Reader views (31)

 Add your view

Being obese is unhealthy - I am not being about healthy plussize bodies, but morbid obesity - and people should be encouraged to lose weight. However, bullies are pottymouthed filth and pottymouthed filth belongs in the sewers.

- Christine, helsinki, finland

Attacking people is just plain wrong, no matter the reason.

But wanting people to be accepting of and encouraging toward obesity is like wanting people to be accepting of and encouraging toward smoking. You certainly have the right to lead an unhealthy lifestyle, but you cannot expect pats on the back for it.

- Bonnie, cremona canada

Mike, you say that the difference between size and disability is that being overweight is a choice. If someone gets drunk, crashes their car into a wall and has to use a wheelchair for the rest of their life, is it then acceptable to abuse them and discriminate against them?

- Kitty, London

any form of assault whatever the reason is wrong. attacking people for choosing a life different to yours is wrong. whoever has done this crime should be pulled up and dealt with as the courts see fit.

however does it mean that we should put laws in place for those with a larger waistband? To compare it to racism is bordering stupidity. no matter what the majority of so called large people are claiming size is a personal choice whereas race, disability, sex aren't. i have long hair and occasionally, when in ignorant places get eye balled and have sometimes been started on. I could get my haircut but i choose to keep it by sheer laziness. but does this mean that laws will be implemented for men with long hair? no because it is ridiculous.

- Mike, london

People posting here and elsewhere describe the overweight as weak and lacking in self control.

I have a good friend who, on being diagnosed in her thirties with a disease that would rob her of most and, in time, maybe all of her sight and hearing reacted as we all would with shock, horror and depression. Then she taught her self Braille and learned “hands on” sign language to prepare for the future. She has coped with her disability with courage and good humour and never given in to self pity, which she is surely entitled to do.

Apparently she is a weak person and lacks self discipline because she is also very overweight!

I would like to see how these judgemental people would have coped with what she has had to deal with. People are not one- dimensional; being fat does not make you weak. Why don’t some of you start seeing people as individuals and stop judging others on unimportant things like appearance, skin colour and sexual orientation?

- Kitty, London

To ANYONE who says horrible things like "If she hadn't been fat, she wouldn't have been attacked", I would like to ask you two things.

1. Is it a woman's fault for being raped if she wears a short skirt or tight jeans?

2. Is it a man's fault for being beaten if he dresses in drag or "looks queer"?

If your answers to either one of those are yes, please do everyone a favour and remove yourself from the gene pool immediately.

- Ms. Anne Thrope, USA

I so support Marsha Coupe. What is so offensive about
an overweight human being ? We are heading towards a
pandemic of hatred in this area. Now we have idiots like
the Boss of Ryanair wanting to charge extra for larger
passengers - it is the start of a slippery slope of discrimination akin to apparteid. Lets make it a crime.
You go girl !!!

- Catherine Mulcahy, Colchester , Essex

i am proud to be a big woman!!!!

- Kay, london

I am shocked at peoples ignorance!! Several people have stated they cannot believe that someone was attacked simply for their size, well there was a time when people would have said that about the victims of other hate crime, namely gender, sexuality, race, religion!
No-one has the right to judge anyone else. Yes, there are health ramifications to being overweight, but then the same can be said for smokers, drinkers etc. But as long as the person is happy with themselves then noone else should be passing judgement - especially not in a derogatory manner. If we start charging/taxing larger people for heatlh care, airplane seats...where will it end?
We are all human beings and equal and should be treated as such.

- Alina, London

There's a hell of a deep blue sea between not verbally abusing someone for whatever reason--let alone beating them up--and making expensive 'accommodations' for a wrong choice of lifestyle. Ms. Coupe is being rather disingenuous in using the sympathy we feel for her as victim of an attack as a springboard for pushing a frankly topsy-turvy view of 'acceptance'.

And I'm with those who say this attack at root probably had little to do with 'fattism'--had the drunk woman seen someone with ginger hair or glasses instead, they would also have been abused. I once had a drugged-up teenage chav start on me for the crime of wearing cycling gear.

Finally, note that Ms. Coupe is originally from California and wants to make our laws like California's. While I'd never say "If you don't like it here...", you do have to wonder why she no longer chooses to live in her fat person's paradise.

- Liz, London, UK

Yes larger sized people could loose weight and "simply stop stuffing their pie-holes" as so eloquently put by Ted..
The issue isn't the health ramifications of being over weight, it is the complete unacceptability of abusing people for their appearance and discriminating against them on these grounds.
Whatever your take on weight issues it would be prudent to say we all agree it is unacceptable to abuse another individual, to mock or humiliate them for whatever reason, in a public place or forum is cruel and unjust.
The bigger picture at play here regards 'discrimination" and puts in place the very real question, If by law we cannot discriminate on grounds of gender, race, religion, sex, sexuality and age, is it now time to extend those parameters to body size, class, hair colour, dress etc
When Sophie Lancaster was beaten to death for being a goth, there weren't cry's of "well why didn't she just stop dressing like that"...it was her lifestyle and she should not have been allowed to suffer abuse and assault for this. The law should have protected her against this kind of bigotry and discrimination, and this follows on for persons of larger build.
We all have a right to choose the lifestyle we lead, we also have a right to be protected from assault and offence if these choices are infringed upon and attacked by others in a damning and negative fashion.
This is not about health it's about personal preservation, dignity and civility

- Wayne, London

Whether or not being overweight is healthy is not the issue; this woman was attacked because a self-righteous little thug took exception to her appearance and attacked her.
I am disapointed in my fellow British people for daring to suggest that this is in some way her fault. The person who attacked her is a violent criminal but most of the people commenting here are blaming the victim.

- S. Smith, London

I have no interest in arguing over whether people should be fat or not, but legislating for it is ridiculous. It will mean more cost, more police time, more non-jobs to police it and for what? If somebody assaults you it doesn't matter why, it's simply criminal assault. If somebody makes nasty remarks about your weight that is bad manners and if done aggressively threatening behaviour which is already an offence. Let's stop legislating and just remind people how to behave properly.

- Mark, London

The intolerance here is breathtaking. It been known for years that quite a few city financial workers, and those in the business world, use cocaine quite regularly. Not just the showbiz world. Most of them use alcohol too. These two drugs put huge strains on the heart as well as leading to several other diseases. They put immense burdens on costs and resources on the NHS every year.

The Priory and other dependency clinics/units have waiting lists, with many of their clients appearing several times for rehab. Some of that substance abuse is actually about remaining thin!

All those caught up in any kind of regular use of cigarettes, drugs or alcohol (stuffing their pie-holes), are future medical time bombs waiting to go off. Unfortunately, we all have to pay for their medical interventions and treatments over the long term as many will have protracted chronic illness lasting through middle and old age.

Those with anorexia suffer very early brittle bone disease (among other long term ailments). No mention here about the costs of any of the above lifestyle habits and indulgences. If intolerance does it for you, then you'll welcome the chance to also lash at Britain's binge drinkers, who pick up the alcohol habit and drinking culture earlier and earlier in life.

- Amanda, London

This is ridiculous, why not have laws to protect smokers and alcoholics from getting abused? So long as we have to pay taxes towards the National Health Service, then society at large has an invested right as to how we all maliciously destroy ourselves. If fat people want protection to waller within their morbid bodies then you should be mandated to pay for Private Health Care and charter your own extra large transportation. BMI over 35 - then pay to have all your associated and self inflicted medical conditions dealt with, no more State Funded 'immobility' allowance or quick fix gastric surgery etc.

I am fully supportive of airliners who are considering charging fat people for two seats etc. It is quite unreasonable to have extra large seats made available for such a minority, equally unreasonable to have you rolling into my lap! Should smokers then be afforded a special screened booth within the plane as well? If any special seats are to made, it should be for the very tall - who can't make themselves shorter.

There isn't another animal on the planet that has the capacity to gorge itself so morbidly without quickly falling fowl of natural de-selection.

- Fmj, London, UK

I really am sickened by the anger and bile doled out by morons on this page re fat people , they are almost condoning the beating this lady got, not all fat folk are large due to overeating you morons.
Also take a look at your own lifestyles when you say they are a burden on the health service, do u smoke? drink? drive a car? all those things are a burden as well.

- Brian, Wiltshire

Food rationing - as in WW2 would save us all from ignorance, and size-ist abuse.

- Nora, London, UK

As a kid in England, I was an obese child (well perhaps not as obese as the kids of today). But the only ones to ridicule or mock me were the medics (although interestingly they never rebuked my parents for over feeding me). In fact I'd liked me, I didn't feel there was anything wrong with me. If medics were concerned for my health then they should have targeted my parents or out me into care...but never ridicule the victim. Ironically when I was about 8 stone a G.P ridiculed me for being too thin, one can never win with the N.H.S. I am now 8 stone 10, a safe weight from any mocking. Also I'd like to add: As for the skinnys of this world, it's okay for them to mock from their boney distance, about how fatties eat chips and Mars bars, yet these are the same foods that the skinnies also eat, but their metabolism works. Fat is often inherited, if not then any parent who allows their child to become overweight needs urgent checking, not the child. Having said that, I don't mean that all overweight children should be put into care, some may have an underlying health problem. I sadly had a brain tumour...so all those mocking medics were all wrong.

- Elaine Pomeransky, Scotland

Nick Read, I agree with you, and I am slightly overweight myself. I dont see why people should be more accomodating to something that it unhealthy. Whilst it is sad that the lady was attacked for being fat, I dont think "protecting" the overweight is the right way to go. I have been taunted for being a size 16 and the experience means that Im dieting and learning to try and live a healthy life to avoid this situation happening again.

- Nat, London

Common assault/GBH is already against the law, so further legislation is not required. People who are going to beat someone up for being fat are going to beat someone else up for whatever reason springs to mind at the time simply because thats the kind of people they are. It is an unfortunate fact of life that those who are 'different', regardless of why, are always going to be targets for the bullies.

As someone who has struggled against being overweight all of my adult life I know the issues involved as perceived by the general public, but I have more actual health knowledge as an RN. That rather silly and utterly simplistic comment "Why don't fat people simply stop stuffing their pie-holes?" is a sign of ignorance, not insight. The thoroughly deserved sarcastic response would be, "Now why didn't THEY think of that?"

There's just a wee bit more than that involved.

It IS a problem that needs to be sorted out
It IS a problem that the obese have to work on too, rather than waiting for someone else to 'cure' them
It IS NOT helping the motivation of people who frequently are depressed and incapable of proactive responses when people get in their faces, stressing them even more over the issue.

No one owes anyone else a living, but intelligent encouragement can go a long way towards HELPING people help themselves. It's called compassion. The (financially expensive) alternative to not helping them is called waiting for them to die and stop being a problem.

- Rogan, Irving

So will there be a law brought in to protect slim people from abuse?? My wife is a lovely size 8 and has had numerous nasty comments ('skinny' 'stick insect' etc) from various women (generally jealous fatties)!!

- John, London

I think these obese activists are in denial about their problem - and yes, you PC bullies, lot it is a problem.

The obese are more likely to develop diabetes, suffer from heart, blood pressure and joint problems. This is a burden on the NHS and is costing us, the tax payers money.

I wish the obese would accept that they have a problem and start doing something about it. Eat less & take more excercise; you will save money and live longer!

- John Bull, London

To MF in London: How can you 'applaude' (sic) or even defend somebody so worryingly overweight? What's the matter with you?! The only help she needs is understanding what is the cause of her gross obesity, and how she should deal with it. She's killing herself. Ho can that be defended? Or is assisted suicide OK? Eating far less and getting regular exercise would certainly be astart...

- Michael Spencer, Toronto, Canada

I have absolutely no sympathy for the overweight and obese. Their 'condition' as they like to refer to it is entirely self inflicted. I also object to the additional costs associated with making the capital fat friendly. Who would pay if public buildings were required to throw out all their chairs and replace them with new larger chairs that could accommodate with the ample rears of the obese and overweight.

- Nick Read, London

Unfortunately the country has become fat... and now we are thinking fat.
The difference between the USA and here is that there you pay your own medical bills when you abuse your bodies.
Here we all pay for it ... come on guys make an effort and you will find as the fat disappears so do your tears.

- Frank, Caterham

Protecting the obese from abuse - if this if possible - is one thing; muting professional advice is another.

When a doctor takes the Hippocratic Oath, he/she swears 'to keep the good of the patient as the highest priority'. A law, therefore, that is designed to discourage doctors from questioning their patients about their weight is against the ethics of their practice.

Obesity has been shown time and time again to be linked to heart disease and diabetes (putting pressure on the health system as a whole)and therefore, should we not be leaning towards a law that actively encourages doctors to promote a healthier lifestyle with their patients?

- Chania, London

As someone who lost almost 7st and has yo-yo'd between being obese and normal weight I am afraid that its a sad fact that you are treated very differently by lots of people you come across when you are bigger.

Losing weight for me had many wonderful plus points, but one of the biggest disappointments was the number of colleagues and acquaintances who had never given me the time of day when I was obese who suddenly wanted to be friendly and chatty! They got treated with the contempt they deserve.

Beauty is indeed more than skindeep - I'm a wonderful person whatever the scales say on a particular day!

Having said that I feel uncomfortable with the moves San Francisco have taken, any form of positive discrimination is a bad thing and obviously obesity is bad for your health and shouldn't be encouraged.

MF got it right, don't kick someone when they're down. Obese people shouldn't be attacked, there should be more help for people to lose weight, not acommodating it.

- Mandy, London

Why don't fat people simply stop stuffing their pie-holes?

- Ted, London

These people should use the olympics as an inspiration to get fit not as an excuse for their fat.

- Ashgl, London

I find it almost impossible to believe that someone was beaten up simply for being fat and suspect that there was a bit more to the altercation than has been reported.

And there are nightclubs that turn people away for no other reason than they don't "look right", which includes a huge range of things besides being fat. Just go somewhere more congenial.

- Anon, England

“You have the right to be fat, the right to be sick, depressed and unhappy. You don't need a law to do that. The question is why would you want to be?”

I think the moral of the story is: you have the right not to be kicked when you're already down.

I applaude the ladies named above. They are brave souls and I hope they do instigate the changes mentioned.

- Mf, London

Add your comment