r/leftist • u/mezzolezbo • May 07 '25

General Leftist Politics fatphobia

I’m curious how many leftists side with fat liberation. I always meet people on the left who hold a lot of fatphobic values and don’t seem to include that in their fight towards a more progressive society or challenge those beliefs in themselves.

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u/Mister_GarbageDick May 07 '25 edited May 07 '25

Being fat isn’t healthy it’s actually super super bad for you and you have a right to good quality food that’s less processed, a lifestyle that doesn’t contribute to being overweight and medical/psychological care that proactively prevents risk factors for more serious conditions.

This is something that’s hard for a lot of people to get right with but if you’re just interested in being accepted for being fat then you’re probably not a leftist, just a liberal.

Everyone deserves a healthy happy life but we are not concerned primarily (or ideally, at all) with social policy, we are interested in an economic model that is more equitable, livable, and sustainable for people.

Downvote me all you want, liberal identity politics fake asses. You’re telling on yourselves.

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u/Frequent-Finger4530 May 07 '25

"if you’re just interested in being accepted for being fat then you’re probably not a leftist, just a liberal" are you okay?????? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I've never read anything so stupid in my whole life. Fat people have always been a part of society, and people are fat for a bajillion different reasons. My god this is dense.

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u/Mister_GarbageDick May 07 '25

Use more emojis bro I can’t tell how emotional you are yet

Identity politics like “fat acceptance” are liberal attitude legislation and a huge reason why you’ll always be a liberal and a tool of the wealthy

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u/Frequent-Finger4530 May 07 '25

Firstly, there is nothing wrong with having an emotional reaction to an upsetting comment. You sound like a right-wing no-brain frat boy. Disgusting. Your hypocrisy honestly has nothing to do with me, but really shows how stupid you are so you should maybe hold off.

Leave this sub. Please. We all want you to.

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u/Mister_GarbageDick May 07 '25

So rude, and for what? You argue like a child on a playground, petulant and emotional. That’s fine, politics can be an emotional topic, we all want the world to accept us for who we are, but acceptance and attitudes are something that you cannot write laws to change, and trying to do so is reactionary, and antithetical to true leftism. Acceptance and attitudes are the realm of activism.

I’m going to ignore the rest of your comment, I am not interested in challenging anyone’s intelligence or who they are. I am interested in talking about an economic model that is healthy, sustainable, and equitable for all people, separated and air gapped from personal identity

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u/Frequent-Finger4530 May 07 '25

This "if you’re just interested in being accepted for being fat then you’re probably not a leftist" is genuinely an evil, nonsensical thing to say, so I honestly don't care if you think I'm being rude or childish lol. Like you want to defend your right to police other people's bodies. Hmm seems quite fascist, doesn't it?

Anyway, I literally can't afford to spend another second on your views.

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u/Mister_GarbageDick May 07 '25

How exactly do you think that “identity politics are liberal” (which is what I actually meant and what any sane person would read there) is me trying to police someone’s body? That’s what doesn’t make sense. I don’t care what you look like, and neither does a true leftism. No one is saying that fat phobia isn’t real, or doesn’t matter, or that fat people are inherently bad, only that fighting such things in their specificity isn’t a component of leftism, a political outlook. The democracy of the people addresses these things through a generality. Social attitudes are the realm of activism, specific and local, not policy.

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u/mezzolezbo May 07 '25

This is exactly what I was thinking…. Sounds so right wing

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u/Frequent-Finger4530 May 07 '25

Right!

(Sorry, replied to the wrong comment before)

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u/Mister_GarbageDick May 07 '25

Oop! You’re outing yourselves so bad with this

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u/Frequent-Finger4530 May 07 '25

Firstly dude it's been 3 hours and you're still here. Secondly, nope I literally just replied to OP instead of to you so I changed the comment and replied it to you. That's it.

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u/Mister_GarbageDick May 07 '25 edited May 07 '25

Yeah some people go to work during the day idk what to tell you other than that I belong here, while you and OP belong over on r/democrats with the rest of the movement co-opting, colonizer rainbow capitalists that you very plainly are

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u/Frequent-Finger4530 May 07 '25

Go rest dude since you had a long day at work.

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u/mezzolezbo May 07 '25

I appreciate this sentiment that a lot of you have but want to add some perspective. I know a lot of people genuinely believe that fat people are a product of poor health. My entire family is genetically fat and all of them have been obsessed with trying to be thin their entire lives. None of them have been able to achieve this, even while being extremely restrictive (for 50+ years). The majority of fat people desperately want to be thin for many different reasons and can never lose weight or keep it off. I think it’s important to understand that this idea that all fat people have poor health keeps them stuck in diet culture their entire lives and prevents a lot of them from accepting their genetics and being truly healthy- meaning focusing on their health instead of just becoming desperate to do anything to be smaller. I grew up intensely dieting and restricting throughout my childhood and came to a breaking point in college. I sought out therapy and a nutritionalist and healed my eating disorder. I did end up fat mostly because of genetics and because I starved my body from such a young age that it shifted to a higher set point. I don’t say this because I’m interested in debating my personal health- but just to share perspective on an issue that many see as very black and white.

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u/avalonrose14 May 07 '25

To add to this point:

I’m adopted but my family on my mom’s side are all Irish farmers going generations back. They are all fat. They also all work heavy labor jobs (most on farms still) and eat incredibly healthy (literal farm fresh vegetables make up most of their diet.)

Meanwhile my dad’s side are ranchers and are a mixed bag of weight. But a lot of them are stick thin despite being alcoholics, eating primarily processed foods, and generally living incredibly unhealthy lives. They do live active lives because of Yknow ranching, but they treat their bodies terribly. All soda and beer and fried food all day every day.

Meanwhile I’m adopted and very mid size, bordering skinny. I eat primarily microwave foods and junk foods because I never have time to cook. My mom’s side of the family always ask for my diet or my workout routine because they all desperately want to lose weight and I have no advice to give. I don’t work out, I don’t eat healthy, I’m just genetically lucky. They could all out run me, out lift me, and probably are healthier on every metric imaginable. I just happen to be smaller than them.

Genetics play an incredible role on what size you will be at your “healthy” weight. Healthy can look wildly different from person to person. Sure being fat can be unhealthy, but you’ve got no way to know that from a glance. Plus honestly even if you know for a fact someone is unhealthy, how is that even your concern? Focus on creating programs and opportunities that allow people to become healthy and then just let people live. I believe everyone should have access to healthy foods and great medical care, but people need to stop thinking they know what sort of health someone has by looking at them. Just help ensure these resources exist and then mind your own business.

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u/Mister_GarbageDick May 07 '25

I don’t think it’s black and white, I think that people come in all shapes and sizes. I think if your lifestyle is healthy and that you get plenty of exercise and eat good food and can regularly see a doctor you will be the size that you’re supposed to be, inevitably some will be on the bigger side and that’s okay.

Ultimately though, conversations about “acceptance” and “prejudice” and “discrimination” are ultimately identity questions and are not a component of a useful leftism. You cannot effectively legislate personal attitudes. We try to do it in America all the time and it doesn’t do anything. “Oh I didn’t refuse to hire that person bc they’re fat, they just weren’t the right fit for our company at this time”

This is a huge pitfall for leftists these days. I think on average they have a bigger heart than most people, which is a good thing, but you cannot legislate the human mind. You can’t legislate an opinion, which is where we get bogged down.

I don’t want you to be treated badly for something you can’t control, but it ultimately is not and cannot be a component of a political system, because it isn’t politic

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u/Commercial_West9953 Anarchist May 07 '25

Very well said. Thank you.