I have pretty much let the blogs go this last year, due to dying father, starting a new business, an AS son starting high school, and the pressures involved with them. But after being flamed on a FA blog site, I felt like it was time to come off the mountain and reassert myself in cyberspace.
Why is it that people online think that they can post any damn thing they like, whether or not it is appropriate? Is this something they would have the balls to say to your face in person? Probably not. The FA (fat acceptance) groups are no different. After posting a comment on a FA blog, I was flamed mightily by someone who was new to the group, and I think she totally overstepped herself. I find myself becoming disillusioned by the FA community for many reasons. I understand that everyone is different. I get it. Being severe Asperger's Syndrome myself, I'm different from those non-AS (neuro-typical) people. I have a different thought process, certainly different morals and ethics, than most other people. I do not have an eating disorder. I just love food, and eat too much of it. When I stop doing that, and take moderate exercise, I lose weight. I do feel lucky that I don't have the problems some others face where their own bodies work against them, and they are unable to lose weight w/o extreme measures. Should I mention this on any FA blogs or sites, I would be flamed out out of existence. Every time someone mentions anything to do with actually losing weight, the FA people scream like panthers, some claiming that certain words 'trigger' their eating disorder, so these things should never be mentioned in their vicinity.
I am absolutely not denying that there are real eating disorders out there. I have met people with true eating disorders. I have, however, met many, many more people who claim they have it, and are just lazy slugs who would rather whine about how no one accepts their fat, while stuffing a double cheeseburger, fries and a shake into their mouth. Other than the nasty brat name calling when I was a kid, I have never experienced the things that the FA community claims happens to them (Let me just state yet again that I am not calling all FA people liars. Just some of them.) I have never had anyone refuse to make eye contact with me. I have never been hassled on a plane because I'm fat. I have never been ignored in a store by a clerk. But then, I'm not a whiny titty baby. If a clerk ignores me, I call them on it. But then, I'm not a victim. I don't go around saying how it's all society's fault that I am not accepted. Bah, humbug.
I learned long ago after a lifelong butting of heads with my parents that you will never change someones mind when it's made up. You will only be able to change someones mind who is open to it, and maybe on the fence about a subject. (And I include myself in this too, as I am a person.) I would rather just ignore the ignorant, and use my energy and time on something worthwhile. Yes, yes, I know the famous poem, First They Came..., written by Martin Niemoller in 1955. Activism isn't changing the way someone thinks, the ones that work are the ones who overwhelm their opponents with sheer numbers. Those people you think you changed their minds, are simply giving in. Does that make it any less effective? I can't say. I do know however, that I do not have the time, energy or interest in being one.
A Theory
7 years ago
