Overweight and Overjoyed
Mary Ray Worley in her article “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance,” discusses feeling as if she were in a dazzling new world where people of a larger body type were not “fat shamed” and heckled by both the real world and their inner selves. Worley experiences this epiphany at the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) Conference in San Diego of August 2000. She cites studies that typically go unacknowledged when discussing the health effects of obesity. Worley argues that the heavy set of the world ought to not diet, but rather exercise for pleasure and the sake of promoting good health. However, despite society’s negative views on obesity, Worley observes that obese people may benefit and …show more content…
During her time at the NAAFA Conference, she encountered some overweight belly dancers. These dancers were confident and not afraid to show off their bodies, differing from what Worley was accustomed to (164). She saw these overweight individuals in fashionable clothing like swimsuits and cover-ups (163). Despite their figures, these ladies kept their self-reliance together. Worley then acknowledges multiple factors to weight loss, not just one. She realized that her original mistake was focusing on losing weight instead of being unhealthy (166). She recognized that the measure of her success was obtaining the ability to participate in the endeavors she enjoyed such as hiking with her husband (166). However, after seeing the unapologetic overweight belly dancers, she eventually became conscious of the beauty of her weight and began to feel confident in her appearance.
Currently, obesity is a prevalent topic of conversation in America. Worley’s statement about strangers judging others can often be exemplified by overweight people being regularly ridiculed and discredited because of a number on a scale (163). Yet, Americans do not have identical bodies; each citizen has a unique figure that may be fat, skinny, short, or tall. Worley remarks that many Americans would rather not be alive than be obese due to the fact that family members pressure them into losing weight as well
Mary Ray Worley in her article “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance,” discusses feeling as if she were in a dazzling new world where people of a larger body type were not “fat shamed” and heckled by both the real world and their inner selves. Worley experiences this epiphany at the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) Conference in San Diego of August 2000. She cites studies that typically go unacknowledged when discussing the health effects of obesity. Worley argues that the heavy set of the world ought to not diet, but rather exercise for pleasure and the sake of promoting good health. However, despite society’s negative views on obesity, Worley observes that obese people may benefit and …show more content…
During her time at the NAAFA Conference, she encountered some overweight belly dancers. These dancers were confident and not afraid to show off their bodies, differing from what Worley was accustomed to (164). She saw these overweight individuals in fashionable clothing like swimsuits and cover-ups (163). Despite their figures, these ladies kept their self-reliance together. Worley then acknowledges multiple factors to weight loss, not just one. She realized that her original mistake was focusing on losing weight instead of being unhealthy (166). She recognized that the measure of her success was obtaining the ability to participate in the endeavors she enjoyed such as hiking with her husband (166). However, after seeing the unapologetic overweight belly dancers, she eventually became conscious of the beauty of her weight and began to feel confident in her appearance.
Currently, obesity is a prevalent topic of conversation in America. Worley’s statement about strangers judging others can often be exemplified by overweight people being regularly ridiculed and discredited because of a number on a scale (163). Yet, Americans do not have identical bodies; each citizen has a unique figure that may be fat, skinny, short, or tall. Worley remarks that many Americans would rather not be alive than be obese due to the fact that family members pressure them into losing weight as well