In her article, “Fat and Happy: In defense of Fat Acceptance,” Mary Ray Worley makes many well-supported points through explaining her personal experience of living her life as a fat person. Americans have been told for so many years that it is unattractive and unhealthy to be fat. Worley claims, “We ” re so accustomed to this way of thinking that many of us never considered an alternative.” Attending the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) in San Diego, Worley had a life changing experience. It was here that she learned how deeply her body shame affected her life.
She became more educated and aware of the many misconceptions society (herself included) has about being fat. She also became aware of some alternative thinking. One major element of Worley’s argument is the experience she enjoyed at the NAAFA convention. Worley’s account of her experience at the convention is based on her new awareness of many activities that other people like her enjoyed without feeling shame. Worley referred to the climate of the convention as a “different planet.” Among the activities were swimming, belly dancing, and singing. Worley participated in singing and had the time of her life.
She writes about the belly dancing act with great admiration, vividly describing the dancers and boldly stating how beautiful they were. Worley’s article discusses gaining a good self-esteem on a personal level. She has achieved this through her personal experience at the convention. She clearly identifies many effective ways of accepting herself as a fat person. One draw back to Worley’s argument is the fact that she makes no mention of how to inform the public to ways of curing the negative attitudes we have about fat people. How can the attitude of the public be changed towards large bodied people? Not all fat people have the opportunity to attend a NAAFA convention and there is little in the media that portrays heavy people in a positive way.
The Essay on Learning People Vs Experience
There are many things that influence a person's life. Kids learn from their parents and elders learn by their own life experience. These two influence a persons life differently. These two ways of learning have their own different advantages. Some people prefer to listen to other people instead of listening to their own parents or relatives and some people prefer to experience the life by doing ...
What can be done? Another strong piece in Worley’s argument is the mention of DR. Diane Budd, a featured guest speaker at the convention. Dr. Budd spoke on the medical and scientific aspects of fat people, noting that body size is mainly genetic. With the scientific knowledge about genetic makeup, professionals still think that dieting is the healthiest prescription for fat people.
Worley claims that thousands of dollars are spent on dieting programs but in the end most fat people end up gaining the weight back. Metabolism also plays a part in body weight. Worley learned that bodies have the natural ability to slow the metabolic rate when food consumption changes which keeps us from starvation. With the education and the new attitude Worley gained about herself from her week on a “different planet”, she lives her life comfortably in the body she has. Worley argues that being fat is not what is unhealthy, being ashamed is. So how does a fat person stay healthy? Worley concludes that through being active, eating responsibly, setting goals, dressing sharply and keeping a positive attitude you should remain healthy in the body you have..
