comment might lead you to believe I have no sympathy for wider folks, but I truly do. I’ve lost 100lbs over a year once. I gain back when I go through periods of depression, and then I force myself to lose weight again. Over last holiday season I was separated from my family and spent it entirely alone. I gained about 25-30 lbs. Since then, I’ve restricted my calorie intake to around 1200-1500 calories a day, with around an hour of exercise also each day. I’ve lost ~25 lbs since starting that in March. I know how hard losing weight can be. I’m also a (former) addict, so I know how hard quitting something that’s ubiquitous throughout society can be (alcohol). But it can be done. Sugar is addictive just like alcohol is, which is why Jenny Craig modeled her fitness groups after AA.
The problem is that losing weight is uncomfortable at first. You’re hungry because your stomach is all stretched out, despite taking in enough calories for the day. It takes time for your stomach to shrink to the proper size, so for the first couple weeks, you’ll be eating all your body needs, but it will feel like you’re not. and it’s uncomfortable. Weigh this discomfort against all the discomfort that being overweight has constantly provided, and decide which one you’d rather live through. The temporary discomfort of feeling hungry and not knowing what to do with your hands after you’re done eating for the day (and only for the first couple weeks of dieting), or the constant discomfort all over your body and in your own mind, every day that you’re overweight.
You don’t have to exercise to lose weight, you don’t even have to drastically change your diet.
Eat. Less.
You can lose weight on a diet of pizza, donuts and laying on the couch if you simply eat less calories than you burn.
You quite frankly sound like one of the many enablers that wants to make every excuse possible about why it’s impossible to lose weight rather than taking responsibility for the countless poor eating decisions that lead to obesity. No one is born fat and no one wakes up fat, take responsibility.
It should be separate from pride, but on the “it’s a choice” aspect: How is weight gain different from many mental afflictions? It’s a mental issue that causes detrimental effects to your lifestyle.
I agree with you, being someone who has fought with his weight my entire life. The excess calories are there to fill a need, with mechanisms similar to substance abuse or gambling addiction. “Just stop eating too much” can feel like an unachievable goal.
Any weight loss of an obese person should be combined with psychiatric care, because if you don’t identify WHY you are eating so much, you might just trade one addiction for another one.
Whats wrong with being a dick? None of us would be here without dicks. Say no to dick shaming. Dick pride.
Having a dick is all well and good, but I don’t think I’d want to interact with a person who was entirely 100% a penis. Big difference between having and being.
Weight is gained or lost in the kitchen.
Exercise has everything to do with health, and very little to do with weight.
They need cooking classes, and education around how to properly estimate calories.
While true, exercise is very important. For example if you are sedentary then that visceral fat screwing up your pancreas is extra risky because you also build up insulin resistance.
Even if they don’t lose that much weight, it at least mitigates some of the risks increased by being overweight.
They need cooking classes, and education around how to properly estimate calories.
Nope. I count every calorie. I’m shooting for 2300 but struggle to hit that. I usually end up at 2600 or more. I cook 80% of my own food. I bake my own bread. I make my own snacks. I know exactly why I’m fat. I can’t stop being hungry. I feel full around 800-900 calories, no matter what I’m eating. (pizza is an exception, because I feel full around 1200 calories, so I avoid it.)
Imagine walking, chest deep, against a slow moving river, every second of the day. You can push against it and it works, but it’s hard. One slip up and you’re floating backwards. You know how to make progress, but it’s takes a shit load of effort and one mistake and you just. Fucking. Can’t. Today.
Add that into everything else wrong with my life. I only have energy for so many things. I have to triage. Kids, wife, bills, personal happiness, other responsibilities. Can’t do them all.
Trust me, I hate myself with every bite, but it’s the only way to shut up that hungry voice.
Your situation is valid, but you’ve missed about a half dozen important components.
First. You need to eat slower, 900 calories to feel full is more of a time thing than a volume thing.
Second. You need to be eating more protein and fiber. Which also help with fullness.
Third. You need to give your body time to reduce the size of what it thinks it needs. Your stomach actually gets used to a certain quantity of food, and it needs to re-adjust to a lower amount.
Fourth. Hunger sucks. Drinking water helps. Especially before a meal it will help you with the first point here too.
Fifth. Hunger is a mental thing, you can overcome it with practice, you’re not actually malnourished. As a child I used to participate in these 30 hour famine fundraisers where you didn’t eat anything between dinner on Thursday and lunch on Saturday, only clear fluids were allowed. You can just practice ignoring hunger and get better at it.
You could try eating more fiber (beans, fruit, etc) it’ll help naturally increase GLP-1 (same as ozempic) but without the cost and side-effects. You also most likely have a Leptin issue (fiber helps with this as well). I urge you to both look at Leptin and GLP-1 with relation to fiber and or therapies that will help you resolve your hunger issue. There’s adequate scientific literature to support eating more fiber helping these two, but you might need pharmacological therapy if changing your diet would be too disruptive. Lastly, you’re doing great and individuals who are overweight but exercise will live longer than skinny people who don’t. Hope that helps.
Yeah, there’s a hard-wired positive feel-good response from eating until you’re full. Unfortunately, when food is plentiful, that means you’re going to be overeating all the time. Conversely, if you’re eating at a deficit, that means you’re not going to have that feeling of fullness any more, you’re going to feel like you’ve still got room. You’re not truly hungry, but you’re not full either. There’s a difference between being actually hungry and just not being full, and a lot of people lose that distinction.
Calories are burned through exercise though. Come on. You know how they’re connected.
yes, but they’re still right. Of course CICO (Calories in, Calories out) is a thing, but the Calories out part (e.g. exercise) does not have as much leverage as he calories in part.
it’s just so very easy to take in thousands of calories in 1-2 hours (think burger, fries, milkshake and alcoholic drinks). On the other hand, most people will struggle to burn more than say 800kcal/hr - and that’s why we say weight is gained or lost in the kitchen.
Unless you’re an elite athlete, your body consumes more calories per day just to exist than you will burn through exercise.
It takes 30 minutes of decent exercise to work off the calories in a single can of pop. An bowl of chips can set you back an hour.
It’s not even hard to eat 4 hours worth of exercise in a single afternoon snack.
People who are overweight can’t just suddenly start exercising it often causes severe injury.
I may be ignorant of this, but weren’t plus-sized people already allowed on beaches? I’ve been to beaches along the Gulf of Mexico all of my life and have seen plenty of fat people there, and gone with my friends who are fat and never seemed to have any trouble.
It’s not about being allowed or not. It’s about creating an inclusive space for plus size people to comfortably sunbathe without being oggled and judged for their size, a privilege that others have more frequently.
Great in theory, but fat people will always be oggled at and judged for their size. All this will do is make a big spectacle and draw attention to those who really just want to be left the fuck alone to live their lives.
It also adds to the HAES bullshit. Being obese is unhealthy, that’s not up for debate.
Imagine if they had a smokers acceptance day where we all had to give them a pat on the back for damaging their lungs. It’s so stupid.
No one has to accept or celebrate your lifestyle they just have to tolerate it.
And as you’re saying, if you want to be super fat, good for you, but people are going to look and that’s not their problem.
My city has one or two trans bars. Cis people are allowed of course. But most of the clientele is some flavor trans or nonbinary.
It makes me feel so much less conspicuous when I look out at the crowd and realize I don’t stick out at all. I imagine this could serve a similar function to fat people who want to go to the beach.
Again, correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s the price that ANYONE pays going to the beach? Generally, you are wearing more revealing clothing, or more accentuates your body parts (wet swimsuits do not hide much). So everyone can be ogled, in fact in my experience from my youth having lots of teenage boy friends, the more slim or conventionally attractive people tend to be ogled much more than those who are not.
