SHaming is 100% not the solution to addressing obesity-- and we can do lots to reverse obesity rates w/o shaming a single person.
Agreed. And it should not escape notice that fat shaming disproportionately targets women. Society has created certain expectations about the 'ideal woman,' which are very unrealistic, but to which women, nonetheless, are held accountable. Nowhere is this seen more than in Hollywood. If you're a woman and overweight, the roles are few and far between and forget about ever being considered for a romantic lead. Yet overweight men seem to have little problem getting roles or romantic lead roles, for example, John Travolta, Jack Nicholson, Kevin James, etc. (often with women significantly younger than them--Hollywood is also biased against older women, but that's another subject). There are exceptions, if you want an older frumpy woman, Kathy Bates the go to woman; if you want an overweight but manic younger woman, then the choice is what's her name McCarthy.
All that said, the extent of obesity in this country is a very serious problem that needs to be addressed, and this means talking about why obesity is a problem. You can do it without shaming someone directly, but if someone who's truly fat (and not the common middle aged spread nearly all of us experience) feels shame at such messages, than that's a them problem.
Personally, I find obese women incredibly unattractive. I don't blame women if they feel the same way about obese men. At the same time, I'm not Charles Atlas, although I do watch what I eat and exercise regularly, so I feel like I have realistic expectations. If women or men chose to be obese, or allow it to happen, or don't do anything about it, or live a lifestyle that promotes it, then they can't expect everyone to find them attractive or desirable. Nor does it mean, however, that we have to be mean spirited about it. Feel free to get grossed out, but best to do it quietly.
