what do you classify as being fat?

I don't categorise people as being fat or skinny. Never in conversation do I say that x or y is fat or skinny, and nor do I think it.

I probably do have friends who's BMI goes into the overweight range and others who's BMI goes into the underweight range. It's not something I actively think about though.

I'll admit, when I see someone morbidly obese sometimes I cringe and starting asking questions to my self such as how it must hurt or how tiring it must be to carry around all that weight, how they ended up that size, etc. etc. and I guess I just developed a morbid fascination for a couple of minutes, but I do try to exercise some self-control and police my own thoughts etc. etc. But even in those scenarios I don't think that they're fat.

I'm not trying to be self-righteous but I just don't see why it's necessary to actively categorise everybody you meet.

I mean, I know it's hard. When I've met people who are extremely androgynous to such a degree you can't tell, it's been somewhat unsettling not to be able to just place them in a box and then hold them to a set list of standards based on that box etc. etc. etc. But that's a flaw in my thought process I've acknowledged and am trying to overcome, and I think the same should be said of those who feel the need to define someone as, 'fat', 'chubby', 'skinny', 'normal', 'lanky' etc. etc. every time they encounter someone.

EMZ.

You "police your own thoughts" ??

and you don't think that people who are morbidly obese are fat?

Okay you're a little out of touch with reality there. A little bit away with the fairies.

That's not really what I was saying. I was saying there shouldn't be a need to categorise people based on their weight, independent of their weight. If I think weight is irrelevant to a person's character then by extension it's also irrelevant that they're, 'really overweight'.

I don't know why but for whatever reason it's only on this forum(well, maybe a couple of others IDK) that these sort of claims regarding my, 'normality' are made.

You're talking to somebody who is married to a guy that is 25 stone (33 stone when he was at his biggest), so I agree that weight isn't the only thing that defines a person.....
....BUT.....he's fat. I know he's fat, HE knows he's fat, and for the sake of his health it would be ludicrous to overlook this fact.



Possibly because you're coming out with statements that are somewhat against the grain. I wouldn't know, this is the first post from you I've ever noticed, so I can't comment on anything you have posted about in other threads, but I have to say that what you said here was peculiar.

I don't really want to enter a debate on the general validity of the notion of, 'health', and perhaps it's not correct of me to disagree without giving my reasoning but regardless I'm going to anyway.

Though under the assumption that health is a valid concept and something we should aspire to have, I think that people can still acknowledge that someone's overweight without resorting to using derogatory terms. I'd make some sort of analogy but I'd probably end up offending someone, I'm sure people on this forum are capable of making analogies for themselves anyway.

In general people have expressed in some way or another that I have somewhat unconventional views, both online and offline but I don't know. I don't really see it as being relevant to both my well-being or the validity of the views themselves.

EMZ.

Put your finger underneath your belly. If you cant see it then you are fat.

Calling somebody a bloated whale is derogatory, but the word fat simply means somebody is overweight.

Thus - being called overweight might well cause somebody to be a bit offended, but if it's the truth, then it's the truth, there's not much you can do about it. A doctor wouldn't mince his words if he weighed somebody, he'd clearly tell them they need to lose weight!

You're not doing a morbidly obese person any favours if you pretend that they're not fat, because they could die young of a heart attack! The problem clearly needs addressing in this case.

I've dealt a lot with weight issues over the years - both my husbands, and on a minor scale my own. Believe me, when I was 14 stone, if somebody had tried to pretend that I wasn't fat it wouldn't have done me any favours. I agree there's a tactful way of doing it, and a downright rude way of doing it, but at the end of the day telling somebody they need to lose a few pounds, if you are genuinely concerned about them (and it isn't just for shallow purposes), is sometimes necessary.

Ultimately it boils down semantics(it wasn't the initial point I was making but regardless this seems to be the direction the matter's taken), personally I feel that fat is a derogatory term and there's better ways to describe a person's weight other than, 'fat', and to a lesser-degree(IMHO), 'skinny', i.e, 'overweight' and, 'underweight'.

Maybe your experiences of the usage of the term, 'fat' differ to mine, or maybe it's simply your interpretation. Generally when I hear someone use the term fat it's used as an attack against a person's character(rather than as an expression of legitimate concern for their well-being and health), and quite frequently against people who aren't even over-weight.


Ultimately, I can't imagine anyone telling a relative or loved one in a frank tone, 'You're fat and it's a problem'; as you say that isn't tactful at all.

I don't feel that the way in which the term, 'fat' is used today serves any positive contribution and isn't ever necessary when there are less derogatory inclined terms; and by extension I don't feel there needs to be a definition of what, 'fat' is.

In terms of health the general consensus(please excuse trivial exceptions regarding body builders etc.) that a BMI over 25 is a rough indicator that you're over the, 'healthy' range. And if that definition doesn't suffice and, 'being fat' is different to being with-in the healthy range you can only assume that the person is concerned as to what's attractive, IMHO, which is a flawed way to think IMO.

Etc.
Etc.
Etc.

This really wasn't what I was getting at in my initial post, but yeah.

EMZ.