Only not at all.
Yet I realized the other night, after a brief discourse with a colleague concerning the two antitheses, that while the two are known and considered two extreme eating disorders (bulimia nervosa as well) only one of them is joked about. With a group of friends, you (ubiquitously, I should add) might see an overweight man or woman at a restaurant with an empty plate of food, slowly finishing another. One of your friends comments, with a laugh, "What a fatass!" or something equally derogatory. The table rejoices in laughter and you carry on with your meal.
Across the restaurant, however, you spot an incredibly thin woman--so thin it pains you to see--pecking at what little food is on her plate. And you think to yourself, "Oh, that's so sad." A friend notices and agrees: "Poor girl has an eating disorder. . . ." The table's livelihood fades, temporarily, until the check arrives, is paid and everyone leaves.
Two eating disorders affecting both young and old, yet one is considered a joke, the other earning the sympathy of those that recognize it as a disorder. It's a shame that we, as a society (generalizing, I know), acknowledge one as a serious problem while the other is simply laughable.
I couldn't agree more. I have several friends who truly claim they "dislike fat people", because it is their own fault they are fat. So many people think that obesity is not an illness, but that it is a person's lifestyle choice. I have met a person who was extremely obese due to medical reasons, so it obviously is not his fault that he is over-weight. Unfortunately, however, I think that people who suffer from anorexia and bulimia are also made fun of behind their backs, and that people are "grossed out" by their looks. EIther way, whether large or small, I think it is disappointing the way society reacts to others.
I couldn't agree less. Just kidding. Kind of. I would like to say that I do acknowledge the genetic implications on obesity, but I somehow doubt that there are many (if any) obese people out there eating healthily and exercising everyday. If someone is genetically predisposed to be slightly bigger, that is unfortunate. But I refuse to believe that someone could live a totally healthy life and still be obese. Being overweight to the point that it is embarrassing to take your shirt off is one thing; being obese to the point that you might have a heart attack at any minute is another. Just as you said Thomas, the guy in your example has already finished an entire plate of food and is starting on a whole new meal. I realize he is not real, but the example isn't farfetched. Society should be more tolerant of people's differences. However, obese people should not be perpetuating their condition by throwing wood on the fire.
Similarly, anorexia (or bulimia for that matter) is an unfortunate condition. However, I feel much worse for those who are at the gym (or wherever) exercising in an attempt to better themselves than I do for those throwing up or not eating to lose weight. The people at the gym that are the most respectable, in my eyes, are the biggest people there trying their best to slim down. I realize that can't be an easy situation to be in, and because of that I hold those people in the highest regard of anyone at the gym. While genetics can make someone smaller or bigger, genetics cannot make someone throw up or stop eating. It is not something that I look down on someone for, but at the same time I no more pity them than I would the obese man eating multiple meals.