by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: July 03, 2009   Last Updated: July 04, 2009

Society is having to adapt to the fact that more people are getting fatter, but as it currently stands fat people face a great deal of discrimination. They are still in the minority, and unlike other minority groups within society they generally have no legal recourse. Fat acceptance is about getting people to open their minds; to challenge their preconceptions of what it is to be fat; and to get them to accept and tolerate diversity.

It is difficult to appreciate that any kind of diversity exists in Western society, when it comes to size, since the majority of high profile figures tend to be ultra-slim. Thus, there seems to be a perception that only thin people can be regarded as beautiful. Consequently, celebrities always appear to be trying to slim down further whilst ordinary men and women seem to follow their lead. Nobody is happy with their bodies because they are always striving to be something other than they are. Fat acceptance is driven by individuals who are confident with their size and with their bodies and want others to be as accepting of them as they are of themselves.

For people who often have to contend with abuse for not conforming to society's size standards it takes a lot of strength, self-belief and confidence to stand up for what they believe in and to try to change other people's attitudes. It certainly doesn't help that weight seems to have become medicalised over the years. Instead of working towards eliminating discrimination, fat individuals are now labelled as 'overweight', 'obese', or 'morbidly obese', seeming to make discrimination more acceptable.

Health professionals are always keen to stress that people who do not fall into the 'healthy' weight category are at greater risk of developing health problems even though, on average, slightly overweight individuals tend to live longer than people in any other category. It is clear, then, that a larger person can be just as healthy, if not healthier, than a slim person. However, such a message doesn't sound as good as simply blaming fat individuals for burdening the health system with all their supposed health problems and for causing damage to the economy. Indeed, it almost seems that discrimination against fat individuals is being sanctioned by the powers that be.

It is little wonder, then, that groups promoting fat acceptance have evolved to put across their own viewpoint. Having to endure living in a thin person's world, where everything is designed to accommodate only slim people, it helps if they learn to love themselves and have confidence in their 'fat' status. Often the labels of 'overweight' and 'obese' are rejected by those who don't accept the attempt of medical professionals to label and study them as if they are unusual specimens. They are just as capable of leading a healthy lifestyle as their slimmer counterparts, and their weight isn't necessarily a barrier to this. Fat acceptance is about getting people to understand that weight isn't everything; people can still be large, healthy and happy; and shouldn't be judged or discriminated against because of it.

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