Should we say “no weight loss evangelism” for FFFFeed?
When Shannon and I first came up with the idea of the FFFFeed, our main idea was to not police. We didn’t want to purposefully exclude people because they say controversial things.
(We’re open to hearing suggestions about what blogs should go in which feed category’s. Moving a blog from Fat Acceptance to Fierce is different that deleting them from the the feeds completely.)
We came up with some simple guidelines for the feed. Any blog on the feed has to include posts about ONE of the three parts of Fat Acceptance; a body positive perspective, fat science skepticism, or fat rights.
Here at FFF we support critical thinking and open discussion. The feed is meant to support the various perspectives within Fat Acceptance. We think that each person should define what fat acceptance means for themselves and we support those within fat acceptance talking openly about their experiences. Well, for many people weight loss is a part of their fat experience, whether past or present.
But there is a part of me that thinks promoting weight loss FOR OTHERS doesn’t fit on the feed. It’s one thing to say “I want to loose weight” or “This is my weight loss experience” and another to say “You should lose weight.”
So, I’m inclined to include the guideline of “no weight loss evangelism” for the feed.
Like I said at the beginning, I am VERY reticent about deciding to exclude or remove someone from the FFFFeed unless there is CLEAR CASE AND CAUSE. But the very nature of having guidelines for the FFFFeed means that some people will be excluded. I just think that’s another reason why it’s so important that the guidelines are clear.
So, we’d like to get your input. Do you think we should add this new guidelines to the feed?
I think the very idea of ANY brand of fat acceptance precludes telling other people what to do with their bodies. There has to be a line SOMEWHERE
Weight loss evangelism is antithetical to fat acceptance, IMO. I’m not saying that one can’t be for FA and on a diet, for whatever reason, but to try advocate that other people should also be dieting - no, it doesn’t have any place here. I’m done with diets and WLS, and I don’t want to hear about them in Fat Acceptance spaces - it’s too easy to send me back into that head space of “I really need to do something about my disgusting fat” and then get triggered into a binge in reaction to the diet message (and that’s what I hear in my head when I see diet/WLS talk). There are so many other spaces that are pro-diet, why do we need to allow it here?
We should clarify that this poll was originally going to be posted on the Friday of our Skorch Week discussions and refer specifically to Skorch Magazine. But after the fruitful discussions we had and the summer hiatus they’ve taken, we decided to post at a later date (today in fact). We’re going to wait and see what form Skorch takes in the fall, but for now we’ll leave them be.
Personally, I think this poll is a no brainer. Pro-diet is anti-Fat Acceptance. Period. Talking about your own struggles and concerns about weight loss? That’s fine. We’re all human and we all need a place to work through these issues. But giving advice, recommending weight loss to others, for me, is not welcome.
Peace,
Shannon
The only possible post I could see being relevant would be one announcing that they’ve finally found a way to lose weight that is safe and effective through five years and beyond. That might lead to interesting discussions. Otherwise, it’s just someone telling me “I’ve decided to abuse my body on the 5% chance that I might stay thin!” I’ve heard enough of that in my lifetime.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, since I personally am a pretty big fan of old-school, “no diet talk” FA sites. But I actually have to go with “depends.”
It’s certainly possible for someone to believe that fat people should have equal rights and equal social standing, or that the obesity epidemic is overblown, and still believe that fat people should lose weight for health reasons. So, I’m sure there are folks who fall very much FA/body positive end of the spectrum, and who still believe that most fatties would be better off thin.
As long as the weight loss evangelism is not directed at specific individuals; as long as the author is respectful of people who don’t pursue weight loss; and as long as the site includes important FA related content, then I can imagine a situation in which it might be worth keeping even a weight-loss evangelist around.
Where I personally would drop the banhammer is when someone evinces a belief that fat people are categorically unattractive, and should lose weight for aesthetic reasons.
That being said, I should note that I have had minimal experience with weight loss dieting, so you might want to take my perspective with a grain of salt.
“So, I’m sure there are folks who fall very much FA/body positive end of the spectrum, and who still believe that most fatties would be better off thin.”
If they were REALLY FA and body positive, they would not believe still that fatties are ‘better off’ thin.
I’m def. in favour of no weight loss evangelism here on FFF.
That’s a fair point. I just meant that someone could be far more body positive than most people, and be doing important work to move our culture in the direction of more acceptance, and still be in favor of weight loss dieting.
I don’t think for a minute that it’s possible to be 100% body positive, and still promote dieting.
It’s hard to be 100% body positive any time, so I get what you’re saying. Thanks for the clarification.
I think diet talk should be kept off of FA sites simply because anyone who wants to read about that can go to probably literally thousands of mainstream sites.
This goes triple for anything promoting a specific diet and exercise plan or, gag, diet drugs and weight loss surgery.
There are thousands of places to go on the internet where such talk would be not only welcome but encouraged… the only reason to come to an FA site and talk about it is in an attempt to force the stupid fatties to see the light.
Note that this is specifically in reference to diet evangelism — personal experiences and the like, or sharing of specific experiences like a diet food recipe that actually tastes like food, or a specific exercise someone really liked… that kind of thing is different.
I’m with Erin totally on this one. I’ve got nothing to add that she hasn’t already said, so just make that x2.
What Erin said.
Great points everyone! I respect all your opinions and I feel like I’ve heard a couple different sides of the issue. I’m going to leave up the poll for at least the next week and we’ll post something about the results after the poll is done.
Little late on the comments here, but I went with “depends”. First off, “weight loss evangelism” is a pretty dramatic term and leads me to think about strictly “diet” focused websites. Just the fact that you used this phrase I think will greatly skew your results. No one thinks dieting websites should be included on an FA feed. However, one of the reasons I read you blog is because your initial desire was to be more inclsive of various ideas and opinions. I think if you take a hard line “no diet talk EVER” stance, then you are going against your initial mission statement and acting like all the other FA sites that caused you enough frustration to start your own to begin with. Just my opinion
sleepykitty -
Even though you might be able to say “No one thinks dieting websites should be included on an FA feed” I don’t want there to be any confusion. This rule would NOT be aimed at “diet talk,” the rule would be aimed at those blogs that are trying to sell or push weight loss.
It is still hugely important to all of us here at FFF that we are “inclusive of various ideas and opinions.” I appreciate your input but I hope I’ve assuaged your concern.