The Oppression of Fat People in America Essay -- Obesity Weight Disord

The Oppression of Fat People in America Many people see fat activists as a bunch of whiners who can’t keep their hand out of the cookie jar." — Kimberly, fat activist Being fat is one of the most stigmatizing attributes in America. One cannot live through a single day without encountering numerous forms of fat prejudice in magazines, on television, in the streets, and even in homes. Erving Goffman’s Stigma delineates three types of stigma: abominations of the body, blemishes of individual character, and tribal stigma of race, nation and religion (4). According to Goffman’s definition, being fat is an abomination of the body. Being fat is a highly visible stigma, unlike the stigma of being queer which does not have an outward appearance. According to research in Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality, "Fat oppression, the fear and hatred of fat people, remains one of the few ‘acceptable’ prejudices still held by otherwise progressive persons" (Meadow 132). In fact, people are obsessed with noticing fat, not getting fat, and pointing out to people that they are fat without hesitation. Unlike other stigmas, fat people are blamed for their condition. Society believes that if fat people really wanted to they could just lose weight and be permanently thin. Fat is not the problem, rather fat oppression endorsed and reinforced by society is the problem. I’ve made a conscious choice to use the word fat in this paper; I’ve already used the word ‘fat’ ten times in the first paragraph. The word ‘fat’ and fat itself have negative connotations in our culture, the reasons for which I will explore in my paper, as well as the way people are instituting positive ideological changes about fat. I use to have a hard time using ‘fat’ t... ...way Books, 1999. Meadow, Rosalyn M., and Lillie Weiss. Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality: The Relationship Between Food and Sex. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1992. Muà ±oz, Josà © Esteban. Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 1999. "NAAFA Online." National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Online. Internet. 2 Dec. 2000. Available: http://www.naafa.org Orbach, Susie. Fat is a Feminist Issue†¦the Anti-Diet Guide to Permanent Weight Loss. New York: Paddington Press, 1978. Solovay, Sondra. Tipping the Scales of Justice: Fighting Weight Based Discrimination. New York: Prometheus Books, 2000. Wann, Marilyn. Fat!So?. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1998. Works Consulted Nadius, Beverly. One Size Does Not Fit All. Littleton, CO: Aigis Publications, 1993. The Oppression of Fat People in America Essay -- Obesity Weight Disord The Oppression of Fat People in America Many people see fat activists as a bunch of whiners who can’t keep their hand out of the cookie jar." — Kimberly, fat activist Being fat is one of the most stigmatizing attributes in America. One cannot live through a single day without encountering numerous forms of fat prejudice in magazines, on television, in the streets, and even in homes. Erving Goffman’s Stigma delineates three types of stigma: abominations of the body, blemishes of individual character, and tribal stigma of race, nation and religion (4). According to Goffman’s definition, being fat is an abomination of the body. Being fat is a highly visible stigma, unlike the stigma of being queer which does not have an outward appearance. According to research in Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality, "Fat oppression, the fear and hatred of fat people, remains one of the few ‘acceptable’ prejudices still held by otherwise progressive persons" (Meadow 132). In fact, people are obsessed with noticing fat, not getting fat, and pointing out to people that they are fat without hesitation. Unlike other stigmas, fat people are blamed for their condition. Society believes that if fat people really wanted to they could just lose weight and be permanently thin. Fat is not the problem, rather fat oppression endorsed and reinforced by society is the problem. I’ve made a conscious choice to use the word fat in this paper; I’ve already used the word ‘fat’ ten times in the first paragraph. The word ‘fat’ and fat itself have negative connotations in our culture, the reasons for which I will explore in my paper, as well as the way people are instituting positive ideological changes about fat. I use to have a hard time using ‘fat’ t... ...way Books, 1999. Meadow, Rosalyn M., and Lillie Weiss. Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality: The Relationship Between Food and Sex. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1992. Muà ±oz, Josà © Esteban. Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 1999. "NAAFA Online." National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Online. Internet. 2 Dec. 2000. Available: http://www.naafa.org Orbach, Susie. Fat is a Feminist Issue†¦the Anti-Diet Guide to Permanent Weight Loss. New York: Paddington Press, 1978. Solovay, Sondra. Tipping the Scales of Justice: Fighting Weight Based Discrimination. New York: Prometheus Books, 2000. Wann, Marilyn. Fat!So?. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1998. Works Consulted Nadius, Beverly. One Size Does Not Fit All. Littleton, CO: Aigis Publications, 1993.

Financial Crisis Essay

Dear Grandchildren, The last two decades have seen important milestones being achieved, not only for America, but which also have global impact and implications. These milestones are in the technological, political, and financial arenas. They are also profound in the sense that life as was known before these changes would never be the same again. Below are some of the things I believe are the most significant, simply because they are a sign of the times and which have direct impact on our lives in America. Technologically, there has been a digital revolution, with the advent of the Internet on the world scene. The home computer is now a ubiquitous item, and easily replaces the television and radio as furniture, feature display, and entertainment console. It also provides business solutions, home office setups, a vast knowledge and information database, and connectivity with the rest of the world. There is virtually no chance for anyone to be a hermit anymore. Even we old folks have mastered the basic skills of emailing, skype-ing, googling, and Facebooking. What more can we ask for? These will keep us entertained for many more years to come. There will not be time and lack of interaction for us to grow senile. The array of gadgets is simply gorgeous! Mobile phones, netbooks, iPads, and LED TV screens are now the must-have items. They increase our productivity, schedule our lives, and keep us updated on the go. Social media has given us social convergence and brought us closer as a result; ironically, sometimes, they also cause us to be indifferent and insensitive to those physically closest to us. Politically, the United States has broken through the invisible ceiling and has installed for the first time in its history, an African American president. This is simply unthinkable, and had it not been for this moment in time, would not have happened at all. That said, it may herald the possibility for other minority races in the United States to reach the top spot. Barack Obama, at one stroke, has finally achieved that which had eluded activists all along. He has achieved the realization of emancipation for all African Americans. In his becoming President, he has been able to appease both the Democrats and the Republicans and thus far, he has been even-handed and circumspect. Financially, there has been a tremendous upheaval in both the American and global economies. There was the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 which channeled much of the wealth then to the United States and Europe. This was however, reversed in 2008 when Wall Street literally collapsed, with brokerages, banks, and state institutions falling like dominoes. This has caused untold misery to millions of homeowners in America who had their houses foreclosed. This situation should be seen as completely unique to our time, for the financial equations may no longer work so effectively as before. Coupled with fraud, lack of transparency, and the sheer number of complex financial instruments that flooded the market, the whole financial sector is way overdue for a bypass and cleanup. This is the darkest period since the Great Depression in the 1930s. How will these events influence the future? I believe that these milestones represent yet another great development in the history of America and humanity in general. Technology will only continue to be improved with ever-increasing speeds and frightful ingenuity. The political climate will continue to evolve and result in hopefully a fairer system of governance that will represent the peoples of America. And financially, let us hope that the scares we went through are enough to jolt the wheelers and dealers to the fact that long-term stability is much more desirable than short-term gains and profiteering.

Essay about Two Case Studies for Police Officers - 2960 Words

In life there are a lot of issues that involve social psychology. Being a police officer is a profession that encounters a lot of social psychology issues. One issue that all police officers have to encounter is prejudice. Police officers have to not be prejudiced against the citizens that they are trying to protect and serve the criminals that they must apprehend and also against each other. Two case studies that will be discussed are prejudice against female police officers by their male counterparts and racial prejudice against potential criminals. You’re a female cop. You arrive to your precinct fifteen minutes before you scheduled time to prepare yourself for the day, and you patiently wait for your partner to arrive. Fifteen†¦show more content†¦Although the crowd around you all praised you for your quick thinking and courage, your fellow officers didn’t acknowledge the fact that you did this alone. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Upon arriving back at the precinct with the two suspects and your partner, you immediately are called into the captain’s office. Thinking that you are going to get a little praise from the captain, you instead are reprimanded for not being at your partner’s side from the start, and then for taking control of a public situation with no other back up than yourself. As your captain is yelling at you, you noticed your partner telling the story making him out to be the hero and you to be nothing. Everyone was praising him for his courage when you in fact know the hero of the story was yourself. After you are yelled at, you captain tells you to do the paper work for the arrest and says that you are not to go back on the street for the rest of your shift. Your partner is then partnered up with someone else and goes back out on the street. After your shift is over and you are preparing to go home, you overhear some officers talking about celebrating aft er work with a couple of beers. You start to ask about where they are going and they tell you that you are not invited because it is a boy’s night out. Not only do you feel left out, but also you feel invisible to them and to everyone else.Show MoreRelatedTwo Case Studies for Police Officers2992 Words   |  12 Pagesissues that involve social psychology. Being a police officer is a profession that encounters a lot of social psychology issues. One issue that all police officers have to encounter is prejudice. Police officers have to not be prejudiced against the citizens that they are trying to protect and serve the criminals that they must apprehend and also against each other. Two case studies that will be discussed are prejudice against female police officers by their male counterparts and racial prejudiceRead MoreCase Study #2 Police brutality is becoming more and more apparent in the news today because it1400 Words   |  6 PagesCase Study #2 Police brutality is becoming more and more apparent in the news today because it seems to be occurring more than before. In 2012, the NYPD killed 21 people that year which was an increase by 7 from the previous year (W.A.T.E.R, 1). The numbers are rising in the big cities where more crimes are likely to happen. Toronto isn’t as big as New York City, but it comes to show that police officers are killing more individuals each year. 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The role of