Fat And Happy? By Hillie Schwartz

In the article, “Fat and Happy?” author Hillie Schwartz examines why American society places a great deal of importance of being thin. She states in a perfect world that the obese fit into society and can be happy with their weight free from negative commentary from their peers. Schwartz emphasizes the point that the only reason overweight people are unhappy is due to them being ridiculed by their thinner peers.
She emphasizes her opinion, that while diet and exercise lead to a healthier figure; they actually lead oneself to become unhealthy from a constant feast and famine cycle. This is due to the negative pressures that American society has placed on the overweight individuals. They will diet in order to achieve their “ideal bodies” but will fail. And when they ultimately fail, the author claims, they, in turn, see themselves as failures. When the individuals fail they return from the famine back to the feast stage and this constant battle begins over and over again. This can lead to serious health issues and even health disorders if the body is deprived too much. She states that all humans will, at some point in their lives, reach an ideal weight in which they will be satisfied and healthy. She claims that the simple fear of dieting is what causes the overwhelming amount of overweight
individuals to be unhappy, not the diets themselves.
Fat persons are considered to be “emotionally immature” according to Schwartz.
Not only are they deemed emotionally immature by their peers, but also considered to be less intelligent than their thinner counterparts. It was stated that most bosses would hire a criminal or a person who has been in a psychiatric ward than a fat person. They even encounter discrimination when applying for colleges, according to Schwartz. Many flight attendants have been fired for being just four pounds overweight and it is completely legal to do so. In one court case, it was stated that the woman was given the choice by the court to either adhere to a strict weight loss regimen or lose her
job. In regards to the medical field, She states that many doctors have no sympathy for overweight patients since they cause them difficulty in an examination and they are uncooperative when asked to do things that would benefit themselves. Schwartz states that many overweight patients are lazy, dishonest and childish and that it is not the doctors’ faults that the only way that they can get the overweight individuals to listen is by threatening them with disease and death. He states that one is immature if they continue their habits despite being threatened with disease and death. Though doctors are very well educated on the effects of being overweight, Schwartz claims that many, if not most doctors are still untrained to be dieticians. He says that the doctors should refer them to someone who is knowledgeable on the subject rather than prescribing medications that could affect the kidneys or blood pressure by accident causing more serious problems rather than avoiding them. He states that our American society as a whole, skinny and obese persons, would be better off eating wholesome foods than eating meal replacements such as protein shakes. In Schwartz's perfect society, she imagines a world filled with everyone loving their bodies for their size no matter the size. It would be the normal, and life as we know it would cease to