Ponderings for the Ponderers

[bewize]

I'm sharing links, because my computer screen is bogged with them.

First, this Snow Patrol song is eating my brain. I love it, and I love the lyrics.

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Now, onto some links about feminism and obesity. No, I'm not kidding. *headdesk*

Has feminism killed the art of home cooking? - wherein Rose Prince blames feminists for obesity.

I... am utterly baffled by this link. Give me a break, please, and quit making other people's choices my fault. *rolls eyes*

Feminism to blame for obesity? Fat chance. - wherein Jessica Reed responds to Ms. Prince in a much more coherent fashion than I could manage.

And thanks to the wonders of the internet, I obtained a copy of the obesity booga-booga article also referenced in Ms. Reed's response. It's an interesting look at the effects of obesity on the individual and on a population as a whole, and the politics of calling obesity a disease.

It draws this conclusion:

Another issue is the nosological status
of obesity. The call to consider obesity
(defined as high BMI) a ‘disease’ rather
than a ‘risk factor’ is based on a
‘utilitarian perspective’,12 the argument
being that labelling obesity a disease
may potentially help to solicit resources
into prevention, treatment and research
of obesity, and to reduce stigma and
discrimination of obese persons.12
However, shifting from the status of
obesity as a ‘risk factor’ to obesity as
a ‘disease’ may not help understand the
public health stakes of obesity. The
status of risk factor only implies a
probabilistic notion for a risk associated
with a given BMI, which is undisputable,
but does not require any agreement
on the essence of obesity or on
causal mechanisms linking obesity and
related diseases. Critical is the fact that
there is no clear-cut difference between
obese and non-obese states. The existence
of ‘healthy obese’, i.e. obese with
normal cardio-metabolic profile and no
co-morbidities, questions the validity of
labelling obesity as a disease. Healthy
obesity also opens stimulating avenues
for a better understanding of
physiopathological mechanisms of
obesity-associated diseases and for the
potential benefit of health promotions
in obese persons.

Dramatization of overweight and obesity
is unlikely to help the public health
management of the problem. We suggest
that the word ‘epidemic’ should not
to be used to describe rising obesity
trends. An epidemic is an occurrence of
diseases that is temporarily of high
prevalence in a population. By the late
20th century, the definition has been
extended to include the increasing
prevalence of some risk factors.
However, the word epidemic often
implies ‘an impending danger and a
large number of victims’. Still, it is
arguable that a large number of victims
are caused by overweight and obesity
and, more importantly, would all be
avoided if the mean BMI was reduced.


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And this is an interesting bit of meta that I'm linking on why people don't write what they claim to want to read. Why am I not writing the stories I say I want to read?

While this article is aimed at fanfic, I think it's an interesting question to consider about original fiction as well.