A dismissive and even squeamish attitude towards overweight people is an unhealthy trend of our time.
A dismissive and even squeamish attitude towards overweight people is an unhealthy trend of our time. According to anthropologist Alexandra Brewis*, overweight has come to be condemned even in countries such as Puerto Rico and Paraguay, where a full body has traditionally been considered attractive, and women with a body are generous, desirable and prolific. Brewis explains this by the cult of a perfectly slender body in Western cinema and advertising. Medicine also plays its role, which calls obesity a disease that threatens the health of nations. Meanwhile, the cause of a lot of weight is often just a serious illness — blaming fat people for their fullness is at least unfair.
* Co-author of an intercultural study conducted at the University of Arizona (USA) at the end of 2010.