Fraters Libertas

Open Up Your Mouth And Feed It

Waltzing around the fair this past weekend it was hard not to notice the incredible amount of obesity in our fellow Minnesotans (and that was just at the Fraters booth).

While many are fighting their waist lines, others have embraced the pathology and are attempting to do for obesity what Andrew Sullivan is trying to do for buggery.

I’ll try to stifle my desire to make a joke out of their cause, but it is dangerous to tell people that being fat is some kind of social construct that isn’t inherently unhealthy or life-threatening.

Let’s see what’s out there on this topic...

Here’s a blog dedicated to fighting the perception that fat people are unhealthy. And it proudly tells us that “Big Fat Blog does not promote weight loss”. Okay.

Here’s the NAACP of the fat acceptance movement, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. It’s basically run like any special interest advocacy group: raise money, boycott companies that offend them, raise “awareness”.

“A chicken in every pot, a moutain of stuffing, pounds of mashed potatoes, gallons of gravy, pecan pies the size of truck tires and diet Coke for all” is their motto.

Here’s a list of doctors that are “Fat friendly”. Apparently these docs won’t get after you about your weight and will ignore it as a health issue. One person wrote this description of a doctor’s office in Grand Rapids Michigan:

There are large armless chairs in the waiting room, very large gowns and sturdy, bolted-down exam tables. They have a new electronic scale that weighs to 400lbs, but the nurses generally don't question if you ask not to be weighed.

After witnessing St. Paul’s corn dog consumption on Friday and seeing this picture of myself and the Elder, it may not be long before these sites come in real handy.