A paradox to consider: the Internet, one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, is the medium of travel for the worst ideas of the 21st century. Nearly two weeks ago, on Sept. 3, YouTube personality Nicole Arbour published a video entitled "Dear Fat People." She maintains the purpose of the video is to encourage people to engage in better, healthier habits. But the question is, how exactly did she espouse her ideas?
Through an abundance of ignorant claims, superficial arguments not supported by evidence and a clear desire to stir hateful commentary to score more likes and views, all Nicole managed to achieve was contributing to the Internet’s haze of ignorance.
Intrinsic to Nicole’s argument is the illogical belief from which all prejudice stems: the idea that an individual’s inferior personality is the cause of his or her situation. On the subject of weight and obesity, the assumption is that fat people are inherently lazier than slim people. This ad-hominem claim fails to consider how the current state of obesity in America came to fruition. She briefly touches on it by reciting the fact that nearly 35 percent of "North Americans" are obese (which is true of the U.S. — not North America), but fails to delve any deeper. Since the 1970s, obesity has risen in the U.S. The World Health Organization and various research institutions correlate this rise with the introduction and increased use of high fructose corn syrup and sucrose, or table sugar, into the American diet.
Nicole would respond to these facts, "Eat better…make better choices." This is true. The WHO openly contends on their website that a healthier diet does wonders for losing weight, and this option is readily available for many Americans. For many other Americans, however, this option exits as a dream. For the shocking more than 14.5 percent of Americans currently living in poverty, going on a healthy, vegetarian or vegan diet is impractical at best. Foods affordable for the impoverished and lower-middle class, typically non-perishables and fast food, are full of corn, high fructose corn syrup, sodium and sucrose. There is an abundance of evidence that displays how rates of obesity are higher for low-income workers, black adults, Latino adults and children of low-income families among other minority groups. All of these facts are right in front of us, yet we have people like Nicole Arbour continually blaming individuals for the issue of obesity rather than addressing obesity itself.
On the issue of fat-shaming, "(It) is not a thing. Fat people made that up," Nicole firmly argues. "Fat-shaming — who came up with that? That’s f-----g brilliant. Yes! Shame people who have bad habits until they f-----g stop." First of all, fat-shaming is very real. It is a subset of body-shaming, which impacts all types of individuals, but overwhelmingly women. Whether a girl or woman is too fat or too skinny, if she lacks an "ideal" body type, there is automatically a socially developed internal pressure that she is not pretty enough. And to innocently argue fat-shaming is a method of encouraging better habits is to embrace naivety. People put each other down; people bully and shame each other. We cannot eradicate bullying from our society. However, if we want to address and ameliorate bullying, we need to come to a consensus that one of its subsets — fat-shaming — persists in our culture.
By now, you have journeyed through a consistently critical piece on Nicole Arbour’s video. I will be the first to admit, however, she did say something rather beautiful: "I really, really hope this bomb of truth exploding into your face will act as shrapnel that seeps into your soul, makes you want to be healthier so that we can enjoy you as human beings longer on this planet." While she made this claim to justify fat-shaming, her words ring true from a humanitarian perspective. Inspiring and helping each other to improve is how we progress as individuals and a community. Such progress is achieved not through ignorance and abuse, but with compassion and empathy.
In a recent response to the prevalence of political and social misinformation, comedian and political figure Bill Maher maintained that "Politically incorrect just (means) not political. Yes, straight talk, but it doesn’t mean you veer into stupidity for no reason." Stupidity for no reason indeed.
David Hoffman is a UF history and physics sophomore. His column appears on Tuesdays.
