Isles of Scion

There is something about the Internet that I just can’t figure out. The National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance is one of those things. Now we have an entire site that makes references to things and I don’t think once actually cites its information. I enjoy blanket statements as much as the next person but it annoys me when it is done at quite this high of a level.

Here is their first issue–keeping in mind that this site is about the acceptance of people being fat. “Creates medical and psychological effects” now I realize that they are trying to say that the lack of acceptance of obesity is what is causing these effects–but here let me try and take a crack at it. The following are the things that obesity causes on its own without the help of non-acceptance.

Thank you Wikipedia (All information with Citations)

Don’t get me wrong I am the first to say that you shouldn’t harass people for anything other than the following (generally): laziness, lying, thieving, hurtful, or they are a prick. If a person fits any of those qualities then by all means treat them like dirt because that is what they are. However there is no reason to attack anyone over something as superficial as their outward appearance. It’s that dirty inside that you should be bashing. However! There is no reason that there should be an organization for fat acceptance. I’ll explain why.

There are certain things in our world that we should be trying to fix. Now very few of these issues involve genetics specifically, we should not be trying to ‘fix’ race, nor should we be trying to fix homosexuality. These are not things that you receive from life choices (period) and are in themselves in no way harmful. However! Actions such as obesity, smoking (drug use), drinking, or being a prick are all things that should be fixed. Except for the latter none of these people should be treated bad but on that same note none of these people should be ‘accepted’. There should an active attempt at helping these people lead (and this is the kicker) healthy and happy lives. There is nothing healthy about obesity unless you are obese and have some kick ass genes. Frankly that is not common by any means.

But if people are willing to accept things like unborn children contracting diabetes then I’m willing to change my views on this, just as if people are willing to let kids be born with addictions to caffeine, cigarettes, or heroin I am willing to accept drug addicts.

“Results in wage disparity, Affects hiring and promotion, and Affects academic options and advancement.” Really? Now let me look past the fact that over half my managers have been overweight, that easily half of my fellow employees have had weight issues, and that the president and prom queen of my high school was overweight but I still raise the bullshit flag. What you are does not affect any of these things unless its an extreme case and frankly those people are going to die if they don’t change so they should be helped. This is as foolish as saying the reason a woman didn’t get a job position is because she is a woman. Almost all of my managers has been female (except for a few special instances) and almost every person I’ve dealt with at my college has been female (even our Campus President was). Do you know why they got their jobs? Because they went through their lives and they worked hard and didn’t accept any excuse for their performance. These people deserve what they got just as people blaming their own physical differences deserve what they get.

“Stigma and shame motivate dieting and other attempts at weight loss and People fail to lose weight because of poor self-discipline and willpower.” It is true that the commercial view of dieting is certainly a bad thing–however an actual healthy diet where you eat at least 1 serving of something a day that doesn’t have high-fructose corn syrup would be something that I will and have suggested to anyone. You know what a diet really is? It’s eating healthy and working out, holy shit that does sound horrible. The only thing I can agree with here is the unsaid truth of eating disorders, but I feel this falls upon a person to decide for themselves instead of for others. I was harassed for every minute of damn near everyday for at least half my school career and not once did I cut myself or vomit. I just wrote a lot of bitter poetry, you know like a good emotional kid. As for the poor self-discipline comment–as the not-really-funny comedian Carlos Mencia (who is himself overweight) once said something I think should be noted: “Either be fat and happy…or lose weight.” If you are accepting of yourself you won’t give a shit what people think of you. People have called me gay and have said I have a tiny dick before, frankly that has not bothered me since I was in 6th grade. I did something called growing up and it was a wonderful experience. I suggest it to anyone who actually cares what some ignorant prick says about them.

“Places blame on the victim ignores contributing environmental factors.” Victim? Were they being fed all that processed food? Were they being forced to not go to a gym or even work out for 30 minutes a day (even as easy as 10 minute bursts throughout the day). Did anyone force them to not just take walks to stores within walking distance? Unless you have a genetic disorder you are not a victim-I agree that the environment in the US has become ignorant of health and has bastardized the health system but nothing stops people from being educated and acting of their own accord.

“Rated more negatively and are less likely to be hired, Perceived as unfit for jobs requiring face-to-face interactions, Regarded as undisciplined, lacking supervisory skills, slovenly & unambitious.” Well as I said before I’ve worked with countless people who were overweight so I’m going to need a number on just how ‘fat’ someone has to be before this ‘fact’ starts being noticeable. Unfortunately for the second part it is a genetic truth that people are more attracted to people with high charisma and/or attractive qualities. It is something we are programmed with at birth, don’t believe me? Babies are in almost all cases more likely to interact with attractive strangers than with ugly ones. You can see this soon after birth without ‘any’ social imprinting on the kid. You exit your mother being a bit biased and unfortunately until we invent a machine where we can make everyone ‘objective’ this will always be true. Plus you have to be pretty overweight before it starts effecting your at-birth attractiveness. I’ve met quite a few hotties that were overweight and I’ve met quite a few horribly unattractive and mentally scarring people who are at or underweight. It’s about who you are (at least up till you are 200 lbs overweight). Frankly I think the last point is only true when you look at people who complain about things like paying for two seats on a plane when they take two seats. Otherwise the only overweight people that are considered lacking skills, slovenly and unambitious are those that are undisciplined, lacking supervisory skills, slovenly and unambitious. They aren’t considered that because they are fat…they are considered that because they are.

“100 times more likely for severely obese adults. (In regards to not getting a job over a normal weight person).” Alright this is a no brainer. Who do you think is going to sell more computer parts? Someone who is 5′11” and 145 lbs or someone who is 5′11” and 345 lbs? Severely obese people need help not a hand out because they are not only damning themselves to a likely short life but in almost all the cases I’ve experienced they smell pretty bad. If you can keep up with your hygiene that’s another thing entirely but this is not something we should be trying to just accept. Severe obesity is a serious issue that should not be taken lightly.

“Earn 1-6% less than non-overweight people in comparable positions” If this is true it is obviously in another country. I have not seen a single business that did not pay every person that walked in the door (with the same training) the same wage. I’ve NEVER made more than someone who is heavier than me and trust me I’m 135 lbs at 5′11” there are plenty of people at all the business’s I’ve worked at that were heavier. If you know of a business that pays more to people who are lightweight then direct me to them because I sure as hell am not getting a hand up.

“May be penalized for weight, through company benefits programs” Read my part on health issues and then tell me why this makes sense. “You are statistically more likely to incur many different health issues and thusly cost us an exorbitant amount of money compared to this other fellow who is equally qualified and healthier.”

I’ll again point out that most of the most popular kids in our school were overweight (both in highschool and community college) and then raise the bullshit flag for their entire education section. You are only as unpopular as you are willing to be, for the exception of extreme cases. Most of my best friends classified (and still do) as overweight. They are my friends because they are amazing people, I think blaming your weight for your problems is just stupid.

and finally I’ll end with a comment they made and then a video.

“Weight discrimination was reported by 7% of US adults in 1995-96, and almost doubled to 12% by 2006.”

Editorial Note: One can find compilations as far as 2007-2008 and the trend just gets more and more disturbing.

You know why it has doubled? Well I hope this video helped you understand why and perhaps unearth the fact that that doubling of discrimination does not match up with the more than doubled burst of obesity. Technically the amount of people being discriminated has gone down if I’m to use their information.

So there we are. There are mountains of evidence that one can pull up to why this organization is almost as bad as NAMBLA but I’d prefer to leave at least something up to the readers. Enjoy yourselves and for the sake of everything sane in this world try and be healthy be it mentally or physically.

PS. - I think this is a good visual representation of my argument. Except in the case of rats, fat is ok–because look at how cute it is! Awww. (I wanted to end this on a happy note)

- Rico -

The primary factors leading to my dismissal were almost entirely based around the volatile conditions that I was placed into during my stay in Ridgeway. There were repeated instances of drugs, drunken fights, parties till 3 AM or later, and strangers ending up in my room and using my things. There was not a single block of 24 hours where I did not smell marijuana at least once. I witnessed everything from public urination to drug deals and I informed a counselor, my residency director, Seargent Bianca and fellow university police , as well as my RA of most if not all the situations many times as they were happening. After a few months of nothing changing I finally gave up and for the first time since junior high I fell into a slump of depression.

On my part as well I made the great mistake of assuming that my work load in community college would be equal to university college. This apparently is the same mistake made by administration in assuming that community college compares in any respect to university level work. Because of this assumption and the surprise expenses like the parking pass (which was 6 times more expensive to get than my community college park pass) I got a job with the Green Coats. Unfortunately the mixture of late hours, work load, and the hostile environment caused me to do far below my standard performance on my first quarter here. A mixture of stress (the highest levels of my entire life) and my surrounding environment caused my improvements to be slow but consistent.

However since escaping the dorms, unfortunately one quarter too late, I have been feeling completely revived. The eye twitch and inability to sleep that have plagued me for months have both subsided for the most part, although my eye does still twitch sometimes when I’m feeling ill from the heat.

Even with the more compact and larger workloads of the summer quarter where I found myself at times reading upwards of 160 pages a night (40-80 pages in each class) I still was able to retain pleasingly high levels of information. It would be unfair for me to attribute my success this quarter within myself completely, the incredible support of my girlfriend, Mr. Singletary, and that of both my professors Dr. Goodvin and Dr. Johnson respectively, each has helped me to set goals and insured that my summer quarter would be full of nothing but knowledge and confidence. Which I must say have both come to be in equally high quantities.

I still very much want to stay with Psychology, I have a deep interest in the human psyche and am a constantly active voice in all my of psychology courses. In the last two quarters my professors have learned who I was by name and all those I’ve met with personally have said that I was a pleasant addition to their classrooms. I don’t believe that my performance in the first few quarters at this university have been because of my abilities and I further disbelieve that switching to a different major would benefit me in any manor. The realm of psychology is something that will likely never cease to fascinate me and it furthers my desire to understand and help the less fortunate around me. Even though I found myself in an incredibly negative situation with my roommates even they knew that if they had serious problems they could speak to me, as my roommate did quite often.

I still need to raise my GPA to officially declare myself a full fledged major in Psychology and I believe over the next quarter I will be able to raise my GPA high enough to do so. Even considering this wall it is only stopping me from completing 302 and 303 both of which I should be able to take any quarter (to my understanding). I would also be willing to meet with the head of the psychology department to discuss becoming a major and setting necessary goals to keep myself in the major.

I know I can do this and I hope that my performance this summer proves that I am above what my current GPA shows. While it is a shame I had to discover it after being dismissed the newfound environment that I’m apart of is the one I was dreaming of from the moment I looked out to the waterfront in front of the Performing Arts Center. While I still have the rude awakener of the sun each morning through my window blinds it is a far more welcomed alarm than the nightly gagging of hungover suite mates. I would like to return in the fall and my planned course outline includes: Classical Studies 450 “Aristophenes & Athena”, Psychology 351 “Abnormal Psychology”, and Psychology 321 “Learning”. This will cover two of the requirements needed for my Major and my intended completion date of my major is by Summer of 09 at the latest. I am greatly looking forward to this quarter as all three classes interest me on a personal level as well as academically.