Hillel Schwartz's story, 'Fat and Happy.'
"Obesity is Bliss"
Hillel Schwartz, in his piece, "Fat and Happy?," asserts that society is responsible, rather than the actual weight of the people, for the unhappiness and depression of the obese. With this in mind, he depicts what the world would be like if everyone was fat, while fantasizing of a world in which obesity is embraced and celebrated. First, however, he must admit the difficult truth that obesity is unaccepted in our world today.
Our society does not deal well with overweight people. In a world full of weight loss plans, drugs, diet plans, and exercise equipment, there is much pressure to become thin. Schwartz points out that when these attempts fail, people feel like failures. He claims it is the constant flux of weight, rather than the weight itself, that threatens the body. Also, overweight people are considered socially unacceptable. The same cruel cycle engulfing other minorities encompasses overweight people as they also have less of an advantage in the business world today. Society looks down on the overweight and ridicules them, telling them that they will die early just to make them not eat.
Doctors are just as cruel. Schwartz writes that fifty percent of all dieters are getting their dieting information from doctors who have hardly had any nutritional training. People are told that most of their problems result in fat. Doctors continue to refer these "problems" to psychologists and other professionals for "help". Schwartz stresses that our society will not be content until all are practically emaciated.
Plump, chubby, chunky--whatever one calls it, what would our society be like if all were this way? This is the question Schwartz next considers, and he argues that it would be better. Dinners would be a fine occasion. Eating would be peaceful and gratifying. When they were fed, people would be fulfilled, because there would be no traps laid around food. There would be no eating disorders because no one would see a contrast between their
Hillel Schwartz, in his piece, "Fat and Happy?," asserts that society is responsible, rather than the actual weight of the people, for the unhappiness and depression of the obese. With this in mind, he depicts what the world would be like if everyone was fat, while fantasizing of a world in which obesity is embraced and celebrated. First, however, he must admit the difficult truth that obesity is unaccepted in our world today.
Our society does not deal well with overweight people. In a world full of weight loss plans, drugs, diet plans, and exercise equipment, there is much pressure to become thin. Schwartz points out that when these attempts fail, people feel like failures. He claims it is the constant flux of weight, rather than the weight itself, that threatens the body. Also, overweight people are considered socially unacceptable. The same cruel cycle engulfing other minorities encompasses overweight people as they also have less of an advantage in the business world today. Society looks down on the overweight and ridicules them, telling them that they will die early just to make them not eat.
Doctors are just as cruel. Schwartz writes that fifty percent of all dieters are getting their dieting information from doctors who have hardly had any nutritional training. People are told that most of their problems result in fat. Doctors continue to refer these "problems" to psychologists and other professionals for "help". Schwartz stresses that our society will not be content until all are practically emaciated.
Plump, chubby, chunky--whatever one calls it, what would our society be like if all were this way? This is the question Schwartz next considers, and he argues that it would be better. Dinners would be a fine occasion. Eating would be peaceful and gratifying. When they were fed, people would be fulfilled, because there would be no traps laid around food. There would be no eating disorders because no one would see a contrast between their