The weight debate rages on with Mary Ray Worley’s essay, "Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance." Worley, who is a member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), argues that “trying to manipulate our bodies into being something they’re not” (167), bearing the guilt about one's body, and trying to change how one looks in order to bring others happiness is not the way to live. Worley uses her experiences at the annual NAAFA convention and some examples of her lifestyle changes to demonstrate that it is possible to stay happy with your body even if it is overweight. Worley seeks to dispel and shatter many of the stereotypes often placed upon the overweight even though her article uses the same stereotyping that she condemns society for. While Worley's use of first-person at times accomplishes the task of displaying how fat and happy can coexist, her lack of adequate information and her opinionated statements throughout the essay render it ineffective.
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Worley’s claim that a person’s genetic makeup is involved with his/her size is solid because the article "Genes Are Not Destiny" agrees with her and testifies that there is evidence that displays that varying body fat levels and vulnerabilities to obesity in people are due to genetic factors. However, Worley still fails to focus on all of the other factors that may contribute to obesity, particularly diet. For example, even though Worley cites that she became a vegetarian, she lacks information that specifies on why it is important to eat healthy. Worley claims that it is "very likely that the health risks of being fat have been highly overestimated" (165), but Ira Dreyfuss, an Associated Press writer, would disagree because she states that "heavier people have a higher risk of conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels"
Worley’s claim that a person’s genetic makeup is involved with his/her size is solid because the article "Genes Are Not Destiny" agrees with her and testifies that there is evidence that displays that varying body fat levels and vulnerabilities to obesity in people are due to genetic factors. However, Worley still fails to focus on all of the other factors that may contribute to obesity, particularly diet. For example, even though Worley cites that she became a vegetarian, she lacks information that specifies on why it is important to eat healthy. Worley claims that it is "very likely that the health risks of being fat have been highly overestimated" (165), but Ira Dreyfuss, an Associated Press writer, would disagree because she states that "heavier people have a higher risk of conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels"