I am fat and I experience fat shaming everyday. For as long as I can remember, I have always been teased about my weight and this has caused many difficulties and struggles in my life. There is not a day that goes by where someone does not mention my size, say that I will never be beautiful, or say that I will not fit in. Like many others, I have suffered mentally and physically, but even more so when it regards my health and body image. Fat shaming has recently become a major topic talked about in the media and common conversation. Some believe that fat shaming is the only way obese and overweight people will see that heir circumstances are detrimental. That is not how the issue should be approached, though. Those struggling with their weight need positive help and encouragement, rather than humiliation, to losing weight. Fat shaming negatively affects how overweight and obese people perceive their lives and their mental and physical health. 

The increase in fat shaming over the past few years is not something to be regarded with neither pride nor respect. Obesity affects many people all around the world and "is considered the most serious growing issue facing the developed world" (Morris). Margret Morris wrote a piece for the Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews discussing the problem of obesity in the 21st century and its causes. She explains that obesity is an epidemic growing quickly in our society today, and that many social and behavioral factors play into its cause. It is difficult to go out to a mall and not see someone who is morbidly obese. With so many people being affected by this and living lives of extreme weight, hatred was bound to arise. Kris Gunnars, CEO and founder of AuthorityNutrition.com, explains, "fat shaming involves criticizing and harassing overweight people about their weight or eating, in order to make them feel ashamed of themselves" (Gunnars). Some people see fat shaming as a cruel form of bullying but, like many arguments, there is always another side. Others see this as intense constructive criticism, making this a question of whether or not fat shaming actually motivates some to lose weight. Fat shaming isolates overweight and obese people from the rest of the world, ignoring that these people too have feelings. Just like anyone else, these feelings that can easily be hurt and broken by the standards placed by society. We also must take into consideration that the people doing the shaming struggle to see the effects of their actions, and that "fat jokes" are not jokes made to make people laugh at standup comedy night. By going through the evidence, I hope to show others that the effects of fat shaming can pose negative outcomes for the people that struggle with their weight.

Fat shaming exists in everyday life and happens even when people do not realize it. There are things people say to others that they probably would not consider fat shaming because, to them, it is acceptable to say. An article released by the Huffington Post gives where they use a list of tweets to show examples of how fat shamming is roped into people's daily lives. The tweets all use the "#fatmicroaggressions" tag to categorize them for the article. One tweet written by Jennifer Rollins says, " 'you have such a pretty face Jen. If only you would just lose weight'- my mom #fatmicroaggressions" (JenRollinsYEG, 2013). This is a great example of how fat shaming is present where one would least expect it. Many people would not expect a mother to say something like this to their child but it does happen, and it happened to Jennifer. Coming from a parent makes a fat shaming statement even worse. These are the people thought to love you no matter what, so their words are more powerful than most. Similarly, fat shaming is carried out in the public eye as much as in direct relationships. Another tweeter, Jen, writes, "When walking into a store, immediately accosted by sales person, 'we don't carry plus sizes here.' #fatmicroaggressions" (AdviceChicken, 2013). It is sad to think that even by just walking into a store, someone can be judged just for the way they look. There are many stores and brands that purposefully do not carry plus sizes because they want to maintain a certain image for their brand. Having plus sizes, in their perspective, could hurt their reputation, and draw unwanted attention, or customers, to their store. Brandy Millville is a company that carries "one size fits all clothing", feeding into the idea that everyone should have the same body type. The people that see the "one size fits all" motto when they first walk into the store are forced to believe they do not belong and that they are not worthy of justified customer service or the brand's apparel.

Bullying is a large and negative part of our culture. More children today are bullied because of their size than any other reason, including skin color and origin (Rabin). This is a serious problem, especially because obesity in children is rising. The increase in obesity and fat shaming leads to more kids bullied more for their weight, than more kids are going to be experiencing the negatives of size centered shaming. This causes people to experience the negative affects of fat shaming much earlier and will affect their lives in the long run. The problem is there is no law that prevents overweight people from being discriminated against (Rabin). With no protection and no consequence, people begin to think it is okay to treat others in hurtful ways, even if they argue that they think it will help the person. 

In addition, fat shaming is a type of bullying happens to adults, especially in public places and in a private setting like one would assume. In the subway system in London, a group called "Overweight Haters Ltd." gave cards to overweight and obese people that had a hateful message about why they are "fat, ugly human beings" (Romm). By doing this, the people of their organization are only hurting the people receiving the cards, not motivating them to lose weight. Many people are already self conscious about the way they look and receiving these cards only verifies the horrible way they see themselves. Carl Romm explains that fat shaming is "ineffective at best, and downright counterproductive at worst" (Romm). In no situation would telling someone they are a horrible human being for being fat encourage that person to lose weight, it only hurts the way they perceive themselves.

Fat shaming results in irreversible mental and physical issues that are carried with someone for the rest of their lives. Not only are they reminded of they way they look but they also have their negative views of themselves confirmed by others. Jeffery Huger explains that people's mental wellbeing is not correlated with their weight; what affects a person's mental heath is the fear of being criticized for their weight and the shame this causes. (Lucchesi). Not many people realize how detrimental negativity and indignity has on other people's lives, which is why some people engage in fat shaming. They do not understand or see that what they are doing is wrong and that "discrimination against people who are obese remains socially acceptable" (Kramer). People fat shame because society allows them to and they do not think twice about how their words are negatively affecting the person. Obese and overweight people develop body image and self esteem issues from fat shaming that do not go away simply because they lost weight. When someone is suffering from those self-doubts, it is hard for them to get to a place where they accept themselves. It is hard for obese and overweight people to move on from being told they do not fit societal standards. Society does not stand up against fat shaming. Because of this, people develop mental issues that hinder the way they perceive themselves. Obese and overweight people should be receiving positive encouragement and help from others, verses constant put down because they are not stick thin. 

An article written for Men's Health in the UK explains that even though fat shaming is a cruel form of bullying, we should not be encouraging fat acceptance. Authors Ted Lane and Jamie Millar explain that is it important for people to be comfortable in their bodies but it is even more important to keep your body healthy. Lane and Millar argue that losing weight should be about improving one's health and not to become skinnier to fit in to societies idea of what is acceptable. Lane says that shaming people into going to the gym is not going to work but overweight and obese people do need to start. He says, "Losing weight should be seen as a positive experience, not a frightening one" (Lane). That stems from the idea that encouragement is key in helping people lose weight and get a healthier body. Millar explains that even though fat shaming is a horrible way of getting people to lose weight, society should not tell people it is acceptable to be so fat that it hurts them medically. He claims that fat shaming shows people that being overweight and obese is not a good thing for their health stating, "another risk of blanket acceptance is reinforcing a defeatist mindset" (Millar). By telling people they are perfect the way they are, we run into the issue of saying that being unhealthy is okay. I understand where the article is coming from because we, as a society, should not be encouraging unhealthiness except we should not be hurting and hating people who are struggling with their weight.

It is easy to understand the negative affects of fat shaming, however there are still many people who believe shaming is the only way to get obese and overweight people to become skinnier. Nicole Arbour released a YouTube video in September of 2015 called "Dear Fat People", talking about how she hates how overweight and obese people say that weight-based bullying is real because she believes it is not ("Dear Fat People"). She believes fat shaming is good because people who have bad habits should be shamed until they are no longer doing those bad habits ("Dear Fat People"). There are many reasons why this video is offensive and wrong but one of the biggest issues is her delivery. There are times when she explains people should lose weight so they can live longer and not develop diseases like diabetes and heart disease but that is over shadowed by her attempt to be funny when making fun of fat people ("Dear Fat People"). Fat shaming, like many other forms of bullying, is not something that should be used as comedic material. It makes her message come off like she really does hate all fat people and her humor does not take away from how her words are offensive. Fat people will not just lose weight because they stop eating, and the fact that she says that, whether or not she is joking, puts the thought in peoples mind that they can lose weight if they stop eating. That is neither healthy nor productive and feeds back into the statement that fat shaming causes negative emotional and physical problems. This video doe not give people who are struggling with their weight and have insecurities about their bodies the confidence or tools to improve themselves.     

After that YouTube video was published, Grace Helbig uploaded a response on how she feels about Nicole saying that fat shaming motivates people. Helbig released this seven and a half minute video describing her feelings on Nicole's judgment of over weight people. She touches on the idea of how Nicole is "basically telling fat people to stop being fat" and how she is using this argument in a selfish and hurtful manner ("Oops We're All Humans // Grace Helbig"). Mental health is also something that Grace talks about and she brings up a good point of how many people are aware of their weight and that they are at an unhealthy state, however their needs to be a stronger focus on their emotional stability and not comments like Nicole's. A large part of my argument is that fat shaming hurts people's physical and mental health. Grace talks about how negatively this stigma effects people and how those endorsing it, like Nicole Arbour, are promoting a negative solution to this problem. Helbig is a strong believer, too, that positive encouragement and support is what will help people become healthier physically and mentally. Also, an article came out shortly after this video came out about how Nicole Arbour does not regret or take back anything she said (Ross). She is happy that her video sparked people to talk about obesity and fat acceptance. While her video was super offensive and not very positive, it is good that people are starting to talk about fat shaming and body image. It is important that people see how harmful their words can be and how there is a way to have this conversation without outwardly hating others. 

There are ways to go about telling a loved one you are concerned for their health and not making it sound like they have to lose weight for you to love them or for society to accept them. Some people may make the argument that other people are too sensitive and should grow thicker skin, but what they do not understand is that everyone is different. Something you say to person A my not affect them as much as it does person B. If someone is ever to confront a friend or a loved one about their weight, it should be about getting healthier and not about appearances. Also, offering positive encouragement and offering to help them will go a long way. A. Janet Tomiyana and Traci Mann explain in an article they wrote for the Hastings Center Report that, "we can improve individuals' health, regardless of their weight, through exercise, better nutrition, stress reduction, and social support" (Tomiyana and Mann). If someone hears that they are fat and have to lose weight because people hate them, they are not going to start losing weight. Mentally, they are going to always think people hate the way they look and may do unhealthy things to lose they weight that people hate. When someone hears that their friends want to help them get healthier and will help them every step along the way, they begin losing weight in the right way and know that no matter what, people will always love them. Fat shaming is not effective, positive support is.

Everyone struggles with body image. The degree of which it affects someone differs from person to person, but in most cases it drastically affects how someone sees themselves and how they assume others see them. Fat shaming encourages the notion that fat people should hate the way they look. Also encouraging that the only way to be accepted in society is to lose weight. Lillian Bustle explains in her TEDx Talk about body image that body acceptance and self love is one of the most important parts of a persons life, and that people should not be judged because of they way they look (Bustle). If someone is healthy and confident, they should not be told they are not accepted because they are too fat. As a society we should love the people surrounding us and have an open mind. Judging someone at first glance prevents us from actually getting to know people and learning something new. When people begin to open their minds and see that there is another side to what they believe is the right thing, the competence of that person only increases. If people who fat shame continue believing that this is the only way to get obese and overweight people to lose weight and become skinnier, the societal view of acceptance and beauty will stay the way it is, and that is not good.

In conclusion, positive encouragement and support are much more effective when getting obese and overweight to become healthier than fat shaming does. Fat shaming and weight-based bullying are very common in today's age and there is no legal protection for people who experience discrimination because of their physical appearance. When society encourages fat shaming, it also promotes the negative affects that come with it. Many people develop eating disorders in order to achieve the body and size they think society wants. In today's world, "20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life" ("Prevalence vs. Funding"). Those millions of people develop eating disorders because they believe they are not good enough to be accepted by society. For others, fat shaming only verifies the negative views they have on themselves and makes it tougher to overcome the mental struggles they have. As a society, we have the chance to change the way fat shaming is used and prevent it from negatively affecting people who struggle with their body and the way they see themselves. Speaking out and practicing positive support are just a couple ways someone can shift away from what society thinks is the right body. Next time you hear someone comment on another person's weight, tell him or her that it is not okay to say those things. If you know of someone who is struggling to lose weight, let them know you are there for positive encouragement and help. Fat people are still human beings and deserve the same love and respect that someone with a model type body gets. We all have insecurities about the way we look. Until we fight back against fat shaming, we allow people to think it is okay to hate someone because of their size.

