Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance - a Critique

In this day and age obesity is becoming more and more prominent in America. Today, it is not rare to see someone that is obese, as it has become an American epidemic. The pressure to be thin is at its highest and many people across America are battling against their own body. Media and doctors continue to tell society that being fat is intolerable. Whether it is dieting, exercising, or breaking mental barriers, there are countless arguments on how to lose weight. Mary Ray Worley, a member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), takes a unique path to challenge the ideas of fat people and weight loss. In her piece “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance,” Worley provides her own personal experiences, creating motivational messages, and feelings for others that are struggling like she did. However, her argument is limited because there is an absence of true statistics and outside information to back it up.

Worley begins her piece with addressing that if one participates in the American society, they share the common belief that being fat is a liability, and one “would rather die or cut off a limb than be fat” (Worley 163). She then goes on to talk about her first time at the 2000 NAAFA convention, where she met other fat people trying to accept their bodies. In this part of her article, Worley reminisces on the pool parties, talent shows and luxury clothing that was available at the convention. She noticed how everyone was happy and comfortable in their own skin, even though they were fat. While at the convention, her thought process changed on topics including body image, food consumption and being fat. She switches topics and explains the everyday struggles that fat people go through including social ostracism, public ridicule, prejudiced doctors and the burdens of dieting. She used this part of her article to demonstrate to the readers the challenges fat people go through on a daily basis. Worley then proceeds to write that even when fat people try to slim down, they get humiliated even more causing them to stop trying, which lowers their self-esteem. At the end of her piece, Worley includes that her new healthy habits, including hiking with her husband, have all benefited her new lifestyle. She concludes with the fact she has come to terms with her body, and encourages other fat people to create a new relationship with their own body, where it is joyful and one they are proud of.

From the beginning of Worley’s piece, she writes in a first person point of view and adds her own personal experiences in an attempt to tie together an uplifting piece for the reader. By adding her experiences of dealing with obesity and self-esteem issues, the message she is trying to convey becomes more effective for the reader. In her writing, she goes through the process of finding happiness in her body, even with all the negative stigma around her. When Worley talks about the NAAFA convention, she describes

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