SkepticOverlord, please weigh in......

Lately in the United States, we've seen alot about the rights of different groups.

The #BlackLivesMatter stories. LGBT stories. Anti and Pro Islam stories. Handicapped stories. Stories about the mentally disabled. Stories about gender equality.

What I'd like to address, with you SlepticOverlord, is the situation with "sacred cows".

It is impolite and unacceptable to pick on, harass, or openly affront any particular group here on ATS. Hell, one of the stickied forum topis here is that of "Decorum".

The thread in question that I wish to discuss is the thread that was started either a day or two ago about the "walk of shame" where an obese person was forced off an airplane and was humiliated by the airline.


Here is my issue.

Today, you cannot make fun of or say negative things (in society as a whole) about people for such things. Religion, race, physical or mental disabilities. Should one do so in today's world, you are immediately attacked and branded such things as "Racist" or "Homophobe" or "Islamaphobe"....whatever might be the appropriate "-phobe" du jour.


However, the obese...no, they are the sacred cows. The immature will chuckle and snort over what might be received as a pun, or a joke.... in describing the obese as cows. But, no. I am saying they are the sacred cows....ones that will continue on being treated in the manner society decides to do so without change.


Am I obese? Yes. I am. Am I one to complain about the lifelong harassment and torment? No, normally I am not.

But, please read the comments in the thread I am pointing out. Tell me that the vitriolic hatred is not visible.

"once, I had to sit next a behemoth of a blubber-man, who couldn't contain himself within his own armrests. His blubber overflowed and touched me. He smelled and was overall disgusting!". I am intentionally paraphrasing.

Everyone has the right to live life. Everyone has the right to do everything another person can do should they so wish. They deserve the right to do so without ridicule and without the openly protected "right" of others to torment them.

Had that been a comment or thread about a certain race...gender...sexual orientation...religion...etc, and folks made the same blatant attacks (common to the 5th and 6th grade school children, might I add), they would have been censured. In an expeditious fashion.


SkepticOverlord, please read my post that I put in that thread. I pointed out that, hey.... you feel that your rights are infringed upon by an obese person who happens to be sitting next to you, then fine. Address it. But be fair to all parties involved.

And in the same light, all that I ask of you, is that you be fair. Apply the same treatment that someone otherwise speaking in so derogatory of a fashion towards anything but the socially acceptable and sacred cows of that same society.


All I am asking for is fairness, and equal rights. As well as equal responsibilities. Ask me to be compassionate and speak with decorum? Then please request that all do.


Thank you.

Playing devils advocate here,

You talk about the rights of certain groups;

The #BlackLivesMatter stories. LGBT stories. Anti and Pro Islam stories. Handicapped stories. Stories about the mentally disabled. Stories about gender equality.

My question is, are you comparing who someone is, versus, what someone decided to become?

Why not lump people that have tattoos and feel they aren't treated equally? People with face piercings/tattoos? People that choose to not shower or bush their hair?

Are people rude? Yup. Always will be. Time changes people, don't pay attention to those bullies, they'll learn eventually.

SkepticOverlord, please weigh in......

Funny.... in a thread about Fat people and how they're treated.

I'm fat. People treat me like crap all the time. I take psych meds that give me a horrid appetite. It is very hard to control my eating habits, but I've managed to limit myself enough that I fit comfortably in an airline seat.

I'm very embarrassed by my size. I was an athletic person until I became ill, three percent bodyfat, so this has been a shocking adjustment.

I think the OP is being kind to some very nasty people here on ATS. I do not have as high an opinion of the conduct in the thread cited.

There are some real bas****s here and you know who you are.

My post is directed to SkepticOverlord.

I posted it publicly, and admitted that I myself am obese, as I am not ashamed nor do I wish to go secretly complaining.

However, I felt it was something that needed to be said upfront and in the light.


I will not address this issue again, in any way shape or form, with other forum members other than the moderators.

a reply to: nullafides

Go on a diet and lose some weight if your that bothered.

originally posted by: Restricted
I'm fat. People treat me like crap all the time. I take psych meds that give me a horrid appetite. It is very hard to control my eating habits, but I've managed to limit myself enough that I fit comfortably in an airline seat.

I'm very embarrassed by my size. I was an athletic person until I became ill, three percent bodyfat, so this has been a shocking adjustment.

I think the OP is being kind to some very nasty people here on ATS. I do not have as high an opinion of the conduct in the thread cited.

There are some real bas****s here and you know who you are.

Im in the same position.

I am fat.

But it sounds like me your not obese. And you still take effort in controlling what weight you can.

And if your like me you take good effort in body hygiene .


Its the complete jabba wannabes thay take no effort and have no excuse.

Its one thing being a few stone over weight. Its another being a 25 stone behemoth thats ozzes fat and sweet slime.

a reply to: nullafides

Everyone has the right to live life. Everyone has the right to do everything another person can do should they so wish. They deserve the right to do so without ridicule and without the openly protected "right" of others to torment them.

So you think it's your right to take half of your neighbours seat due to the volume you bring into the plane? You wouldn't like me constantly blowing smoke into your face as well, would you?
It's rather a question of respect me thinks, don't take a specific rant regarding a very uncomfortable topic as an attack on obedient persons in general.

Let's better find something we all strive for: bigger seats and more fricken space on planes/ busses/ trains! I'm a very tall person and encounter similar problems on a daily basis.

The obese are the only group left in this country it is ok to treat poorly based entirely on their appearance.

Not everyone who is obese chose to be that way. Think about it. If it was really nothing more than a choice, who wouldn't be fit and healthy? (edit: you can be overweight and be perfectly healthy too - the one does not always exclude the other)

ATS, I think I gave you waaaaay too much credit. I have run across people I felt were incredibly childish and hateful on this site, but I believed it was limited to specific topics. It amazes me how incredibly sensitive some people can be, how rhetorical they can be on some topics, then turn hypocrite and become everything they railed against in previous threads.

My weight has been on a yo yo my entire adult life. Being a weigh lifter, suffering a motorcycle accident and long recovery, surviving cancer, becoming permanently disabled, among other things and a myriad of meds. Each of these affect weight and weight loss in profound ways. I have been dealing with this my entire life. Even in the military, with the physical regimen they maintain, I was still overweight. It is not simply a choice. And even if it was, why does that make childish, bullying, and hateful behavior acceptable?

Short answer: it doesn't.

originally posted by: nullafides
It is impolite and unacceptable to pick on, harass, or openly affront any particular group here on ATS.

Indeed.

What level of policing thought would you have us engage?

I haven't read the thread, and it's exceptionally generous to presume on any given day, I've been able to see even 1% of all the new threads created here.

Despicable comments that cause offense to some, but not contrary to our Terms & Conditions, are not the purview of our staff. Either ignore it, or call it out for what it is.

Bottom line, people suck.

originally posted by: crazyewok
a reply to: nullafides

Go on a diet and lose some weight if your that bothered.

You've gone out of your way to act like a wiener and a wiener you will always be.

Weight loss is not an easy struggle, and it is a struggle.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

All I am asking for, is fair treatment.

I am saying that the sheer vitriol people are using with regards to this is no different than that of someone who was actively promoting anti-semitism or racially bigotry.

I have seen the mods intervene on these things before as well.

You can quickly find the thread. Please review it. That is all I am asking for.

In all actuality, you can see prime and pristine examples of what I describe in this very thread itself.

I am not asking for special treatment. I am not asking for accounts to be closed.

I am asking for fair treatment of real offenses.




And yes, people do as a general rule suck. And I have far more succinct and descriptive terms which I'd use, but are against T&C.

originally posted by: nullafides
My post is directed to SkepticOverlord.

I posted it publicly, and admitted that I myself am obese, as I am not ashamed nor do I wish to go secretly complaining.

However, I felt it was something that needed to be said upfront and in the light.


I will not address this issue again, in any way shape or form, with other forum members other than the moderators.

I can respect that. You should have private messaged him though if you weren't looking for people to agree with/disagree with you.

By posting it publicly, you are opening yourself up to questions asked that may provide another viewpoint and if that isn't what you were looking for, then a private message was the way to go.

a reply to: nullafides

Remember the alert button. I agree that there should be decorum, and some comments in that thread were uncivil; but objecting to the unpleasantness of being wedged in with a person who takes more space than is available shouldn't be brought to censorship, nor should debate on the responsibility of the individual for ending up in that condition. If you say that discussion should take place without name calling I'm with you though.

I have seen equal contempt expressed towards others (including your sacred cows), and that thread isn't making exceptions to allow discrimination against the obese.

It's easy, just take other peoples feelings into consideration, when discussing this topic some people seem almost angry at overweight people, all you have to do is discus it with class, is that, that hard?

I was always thin until I got older, it can happen to you.

I think the cause of obesity in the world is more than meets the eye

www.washingtonpost.com...

Plus since when is a size 12 plus size?

Sheeeese

Yeah I agree somewhat.

Can't we just all get along and happily offend eachother?

it makes life more simple

As has been mentioned, we (staff) can not be everywhere all the time.

There are many more members than staff, and so many new posts and threads.

We also have lives outside of ATS and are not on all the time.

The best thing to do is to NOT ASSUME that we see something. It's better to pretend that all the moderators are behind a closed door, and you need to knock to get our attention. Many times I'll post in a thread, and then wander off, not to see any other replies to that thread.

If you see a post or thread that you think either violates our TCs, or that you think is just rude, violates our standards for civilty and decorum, speak up! use the Alert button and get our attention!

It might take us a while to get to it, but we will see the alerts and talk about them. Always!

I can not promise that we will always take action over the alert, but I can promise you that it will be looked at.

And do NOT assume that someone else is going to alert it either. Too many times someone may post something that we (staff) will do something about, but it goes unnoticed by us, and NO ONE alerted it!

We are not asking you to be a "rat" and tell on people. But we are asking all of you out there to help us keep things civil. If some member resorts to name calling, alert us to it.

Keep in mind to that anyone that has to resort to insults and name calling is most likely someone you do not want to debate anything with anyways. So instead of replying: alert us to it instead. Let us staff take care of that individual. Be the better person and simply respond to someone else, or just add your own thoughts to a thread.

a reply to: nullafides

Fides... I just skipped that stupid thread. It was obvious from the title that the morons who find their own glory in deriding others for any and all reasons would gravitate to that thread like fish to bait.

a reply to: nullafides

Sure you can pick on, make fun of or say negative things about people, or groups of people.

Just be prepared for the consequences of your words.

The thing about obese people? They're among all races, nationalities, religions or creeds. All lifestyles have obese people. It's one of those groups of people that crosses all gender, racial, and religious lines.

Being fat is one of those things that is deeply personal to people. People know they're fat. They feel ashamed for being fat, and having someone point it out stings very, very badly.

That's probably the reason this group seems like a "sacred cow" -- and probably why America is so accepting of obese people.

Me? I don't care. You can harass me for my views on obesity all day long, but you are only proving my point that America is condoning obesity as a protected class when there are things one can do to not be fat.

I'm two hundred sixty five pounds.