So what’s a headless fatty?

I found Charlotte Cooper’s website, on which she coined the term HEADLESS FATTIES. A headless fatty is a picture of a fat person without a head, duh! Well, actually, its the phenomenon of the news media taking pictures of fat people (mostly women) and using them as basically spokespeople for the “obesity” epidemic – but without showing their heads. This is a legal way to media outlets to get stock photos and drive their point home. I understand why they do this and the legalities of it, but what I am here to say is that I still don’t think it is right.

I don’t think it’s right because it uses someone’s body to promote a message shame and self-hatred; it makes an “example” out of someone’s body. This disturbs me deeply. My body is just that, my body. I will decided what message I want to send with it and what it will promote. I only get one body – I’ll put it to good use – but this isn’t good use. I couldn’t imagine seeing a picture of myself with an article about how people like me are unhealthy and ought to be ashamed of themselves. Using my picture to embody all of the stereotypes of fat people: a lack of self-discpline, a dependency on food, an early death, a strain on healthcare, etc.

This pictures hurt me. They make me think of being the fat angsty teenager. And the chubby child. And of all of the people who were chubby kids, fat teenagers, and are fat adults now, who struggle to love themselves and be accepted. These pictures bother me because they are so unintentionally symbolic – the removal of the head – taking off heads is taking off the brain, the mouth, and what people look at everyday. Left with just a body – it’s objectifying.

But I have a project I invite you to join…

  Fatties with Heads
http://www.tabayag.com/fatties-with-heads/

On my website,  I have made a page called Fatties with Heads, for people to submit pictures of themselves – ALL of themselves, and be proud of who they are. No objectification, no talk of obesity – just beautiful pictures of real people. So, are you in?! Send your amazing pictures to me at sarah[at] tabayag [dot] com and be part of an amazing journey toward acceptance! Fat is beautiful!

For Immediate Release
January 29, 2010

Oakland, CA – First Lady Michele Obama has recently announced her intention to focus on childhood obesity prevention.  NAAFA encourages the First Lady to consider all the research before taking action and supporting any program that may do more harm than good.

Mrs. Obama, please explore and consider the following:

•  When important figures such as parents, teachers and peers in children’s social environment endorse a preference for thinness and place an importance on weight control, this can contribute to body dissatisfaction, dieting, low self-esteem and weight bias among children and adolescents (Davison & Birch, 2001; Davison & Birch, 2004; Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006; Smolak, Levine, & Schermer, 1999).

•  The stigmatization of large children has increased by 40% over the last 30 years (Latner & Stunkard, 2003).

•  Many drugs presently being prescribed to children cause weight gain.  There was a 40 fold increase in bi-polar diagnoses in children between 1994 and 2003.  90.6% of youth received a psychotropic medication during bipolar disorder visits.  For many, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and antidepressants were also prescribed.  (Arch Gen Psychiatr,. 2007)

•  Prescribing dieting is, in effect, prescribing weight cycling, and many people will be fatter in the long run (Mann, 2007).

•  Weight-control practices among young people reliably predict greater weight gain, regardless of baseline weight, than that of adolescents who do not engage in such practices (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2006).

•  Based on results from a population-based, longitudinal study with 2,500 teens, Neumark-Sztainer and colleagues at the University of Minnesota (2006) concluded that to prevent obesity and eating disorders, the focus needs to be on health much more than weight.  The more weight per se is talked about, the more likely teens are to adopt dangerous dieting behaviors.

•  A 2006 study from UCLA suggests our media and cultural obsession with achieving a certain weight does little or no good and may actually undermine motivation to adopt exercise and other healthy lifestyle habits.

•  The National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated in 2008 that childhood obesity has leveled off.

NAAFA urges the First Lady to:

•  Partner with us and our many resources in the scientific and healthcare communities to examine this issue.  Fat children are already the targets of merciless bullying.  NAAFA urges Mrs. Obama not to support any programs that would create a pervasive bias against fat children. 

•  Consider Guidelines for Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs found at: http://www.aedweb.org/media/Guidelines.cfm  Childhood School Plans at http://www.healthyweight.net/schools.htm  and Guidelines for Children at http://www.healthyweight.net/children.htm

•  Support the Health at Every Size (HAES) tenets which state that healthy habits are good for EVERYONE, no matter what their size. Eat healthy, nutritious foods and enjoy occasional treats. Pay attention to your natural hunger and satiety cues. Move your body in ways that feel good rather than exercise focused solely on weight loss.

“Obesity has a strong genetic component that is expressed in environments that foster sedentary activity and eating an energy dense diet”, stated Joanne Ikeda, Nutritionist Emeritus, University of California Berkeley, “Therefore, we encourage First Lady Michelle Obama to promote environmental changes in school settings that support enjoyable physical activity and consumption of a wide variety of nutritious, appetizing foods.”

This issue is about the critical need to create environments in which children and adolescents do not feel shame or guilt about their bodies but, rather, are motivated to enjoy healthful eating and active living habits regardless of their body size or shape.

Founded in 1969, NAAFA is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people. NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination based on body size and provide fat people with the tools for self-empowerment through public education, advocacy, and member support.

On the web: 
http://www.naafa.org

For more information contact:
Peggy Howell, Public Relations Director, NAAFA
email:  naafa_pr at yahoo dot com

Our first step in doing this is attempting to put an additional meaning   of the word bodacious in the Webster’s dictionary. We believe full figured people   should have size positive words that represent them instead of the negativity that   surrounds the community today. 

We have a petition at http://www.WhatsYourNumber.ORG

where you can stand up for   plus size rights and encouraged a positive spin in describing a fat person. If you would like to support our cause, please sign our petition, because it’s not only   our petition, it’s yours.

If you have already signed, thank you. Try telling a few others, maybe a family   member, a spouse, brother, sister, there is strength in numbers.

Have a Blessed Day
http://www.WhatsYourNumber.ORG

Her blog and her Flickr photo set

I have a few ideas so far about things to talk about and ways to approach these issues with these students, but I was wondering if anybody could help me.

If you have ideas for things that definitely need to get mentioned or activities or quotes that might be good, I hope that you’ll share them with me. If you know of any resources that might be helpful, that would be great too.

Thanks so much!

I’m a physician in training with a desire to be better and to learn about the human condition.  I ask you to join me to make this world a better place for you, and help me enlighten other doctors.  It’s never about “losing weight.”  It’s about empowerment and promoting a happy life.  It’s known that mind and body are interconnected—what good is it to lose weight when you have wounds ailing your mind?  And unfortunately, stethoscopes are not made to hear the inaudible emotional pain in your pulsating heart. 

Write a letter to someone (doctor, sibling, parent, friend, spouse, etc…) to express your gratitude, grief, concerns, anger, or love.  Sometimes,  you want to let it all out but can’t find the right opportunity to express your thoughts verbally.  Or maybe you simply want write a letter to a lover who loves you just the way you are.  I hope to compile enough letters to share your voice to other training physicians in order to help them deliver compassionate medicine to all regardless of size.

Remember you’re NOT defined by a flawed double digit number called BMI.  Help people recognize that. 

Share a story, a letter from your heart here.

I need to finish it as I have additional ideas to add to it. In the meantime I have my photo version of it :D