Article: Why Black Women are Fat - Page 9

On May 14 2012 23:10 Saline wrote:

What I think is more likely is that black women, being a racially oppressed minority, garner more social support from each other than do white women. As a result, their bodies are generally praised, regardless of what they look like. Being proud of your body is something that is almost necessary when the entire issue of racial discrimination is centered around what you look like (i.e. your skin color). In other words, black communities are less self-critical of their members' looks, because being critical of how they look is exactly the issue that they're fighting AGAINST.

On May 15 2012 02:19 TheDraken wrote:

in other words, i'm not going to work extra hours just so i can pay for 6 fat women's insulin.

On May 14 2012 23:10 Saline wrote:
This article is completely littered with standard human cognitive biases. Almost all of her evidence is anecdotal--"I wanted to be fat, so it's probably something most people feel" or "I remember hearing women say they wanted to be fat, so most of them must feel that way." Confirmation bias: humans remember that which conforms to their presuppositions, and ignore that which does not.

What I think is more likely is that black women, being a racially oppressed minority, garner more social support from each other than do white women. As a result, their bodies are generally praised, regardless of what they look like. Being proud of your body is something that is almost necessary when the entire issue of racial discrimination is centered around what you look like (i.e. your skin color). In other words, black communities are less self-critical of their members' looks, because being critical of how they look is exactly the issue that they're fighting AGAINST.

The result is that fat black people are not selectively targeted for humiliation, as are commonly white people, and less pressure is on them to change the way they look. The unfortunate result is an increased prevalence of weight-related problems, such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems. Compound this with the fact that blacks generally fall into lower income brackets, and those in lower income brackets eat less healthy in general, and we have a weight issue that is a combination of culture and socioeconomic status.

The issue is not as simple as the article leads us to believe, and I actually dislike the message. Black people don't want to be fat. They know it's not healthy, and saying that they want to be fat seems almost racist to me.

On May 14 2012 23:08 obsidia wrote:
maybe they are fat because they eat too much?

On May 14 2012 23:54 FuzzyJAM wrote:
There's no doubt that many cultures regard being overweight as positive - after all, for a long time it was a sign of affluence, and still is in much of the world.

As to this specifically. . .eh, don't really see it, but whatever, it's not beyond possibility as a reason. I suspect the fact that American black people are of a lower social class on average than other ethnic groups has a larger amount to do with it.

On May 15 2012 01:51 tavelscrabble wrote:
A lot of people are keen to reduce this issue to a single variable - poverty. But its not that simple. Obesity rates in most US states are around 30% (yes even on the East Coast) and poverty rates are more like 15%. Absolutely poverty has a huge role to play but obesity has exploded over the last 15 years, poverty rates have not. obesity in US http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States Unfortunately social problems are rarely simple and culture almost always has a role to play.

On May 15 2012 04:24 Blennd wrote:


Nope, this is TL.net, where upper middle class white kids can easily explain the world's problems with a simple one liner and a link to a poverty study.

On May 15 2012 01:11 legendstormcrow wrote:

That I can dispute. Academic types are often fat becuase they poor so much into their work. Your second statement I can concur with.

On May 15 2012 03:31 Flamingo777 wrote:
I find it challenging to follow the logic that is: I must be fat to be non slave-like.

On May 15 2012 04:24 Blennd wrote:


Nope, this is TL.net, where upper middle class white kids can easily explain the world's problems with a simple one liner and a link to a poverty study.

On May 15 2012 04:24 Blennd wrote:


Nope, this is TL.net, where upper middle class white kids can easily explain the world's problems with a simple one liner and a link to a poverty study.

On May 15 2012 04:42 Holy_AT wrote:
I am racist towards the human race, and I think that human kind is unevolved and uncivilized.
They are stupid machines.
For me humans are not even selfaware ... some few individuals, one in millions is maybe beginning to become self aware and to see behind its programming and see the world as it is.
Humans are primitive and vile, all of them. They should be treated with utmost caution.
They have no sense of morals and ethics, how could they....

On May 15 2012 02:18 Schematic wrote:
European, african and asian body types are completely different in form and function. Black people need to stop worrying about European standards of beauty. African american males typically have higher natural muscle density, and the women are naturally shapelier and have bigger thighs, hips and butts than other races. Which was looked down upon until white women started to sport it lol. And as for the higher or lower mean IQ, that is because the education system does not fit african americans as Blacks typically learn better Mnemonically, because blacks are right brain dominant. Thats why blacks are good with music and sound naturally, while whites and asians are better with straight logic. Just like how women and men are different in SLIGHT ways. We are the same, but then again we are not in certain ways. Do not interpret what I have said negatively, and that doesn't mean that Americans in general don't eat very poorly, and with how black people's body's are we are more suceptible to what is considered overwieght. But societal perception has a lot to do with it.