don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

"My son, always respect and honor the other fellow's point of view. Unless it's different from yours, of course."
~Hagar comic strip 3/99

A recent poll shows Americans are more accepting of overweight persons than ever before. At first blush, this seems a good thing. At second and third blush, I start to wonder -- is tolerance always desirable? Probably not. We are not always tolerant of those who offend our sensibilities, in fact, most of us have little tolerance for any number of annoyances and foibles of certain others we find vexacious. We are certainly not tolerant of those who flagrantly offend codified rules (laws). I refer, of course, to miscreants who rape, pillage and plunder. These folks are rightfully prosecuted, not tolerated. So, while tolerance sounds like something to embrace in all cases, it isn't.

These musings followed from reading that "Americans are increasingly accepting of fat folks (Michelle Cottle, "What A Poll About Fat People Tells Us About '08," The New Republic Online, January 20, 2006). An investigation by a market research firm called "NPD Group" revealed a big change in an attitudinal test administered annually for more than twenty years.

In 1985, when subjects were asked to agree or disagree with the statement, "A person who is not overweight is a lot more attractive," less than a quarter of the respondents disagreed. That is, only 24 percent reported that they found overweight folks as attractive as "normal-sized" persons. Today, the response is markedly different. Less than half find overweight people less attractive. Most (55 percent) state that being overweight does NOT make a person less attractive.

What's going on here? Are Americans really so adipose blind? Have opinions changed that dramatically in twenty or so years? If so, how come? What do YOU think?

You may not be surprised to learn that I have an opinion on this. Several opinions, in fact. I'm sure you'd like to know what they are, so I'll oblige by telling you.

I think the study is a crock of hooey, or crock of something foul-smelling.

Does consent to that statement ("A person who is not overweight is a lot more attractive") really mean that fewer people notice, care and/or think less about those who are overweight? I don't think so. I think it means there are at least twice as many people today who are intimidated, politically-correct wimps, cowed by the thought-police to respond to such questions in fashionably approved ways designed not to hurt anybody's feelings or cause anyone to feel disrespected, marginalized or disenfranchised.

What would Henry Louis "H.L." Mencken, American editor and critic (1880-1956), say about such a state of affairs? I dunno. Maybe something like this, which is exactly what he DID say about delusional opinions on another topic: "We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the same sense and to the same extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart."

Ms. Cottle, author of the article cited above, offered a similar explanation of the poll results. She wrote about "greater poll savviness of the average American...most of us have become shrewd enough not to reply to some ham-fisted question with an answer that will make us look unflatteringly judgmental...when some obnoxious pollster interrupts a person's dinner to basically ask, 'So, do you think fat people are ugly?' some of us are going to lie to make ourselves look better."

Just so. That's it, in my opinion.

Another factor, of course, is that many of those taking the poll today are on the, let's be diplomatic and say "chunky" side. Of course they don't think a "person who is overweight is less attractive." If they did, they would not BE overweight.

Oh well, how much fun would life be if nobody conducted wacky studies? Two of my recent favorites were the one of older women on low-fat diets who did not benefit following such a diet (perhaps in part because they did not bother to follow the diet!) and Dr. Herbert Benson's study of "intercessory prayers" (funded by the Holy Rollers Foundation) that showed such prayers not only did not benefit patients prayed for but seemed to make them sicker!

To answer my rhetorical question, without such studies, including the one above about changing attitudes toward overweight people, I think life without such studies would be a lot less fun than it is.

Be well. Always look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MEANING DOMAIN under the skill area of humor. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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