Extra Credit Event #1: What's Wrong with Fat?

On December 6, 2013 I attended a discussion on the book "What's Wrong with Fat?" written by Abigail Saguy. Before going to the event I wasn't too sure what it would be about. Before going to this event, I thought it was going to be about body image and more about women empowerment. The title itself is very controversial in today's world since being obese is seen as an epidemic and people are all about promoting a healthy diet. 

We are told that the United States is facing an obesity epidemic and that drastic measures need to be taken. There have been movies such as "Supersize Me" that portray the bad eating habits of Americans which shows that the corporate world doesn't care about the nutrition of the people and only cares about profit. This movie, along with world reports has started a craze to cure obesity, but is fat even that big of a problem? Abigail Saguy tries to show the positive framings of weight- such as being consistent with health and beauty. She discusses some of the consequences of blaming people for their size and how it affects the rest of society.

I especially liked listening to Tamara Horwich, who works at the school of medicine, discuss her views about the obesity epidemic. She stated that the underpinning of the obesity epidemic concerns are in part stemmed from upper white class citizens; putting a barrier between them and the lower class. She also states that fat is never recognized as being good because is very difficult to get research published that states that fat is good. People support weight-loss products; therefore, publishing papers that support the idea of needing weight-loss products is favored. Corporations support the research that will bring them profit. 

Horwich also critiques certain comments made by Sarguy. For example, Saguy states that the weight stigma is preventing people from going to the doctor because they don't want to be put on a scale and be told to lose weight. People don't want doctors to assume every health problem they have is due to fat. Horwich argues that overweight patients are perhaps getting better medical care because doctors are viewing them as higher risk and using tougher medicine. 

After listening to all the speakers, I had a new look on the word "fat". I too am questioning the validity of the obese epidemic and would like to read more studies about fat being good. The front cover captures the ideas in the book. In the old days, being curvy was sought after and there was nothing wrong with fat. Fat represented wealth; however, now the tables haves turned and obesity has become a social stigma. Why did fat go from being good to bad?

http://www.csw.ucla.edu/events/whats-wrong-with-fat-a-book-discussion-with-abigail-saguy