Repeat: Campos in The New Republic

An oldie but a goodie! I'm glad they re-ran it. I think I'll skip reading the comments section, though, I'm not in the mood to be triggered.

Yeah, Meowzer. I don't recommend reading the comments. I only made it to the first one... "What about diabetes?" I immediately shut that window down.

Can't read it: you have to be registered...

Use bugmenot.com to get in. Worked for me.

Oh dear, Pandagon linked to the story and now everyone and their brother is stinking up the comments about how fat people don't know how to eat, and we're un-attractive. Pandagon is a pretty progressive place most of the time, being a feminist blog, perhaps someone would like to join me in applying the clue-by-four to some heads?

I wish I could join you Wallflower! All the more reason for us to post comments. Even if we don't want to wade through all the ignorance, we still can and should support Campos. I tried to post, but it won't let me. I did register, and it keeps taking me back to the last comment with no place to post. Probably my darn browser. If anyone can tell me what I am doing wrong, or point me to another place to post, I will be more than happy to.

Oh, wait a minute. Does one have to pay to talk back! I don't think I want to order the New Republic.

It always amazes me that people who would never dream of saying such mean things about LGBTQs (imagine oh-so-hip progressive types saying "they're LGBTQ because they don't know how to love, they're damaged," the way it used to be commonly thought 20-25 years ago) could be so totally in the dark about fat. Too many people still think all we have to do is "eat less and exercise more," and presto! No more blubber! It worked for them/their husbands/their aunt Agnes when they had to lose a whole 20 pounds, and they've kept it off for six whole months, by golly! And if we say we have already tried that and more and we're still not thin, we must be lying both to them and to ourselves. I'm not sure I'm up for the emotional exhaustion of dealing with that voluntarily, I did it for years and I'm fecking tired. Kudos to those who still have some intestinal fortitude left for it, though.

pani113, I was talking about the blog post here at Pandagon not the New Republic. The reason I specificially mentioned commenting there is it's a liberal, progressive, feminist blog, and as such many people there should (should) understand the basic concepts behind fat acceptance. Namely, 1. it's my body, and if I am fat it's not anyone elses business but mine, and 2. cultural pressure to conform to any standards of weight and attractiveness come from a society that wrongly declares my body to be public property. And since many otherwise progressive and enlightened people have their heads up their posteriors on that thread, it's a good chance to talk sense to sensible people. Not so much preaching to the choir as just getting the choir to all use the same hymnal at once, which would be nice.

bugmenot is awesome! Hi, first post here. I have read much of what Campos says in a very good book called "Fat Politics" by J. Eric Oliver. And as for Campos' comment: "a 1999 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)--did not attempt to control for any confounding variables other than age, gender, and smoking." It was pointed out to me that what that statement very probably means is that mortality from ANY cause in the obese (other than smoking-related causes, presumably and deaths from pregnancy/childbirth possibly) included things like accidents and murders which had to have been used in the study because they weren't controlled for. More ways to lie with numbers.

Just remember: Anyone who dies while being fat, died from being fat! Our minds are made up, please don't confuse us with the facts!

Thanks Wallflower, I did post there. Thanks! I really wonder if some of those posters on The New Republic weren't stealth spindoctors. Apparently stealth marketing is the newest thing. Some bloggers, posters and even bar patrons are paid to promote a position or product. One of the posters was challenging Campos on the Blair study. How many average readers even know about Steven Blair, let alone the details of his study? They represented special interests in one way or another. Campos and the truth are a tremendous threat to their profits.

Good point, pani113. I hadn't thought of the possibility of paid trolls on some of these blogs, but if the Republicans can send paid trolls to Democratic/progressive blogs, so could the diet/pharma people.