Quote Originally Posted by Cheesevixen View Post
To me you are asking, "do we have the right to put someone down for the way they look." We are all adults. The answer is no. The usual common answer to that is no. So unless you have a different question please move on from that.
Okay, I will give you a different question (though related). DO you think we are implicitly putting someone down for the way they look by contributing to this thread?

For many, it is a challenge to be healthy. It's easy to say "Oi, put down that Chicken McCheese", but a lot harder when such issues can go deeper than what many assume.

There was a an overweight kid at my college ('high school' for you Americans) who wasn't really bullied, just told he was overweight, and needed to do something about it. He tried and tried to, but couldn't lose weight, and continued to put more on. While no one really made fun of him directly, it did go on behind his back, and just in forms such as sniggering when he came home last in a race. He didn't commit suicide (as MANY do), but he did change schools. His mother came to our assembly the next week, and confronted the whole school on what had happened. She explained how he would come home from school sad, not crying, but sad. He would exercise, and his mother gave him healthy food, but it just didn't work. For what reason, I don't know. But this lady stood there and asked us what right we had to judge her son, and make him feel horrible about himself. I never saw anyone say that he was fat to his face, but boy must we have made him feel it.

What I'm saying is, that it is simple things that create insidious negative self-perceptions. Outright saying that being fat is disgusting and you should be made fun of for being so, does actually occur. Been to school at all? Maybe it's happened to you? It is even happening to a small extent here, though most are saying this in the context of being healthy, so it's not too bad. If it was worse, this thread wouldn't have lasted this long.

Women often talk about perceptions of beauty that are presented in the media. The common vein is that models are at an unreasonable weight, and there has been a noticeable backlash against such "size zero" frames. Consider though that what is a reasonable, attainable weight varies widely across people, and that it does damage to imply, or even outright say, that being fat is not beautiful.

Again, by all means, appreciate a healthy weight in your opposite (or same) sex. Just be aware that it can be damaging to people who find weight an issue.