Recently, social media has been abuzz with the term “fat phobia”. What is fat phobia? While often confused, or used interchangeably with fat shaming, unlike verbal or written criticism of fat people, fat phobia is the pathological fear of fatness, that is, being fat or being around fat people. There is even a clinical term for it-cacomorphobia.
As a cultural phenomenon, both fat shaming and fat phobia lead to discrimination against fat people in some way or another. This could be in schools, the workplace, health care settings, and sometimes even families. Fashion houses and clothing designers are only now starting to be more inclusive in their sizes, however, there is still a long way to go.
Since the early 1900’s thinness has been viewed as a sign of discipline and hard work. If one is fat or NOT an “ideal” weight, they may be viewed as lazy, ugly, or unworthy of love or attention. This tendency has led to a number of overweight individuals constantly having to battle mental health issues and fight for equal representation as thin individuals. Moreover, multiple studies have found that reading anti-fat articles has led overweight women to eat more food (Shentow-Bewsh et al., 2016) but can later lead to binges in order to cope with the overwhelming feelings (Lee & Pause, 2016). This means that fat-shaming does NOT encourage them to lose weight (Vogel, 2019), in fact, it only makes them shameful, which pushes them to eat more in order to regulate their emotions. These are the makings of an eating disorder
For one, fat phobia and shaming have led to an epidemic of eating disorders.
Majorly, eating disorders can be classified as:
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Anorexia Nervosa
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Bulimia Nervosa
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Binge Eating
People suffering from anorexia nervosa severely restrict their calorie intake, sometimes to the point of malnutrition. The widespread stigmatization of overweight individuals as “lazy” or “ugly”, and somehow less of a person has led to anorexia nervosa as the most problematic of the eating disorders. This is a sign that fat phobia and shaming not only affect overweight, but also non-overweight individuals.
Here are a few signs that someone might be suffering from an eating disorder:
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Obsessive preoccupation with appearance (constantly checking the mirror to make sure that one looks put together)
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Abnormal eating patterns (over or under eating)
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Disappearing into a bathroom after a meal (could be a sign of binging & purging)
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Preoccupation with “healthy food“ (eg, obsessively researching the nutritional content of food keeping a record of food one can/cannot eat)
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Excessive exercising (spending hours exercising every day, constantly mentioning calories one “burned” and getting upset or even panic-stricken over being unable to exercise)
People-regardless of being overweight or not, who experience fat phobia may often feel funnelled towards eating disorders, anxiety, depression & an array of other psychological disorders. On the brighter side, with rising awareness and an overall, albeit slow, shift towards size inclusion, combatting fat phobia, and its mental health effects can entail the following:
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Explore the notion that it is possible for fat people to be healthy
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Restrict diet and weight related talk
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Speak up against bullies and shamers
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Work out as a celebration of what your body is capable of, not as punishment for eating
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Learn about companies or large conglomerates that may be profiting from people belittling themselves
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Remember, “fat” is not a synonym for “ugly,” “undisciplined,” “unlovable,” “uninteresting,” or “unhealthy,” or anything else that it is so frequently compared to.
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Educate yourself about fatness by following body positive and fat activists on social media
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Neutralizing the term “fat” may help reduce phobia and disassociate it with any negative connotations
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Finally, seek professional help to manage any severe symptoms like eating disorders, depression, and anxiety.
Fat phobia and shaming are societal constructs so deeply ingrained in our minds, that even the word “fat” can trigger negative feelings in overweight and non-overweight individuals alike. Collectively, we need to stop asking fat people to love their bodies, and start asking ourselves as to what it is that we’re doing to create a world where overweight people won’t have to hate themselves.
Note: This article has been written for informational purposes and is not to be used for diagnosis, nor is it a substitute for seeking professional help.
