Body Liberation

Horrific And Fatphobic Internet Comments – A Story In 5 Posts

Today I want to talk about fatphobic internet comments and the damage they cause. I’ve been working on accepting and loving my body for about three years. I can’t overstate the benefits this change in mindset has had on my mental health and emotional wellbeing. That’s one thing I find people tend to ignore. Everyone is fixated on the health risks of being fat. They never want to consider the mental and emotional toll that hating your body takes. Constantly feeling judged by everyone, you’re being watched whenever you eat and that there is no “right” thing to eat that won’t result in scathing comments.

Enter My Blog

As I focused on self-love and my mental health, I realised how unfulfilled my job makes me. I feel like I don’t use my full potential and have no creative outlet. That’s when I decided to start a blog. I wanted to spread the word that your body doesn’t have to look a certain way for you to love it. That you can choose to quit dieting forever. I also wanted to stress that mental health is every bit as important as physical health.

Enter The Trolls

One of the things I thought I was braced for was all the fatphobic internet comments that would come my way. The truth is although the meanness that comes my way is mild compared to some, it does pretty clearly demonstrate the level of hatred society still directs towards fat people. That’s why I’m incredulous when people claim fatphobia doesn’t exist. Hopefully, some of the messages I’ve received will open your eyes.

One Of The Nastiest Fatphobic Internet Comments

This comment was not directed at me but it really upset me. By making these comments these creatures negated the value that every single human life has. I was so incensed i wrote a post asking if it’s ok to be a fatphobic piece of shit now? It’s not, but you’d never know it judging by these comments.

A 17 year old girl with her whole life in front of her is dead and these people still can’t let it go? It has to be about her body. Warning! Do NOT come into the comments and say “maybe if she was thinner she wouldn’t have died.” There is no proof of that either way and these comments are a disgrace. What if her family saw them? Do these people have no compassion whatsoever?

People Have No Intrinsic Worth

When I wrote an article, 10 Very Unpopular Facts About Fat People the readers on Medium really came out in force. Many were lovely, and very supportive, but some were not. One commenter addressed every single one of my points. It’s thorough but there’s some awful stuff in there.

Two things to address here. Firstly, because he disagrees with me, what I have to say is “drivel”. I’m also accused of endangering lives. How, exactly? Scan everything I have ever written and you will not find a single time where I encourage people to stay fat or get fat. What I talk about is realising that a person’s self-worth is about so much more than their body. I explain that bodies come in all shapes and sizes and that there is no “right” body type, much as the media would have us believe. Hardly life-threatening!

Secondly, this individual feels we have to “earn” worth. That human lives don’t all have value. I cannot imagine anything further from my own beliefs. For one thing, who sets the standards by which a person earns their worth? Sure it’d be different for everyone? I prefer to grant every life value and worthiness.

Weight Loss Isn’t Hard

This one is thrown around a lot. I’ve lost weight, my friend has, my spouse, my colleague. However, if it were that easy to lose weight why is there a billion dollar diet industry? An industry that depends on their customers failing and rejoining over and over again.

He then throws in the insult of my “clearly not knowing what I’m talking about”. It became clear at that point that he hadn’t read my diet article. If he had, he would have seen that I was referencing the data from scientific studies. Every single fact I cited was taken from an analysis of the metadata of many different diets. So I do know what I’m talking about. Why is it that even when fat folx have facts on their side they’re insulted and called stupid?

Fat Chicks Are Repulsive

Oh so much to unpack here. He claims his hatred is evolutionary, why? At many times through history fatness was considered attractive. Then, he claims that men has to pay for the damage fat “propaganda” causes. what damage? Seriously? Are we straying into incel territory where he believes women exist to provide men with sex and that by being fat and undesirable (to him anyway) we’re depriving these poor guys of their right. Perhaps this kind of thinking explains why the incel movement is growing.

He then threatens women with never getting a man if they’re fat. Is getting a man the only thing women strive for in this world? Nope! There is so much more. Finally he finished off with the same tired statement that weight loss is easy, despite ample evidence to the contrary. Sigh. These comments just exhaust me sometimes.

Weight Loss Is Easy, Live On Meal Replacements

One particular Medium reader comments on a lot of my articles. They are always respectful but stand by the fact that weight loss is calories in/ calories out. They have successfully lost weight by eating nothing but meal replacement products for 7 years.

I will hold my hands up and admit i found this horrifying! I’m sure the poster would say they enjoy their life, it works for them, they feel fitter and healthier etc. But this is a diet with no solid food! Am I the only one who is horrified that this is the result of society’s fatphobia. That rather than be fat, some people would prefer to exist on meal replacements for the rest of their lives? This makes me genuinely sad.

The Tip Of The Iceberg

The sad and scary thing about these comments is that they’re fairly tame compared to some I’ve seen out there. I still think they prove my point to anyone who tries to claim fatphobia doesn’t exist. I think these and other fatphobic internet comments prove it does. What are your experiences? Please let me know in the comments.