2023-04-26 20:25:45
In recent months, a discussion has raged around a new term that is gaining popularity: fatophobia. And so that you leave doubts, we tell you what is fatphobiahow to identify it and what are its expressions.
The US National Library of Medicine defines overweight and obesity as being overweight for a given height.
Overweight is not necessarily due to fat, as there may be muscle, bone or water overweight.
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What should be understood by fatphobia?
The National Autonomous University of Mexico together with the Council to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination of Mexico City define fatphobia as the discrimination experienced by fat people for the fact of being fat.
It is a sociocultural, economic and political phenomenon and it occurs because there are many prejudices towards people who do not conform to traditional beauty standards. It is not any kind of fear of big or fat people, on the contrary, fatphobia refers to acts of belittling or mocking these people.
And although many people consider that the recommendations that are made to fat people are “for their health”, the reality is that they end up affecting them more than benefiting them.
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Why does fatphobia occur?
Fatphobia exists because society wants people to conform to a standard of beauty in which only thin people can access opportunities.
The problem is that many times the thin people who have access to these opportunities (work, personal, professional, etc.) are not healthy people either, so the negative judgment tends to focus solely on contempt for large or fat bodies to deny them opportunities or discriminate against people because of their weight.
What are the consequences of fatphobia?
The main consequences of acts of fatophobia directly threaten the mental health of the person. A person who has suffered or suffers ridicule, acts of discrimination and even physical attacks due to her weight can develop problems such as:
Acts of fatphobia frequently lead the affected person to hate their own body and this can cause them to resort to dangerous diets or exercises that endanger their general well-being in order to lose weight.
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Where do we find fatphobia?
The Bilbao Psychology Center points out that fatophobia is present in almost all aspects of life, from public institutions, to comments or actions that take place at home with close family.
Fatphobia is present in science, friendships, schools, and culture.
Depending on the context, they will be the type of expressions of fatphobia that you can find. For example, you have suffered or exercised acts of fatphobia when:
- The doctor assumes that fat people are fat for pleasure and not for any medical or emotional condition
- You use se han referring to you as “fat” or “fat” as an insult
- At work, fatphobia is expressed when you cannot access jobs or promotions because of the way you look
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As you can see, to understand what is fatphobia, it is necessary to remove our prejudices and be open to conversation to practice tolerance and empathy with all people so that no one endangers their health again because of the social context.
If you or someone you know has suffered attacks of fatphobia, it is best to go to therapy with a professional who does not have purchased prejudices towards food and fat people, in this way you guarantee that you will be in a safe space where you will not be will minimize.
If you need help to control the anxiety caused by discriminatory acts or for any other reason, we leave you this video that will help you.
Clarification:
The content shown is the responsibility of the author and reflects his point of view, but not the ideology of Salud180.com
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