Excess Body Fat Is Repulsive
I”m sure the headline of this post will have a number of groups of people up in arms. But I don’t care what anyone else thinks, because it’s true.
100 out of 100 people will say the statue on the left looks better
The fact is most if not all humans find excess bodyfat repulsive, and or disgusting. I’m not referring to these words in the pop culture definition, but I’m referring to them with regards to their dictionary meaning.
Whether the fat is on YOUR body or someone else, you will most likely have some sort of aversion response to it. You’ll eventually hate yourself for the extra fat if it’s on you, or you’ll start to find ways to avoid, discriminate against and steer clear of fat people.
I think there are a number of reasonable and plausible reasons why we have this kind of response to fat, and it’s quite a taboo to talk about it (which is total BS) The first step to fixing any problem is talking openly and frankly about it so here goes…
Why we find fat disgusting and repulsive:
1. It’s a signal of death (or the opposite of health): In other words as you watch some one gain excessive amounts of weight you can easily make the argument that you are literally watching them commit and slow suicide.
2. It’s a signal of unfairness (and ultimately your death because of the fat person): In other words the fat person next to you will consume more than their fair share of food and will literally be taking the food out of your mouth and putting into theirs. In other words, while they are overeating themselves to death, they are starving you to death!
3. It’s a sign of a lack of control (of ones emotions, body, and life in general): This may lead others not to trust a fat person…hence the reason there is a weight bias when employers are interviewing for jobs. All things being equal, if you are hiring a new person at your company, would you pick the fat candidate or the candidate who is in shape (if their credentials were equal)
People who put on increasing amounts of weight had to get the food from somewhere. Since food is scare that means there is less of it to go around for you if the fatties are eating up more than they need. (of course this is exactly what is happening globally, but that is a much more complicated issue)
So they are stockpiling food on their bodies in the form of fat which they don’t need, and leaving you with less food. From an evolutionary stand point it doesn’t seem fair that one person would eat more than their fair share of food while others are left with less.
Of course I’m not suggesting that a fat person actually takes food right off of your plate. Indeed there is more than enough to go around (at least in modern industrialized countries) but I think this is where our repulsion and disgust response to body fat is rooted…it’s unfair, and its unhealthy.
Ironically having more doesn’t do them any good, it actually makes them worse off.
So that is my theory. I’ve yet to talk to anyone who actually likes the look of excess fat, and considering the intense desire people have for weight loss it’s not a far stretch to suggest the desire for it is deep rooted in our primal emotional responses like disgust and repulsion.
So, there you go, I’ve put it on the table…what do you think?
John
41 Responses to “Excess Body Fat Is Repulsive”
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March 4th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
John, I find this so interesting b/c, for 150,000 years humans were conditioned to LIKE fat, as in, find it sexually attractive in women. Some men still do.
What I am trying to figure out is, HOW did we get to the point where a thin waist is now one of the prime indicators of attractiveness in BOTH sexes!
Does it have to do with feminism and women gaining parity / becoming economic movers in society, and not just homemakers?
At what point did it change from a fat woman being the conception of beauty to the majority of men becoming instantly, deeply sexually attracted to very skinny women, and how does that happen?
March 4th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
John,
Though I don’t disagree with you, I think this line of thinking is time and culturally specific.
IE: This wasn’t always the case nor is it the case everywhere in the world.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
oh, man – i can’t wait to read the s#%tstorm of comments this post could generate, not because you are wrong but because you are right. let me hop on this non-PC bandwagon because this reminds me of the arguments about charging overweight people for extra seats on airplanes or in movie theaters, the counterpoint of which is always hard for me to sympathize with: if you weigh as much as two (or three) regular people you should pay for the two (or three) seats you are occupying. right?
a second point, though, is that in reference to your 2nd to last paragraph, you forgot “chubby chasers” or “adipophiliacs” (what can i say? diff’rent strokes, etc.)…
finally, re: body image and the venus index in particular, do you or the brads have access to the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (i’m a budding political psychologist)? the March 2010 issue has two articles that might be germane: “The Attractive Female Body Weight and Female Body Dissatisfaction in 26 countries” and “What is Beautiful is Good Because What is Beautiful is Desired: Physical Attractiveness Stereotyping as Projection of Interpersonal Goals” – i got this issue yesterday so i haven’t read them yet, but i thought you might be interested.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Finding fat repulsive definitely makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. We’ve been looking for the “ideal mate” for hundreds of thousands of years. Why stop now?
I think the thing that angers me most is when people equate wanting to be healthy and athletic-looking with not “enjoying life.” They think I’m somehow missing out by not eating dessert at every meal or thinking that I’m wasting my life away at the gym instead of, I dunno, watching television or something.
A good-looking body is a healthy body. Healthy bodies are a good thing. It’s one thing to be comfortable in your own skin, but I get pretty tired of people making excuses for being fat. I would wager my life’s savings that if 99% of the fat people in the world could wave a magic wand and be thin and attractive, they would. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Fortunately, it’s not all that complicated, either. Like you say, calories in vs. calories out.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
It ain’t like that everywhere in the world though.
I lost 50lbs in 2009 and now I weigh 145lbs at 173cm tall. My waist measures 29.5 inches and my shoulder width is 46 inches. I’d say I’m pretty near the Adonis Index.
But guess what? My friends, girlfriend and parents say I’m too damned skinny now and look better when I was 50lbs heavier and had a 38 inch waist.
I’m in South East Asia.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Anthony (and others)
To be clear, I understand there are some difference in preference for body fatness. But in those cases the women still have the curves and general shape of a woman. I’m not talking about girls with more curves and bigger hips etc. I’m talking about a fatness level that renders the body shaped as a sphere. I”m talking about obesity, not slightly bigger vs slightly smaller.
It’s clear that each society values a bit more or a bit less curves and body fat differently, but in all cases the women still look like women and they still have an hourglass shape. This is not in dispute. What I’m suggesting is a bodyfat level that makes a womans (and a mans) body amorphous and just round and indistinguishable from each other.
I hope my position is clear now.
JB
March 4th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Yeah, those women in the old paintings weren’t morbidly obese. They were still feminine. Of course, there are fetishes of all kinds, and some people are going to like 300 pound people just like some people like popping balloons! lol. Fetishes are very, very specific like that.
I like curvy girls: round butt, hips, “juicy” thighs. I don’t particularly care for very skinny women. Although I wonder if that may change somewhat when I become thin. It’ll be interesting if my preferences change. Maybe, maybe not. But needless to say, I don’t like the way I look at ~65 pounds overweight, and I’m not attracted to women who are ~65 pounds or more overweight.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
ah, so, you’re arguing that roundness (fat midsection) is just aesthetically displeasing across cultures. This could be why studies indicate that a small waist is more attractive to men than big hips (and why the Adonis ratio is more attractive to women). From Wikipedia:
It appears that men are more influenced by female waist-size than hip-size :
“Hip size indicates pelvic size and the amount of additional fat storage that can be used as a source of energy. Waist size conveys information such as current reproductive status or health status … in westernized societies with no risk of seasonal lack of food, the waist, conveying information about fecundity and health status, will be more important than hip size for assessing a female’s attractiveness.”
—Journal of Biological Psychology , [21]
March 4th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Do you know what bothers me? It’s the “I’m fat and proud of it” attitude. I saw some bumperstickers on a car that said “I’m in shape, ROUND is a SHAPE!” the other said “I may be fat, but you’re ugly” or something like that. Disgusting! If one is overweight and at least trying to work back to be getting to a healthy weight, no problem! But the fat and proud thing really gets to me. It’s a bad example for children, heck everyone! I live in Wisconsin and I’d consider myself what my friend has coined as “Wisconsin skinny”. Do you know what that is? Just being in the normal healthy bodyweight range. Just doesn’t take much to look good around here!
March 4th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
I don’t agree with #2. There is so much food produced nowadays, something like 4,000 calories per person per day in the US. So even if they eat too much, there’s still plenty left for you.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
John,
You make an excellent point.
While the semantics of cultural preference can certainly be argued, it is besides the point. Having a preference for a thicker woman or a more largely built has nothing to do with obesity being disgusting. Your clarification was spot on.
Outliers are not the norm. Human culture since recorded history has portrayed a fit body as desirable, and that is universal throughout all major civilizations.
March 4th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Anthony,
You’ve more or less got the picture now. The research tends to show variations from each society based on the background environment of poverty and scarcity of food. In rich countries being heavier just means your fat, lazy and probably poor, whereas in poor 3rd world countries being fat means your wealthy. But in both cases there is a limit, the body shapes and sizes they are judging are not much more than 20-30 pounds different…we’re talking curvy girl vs thin girl, not obese girl vs runway model.
JB
March 4th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Kirill,
The point of #2 is the deep rooted evolutionary psychological reaction to fatness. Obviously there is enough food in western societies, but we still find fat repulsive and my argument is that over the course of evolution we may very well have learned to perceive overweight people as stealing from us or being unfair. It’s not actually what happens now (clearly fatties don’t walk up to you and steal your lunch…well at least they don’t to me), but our deep rooted emotional reactions didn’t evolve in the pat 100 years, it’s been 10,000′s of years when food was indeed scarce and when someone eating more than their share could have truly meant you were going to starve.
JB
March 4th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Jennifer,
I totally agree. Trying to make people convince themselves that they are happy with being overweight is a joke. Think of it the other way around. Are there bumper stickers and support groups for people who are in a good looking healthy BMI range…like “I’m proud and happy for being 12% bodyfat” or “I may be at my ideal body weight, but you’re ugly” …think of how bizarre that would be.
Those people hate their fat just as much as anyone else does, they’re just not comfortable enough with themselves to admit it and start doing something about it.
Oh well, what can you do. I guess buy them a cupcake to make them feel better about it! (I know that was mean, but I never said I was a nice person!)
JB
March 4th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Anthony,
To further the point, attraction research shows that a trim waist measurement (Golden AI type) waist measurement was determined to be more pleasing by women of many diverse races and cultures and ages. It’s not likely that you’re going to find too many women in any part of the world and at any age that are actually attracted to a guy with an extra 50lbs of fat around his waist…there’s just no basis for it and this finding is consistent in the research.
JB
March 4th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Kirill,
Pilon has the actual stat: 3900 calories produced per day.
Naturally, you’re assuming zero waste factor. (ie none of it spoils or is thrown away.
I’d be interested to know what the average “corrected for waste” value is. In other words, what does the average person consume on a daily basis.
I’d also be interested to see the standard deviation from that corrected value as well.
B
March 4th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
[...] Excess Body Fat Is Repulsive | JohnBarban.com [...]
March 4th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Its funny sometimes how after people lose weight or have success with a diet or workout plan the people around them will make comments like “you look too skinny” or “you need to eat more”. The funny thing is you never hear people compliment people with “gee I see you put on a few pounds, you look great!” That never happens.
The two things I can attribute this two is first jealously or crabs in a barrel syndrome. The second I think is mostly from people like our parents, girlfriends, ect. Maybe it is related to some notion that makes them feel inadequate because they are born to nurture us and loss weight could imply they aren’t providers. Just some thoughts…
March 4th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
John,
Great post.
btw- I think I might be in love with Jennifer who commented earlier. haha. The BIG is Beautiful crowd really gets to me as well.
Positive body image is important I think, but not if it means totally fooling yourself into thinking that your obesity is a fashion statement.
March 4th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Speaking of FAT….
I have often wondered what some of these people on the bodybuilding forums actually look like.
I have found the pushing of eating every 2 hours and eating extra calories only made me fat. I think its a total line of BS…….
I remember mentioning the question……..Well if you have extra fat (stored Calories) on your body then why in the hell would you ever need to eat extra calories? Wouldnt your body just drawn on these reserves when needed?……..You should have seen some of the responses I got. John I believe you brought this up on the last podcast.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
AL,
what were some of these responses? i can’t imagine what the justification would be against such a plain and logical question – i mean, i know they have them i just literally can’t imagine what they would be.
this bulking up thing – which is one of the things i haven’t ever fallen for (i’ve fallen for all other sorts of misdirections and fallacies, just not that particular one) – strikes me as a result of confusing what the eye sees with an actual physical process: when i overeat and lift weights i get bigger, ergo my muscles are getting bigger. is it that simple? what confuses me is the rationale for the subsequent cut-down, which seems to render the whole bulk up irrelevant, so i am curious about the justifications offered by practitioners.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Hey John. I generally agree with the spirit of your post. I too get sick of the popular rhetoric that makes ill health some sort of sacred right and villainizes those of us who advocate a healthy lifestyle.
However, I do have one small bone to pick with you:
In fact, you don’t mean this literally at all. That would mean someone is reaching into my mouth and removing food. That’s just gross. I think you mean “practically” or something like that, but “literally”?
Anyway, yes, it’s a small error, but it reduces the credibility of your argument. Nitpicking aside, I’m quite glad I found this this morning.
March 4th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Great post!
March 4th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
John, I agree with your comments. If you scroll back up and look at the image on the right again, you know nobody wants to look like that. Why else would so much money and time be spent on every weight loss gadget and gimmick that comes down the pike. I think obese people really feel the same but don’t want or know how to make a few simple but tough choices to improve themselves. Probably a lot of cognitive dissonance going on.
March 4th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Shea……
Heres one response…..
First off, a calorie is not a calorie. It really depends on the source of your calories. The idea that used bodyfat will build muscle is not correct.Muscle does not store fat, it stores glucose…just ask anyone dieting hardcore for a show and having low carbs how flat and stringy their muscles get. Second, you do need extra calories to build muscle. The body desires a state of homeostasis, and two things are required for muscle growth…1. a sufficient stimulus from training and 2. enough calories first for recuperation and then for supercompensation. Fat(whether bodyfat or dietary) will not help with either of these factors. As far as training hard enough to grow, only carbs will give you strength and energy. The amount of energy a carbohydrate gives you is measured in joules. Fat provides NO energy for training and also cannot replenish muscles after training. If muscle growth is the goal, fat really does not do much for the body.
March 4th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Al,
Yes I did mention that and bodybuilders are just caught in their cognitive dissonance about building muscle. They want to cling so badly to the belief that they can build massive amounts of muscle they are completely cut off from any reasonable arguments about the limitations of muscle growth. It’s actually kind of sad to watch them run around in their little circles wishing there was a way to make their muscles bigger and wasting years of their lives and $1000′s of dollars trying to no avail.
JB
March 4th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Andy, yes you’re right I meant “figuratively”
JB
March 4th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
AL,
thanks – that was interesting to read. i had to go through it more than a couple of times to get the gist, and then to figure out the chain of cause and effect, and even then it was still not clear.
one thought i did have is that if i didn’t know what i know now, or have actually experienced losing weight and building muscle on a calorie deficit, this explanation would have sounded pretty plausible – in part because it invokes a lot of medical/biology terms and concepts that sound convincing just on their own.
in following the chain of reasoning, it seems to me it goes awry at the very first step where “a calorie is not a calorie” because “only carbs will give you strength and energy,” but since i don’t know all the biochemical process stuff off the top of my head it would be hard to answer these claims authoritatively (unless i had time to run grab Eat Stop Eat and get them to read the relevant passages there), and so i would probably just concede the point and go on a bulking cycle. luckily i, you and we don’t have to do such things anymore – we just have to keep a calorie deficit until we hit our fat loss goals and then maintain…
March 5th, 2010 at 1:15 am
[...] Excess Body Fat Is Repulsive | JohnBarban.com [...]
March 5th, 2010 at 2:33 am
John,
Certainly, obesity is bad for everyone, concerning health or apperance. I don’t think anyone can be really happy in an oversized body, but I also think that being over-obsessed with body image is even worse. The balance shall be the key: to have a body that helps you feel good, comfortable, and helps you show your real personality. A body that does not hinder you with lack of stregth, fexibility, or its bad appeal. But it is very important that we are far more than our bodies, either it looks good or bad. People identifying themselves with their bodies are also limiting themselves. Bodies are just tools – essential and we have them for a life, but still they are tools. We have to use them as well as we can.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:14 am
Good article..
I agree most with #3. At least the part of lack of self-control.
I do indeed trust fat people (half my family being overweight), but nothing hurts more inside than watching an overweight person go crazy on a bag of chips or whatever, knowing that they actually shouldn’t. Being overweight comes hand in hand with alot of other issues in ones life. Selfesteam, confidence, being outgoing, active, self control, having a life partner and alot more…
I used to be overweight (about 30 pounds) and all of the above improved for me when I lost the fat. Now I have control of my life and what goes in my mouth (most of the time:) and thats why I say it really all comes down to if you have self-control.
The whole “I’m fat and proud of it” is BS. Mybe you have learned to live with it (which is quite sad if you have hit that point), but deep down inside I can almost say with certain that all overweight people have a desire to loose, but no will power to work for it. Indeed I also find excess fat to be some what disgusting, but I prefer saying sad. I often get sad when seeing overweight people, knowing that it is a person not yet strong enough to work hard towards what the really wish for. (not sure if I’m being harsh or generalising, but I think in alot of cases it is true)
Anyway, all of us that have reached our goal or working hard to get their, keep it up! Spread what you know about weightloss/fitness and always be willing to help and support someone else get started..
John, I admire what you and the rest of the “fitness blog gang” do to help people..
March 5th, 2010 at 11:04 am
i guess i don’t see the point of this posting. fat people for the most part hate their bodies & that they are fat, but don’t know how to change that (and i don’t believe that it is simply a matter of willpower, there are more factors at play) & now they know you hate them too? what is your point? you don’t want to have to look at fat people? do you want to be the leader of a new “we hate fat people” campaign? or are you just trying to rile things up so people will come to your blog? seems pointless at any rate. i really like it when you stick to the basics (what works & what doesn’t with diet, exercise) rather than simply throwing out a judgmental and inflammatory post. it kind of takes you down a few notches in my opinion……it makes me trust you & the validity of your posts less.
March 5th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Irene,
This post has nothing to do with ‘hating’ anyone and had nothing to do with a judgement, it was my theory on the human reaction to bodyfat. If you would re-read what I wrote I was talking about the dictionary definition of the words ‘repulsive’ and ‘digusting’ and not the social emotional constructions of them which seems to me where your comment is rooted.
I was postulating the psychological/evolutionary root of the reaction we have to various body fat levels, I was not starting a fat person hating campaign as you suggested.
The fact that you’re confused with the point of my post is proof that this topic needs to be discussed more openly. My whole point was to get to a root cause of the reason why we have the reactions that we do to obesity. I’m making no moral judgements, I’m stating a hypothesis based on a logical thought experiment and attraction research data and trying to get a conversation going.
This topic is an emotionally charged one for so many people that it’s difficult to bring it up without some people having an emotional reaction to it.
Of course the headline was designed to get some attention, because the point is to stimulate a discussion. If I put up a headline like “theories on the human reaction to body fatness” it probably wouldn’t be as interesting to read and less people would find it.
I’m open to discussing your opinion on the actual topic of this post, and the logical or researched based assumption built into my theory (as everyone else here has done thus far).
JB
March 5th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Being fat is a lifestyle. I truly believe that. As bad as it is in so many ways, eating what you what, when you want, however much you want has an upside, regardless of the very damaging side effects. It seems like a simple choice: either continue the fat lifestyle and the overweight that goes along with it, or change your lifestyle, create a new lifestyle, look better, and feel better about yourself. Logically, the choice seems obvious, but it doesn’t turn out that way. It can take us years to get over the hump. That’s how powerful the allure of that lifestyle really is.
I speak from personal experience. I’m almost 29 years old. I would say that I had lived the fat lifestyle for the last 9-10 years. I’ve only quit the lifestyle for a little under two weeks. I’m done for good, I can feel it in my bones. But why has it taken me so long to reject it? It’s hard for me to fathom how long I lived like that. What was wrong with me?! lol. But it’s gotta be the lifestyle. I can’t think of any other explanation. There has to be an upside that counteracts the many, many downsides, at least to a certain degree, and at least for a while. Sure, there are plenty of negative feelings, embarrassment, social and personal problems, health issues, and a gnawing desire to change. But even with all of that, it can still take years to finally embrace change and a new lifestyle… if that change ever happens.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:08 am
The way Brad Pilon put it was quite interesting: ” Are U actually paying to be fat?”(His idea of helping haiti with ESE/Fasting lifestyle was also wonderful!) It’s ridiculous how much people would save money if they only ate less, especially obese people. This view has really helped me with reducing my food intake. Becoming more good looking obviously helps too
It’s just funny what the belief is nowadays, eating more –> fat. Eating less –> You lose muscle, it’s unhealthy and U get on starvation mode and won’t lose any fat so u need to cycle ur carbs and take ur fats at full moon. The sad part is that I believed in those things.
My post got slightly off topic
. I could borrow Pilon’s email a bit. “Are u actually paying to be repulsive?” I know that’s harsh.
March 8th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Don’t feel bad, Miika. We all believed those things. Fortunately that stage in our lives is over, and we’re moving on to bigger and better things.
March 9th, 2010 at 5:04 am
@Jordan I totally agree. I really hope that when I get closer to my AI and the shape of my life, that it will inspire others to get over that stage too
March 9th, 2010 at 11:29 am
I know that I find beer bellies repulsive, and figure since I spend lots of time in the gym to get a nice body, I’m not going to date a flabby guy. That said, I think your attitude is ugly and self-righteous, even kind of hateful.
If you want to be pissed at the food situation, look towards subsidies, not fat people. If you don’t find fat people attractive, don’t date them. I find moustaches/beards repulsive, but I don’t sneer at men for having them. I won’t kiss them, but they do me no harm.
March 10th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
I’ve yet to fully research this John, but the jury is still out.
There’s so much cultural difference, its hard to say how much is biological. You have everything from cultures where its beatiful to where its repulsive.
100 out of 100 americans would find the left picture preferable… But not 100 out of 100 humans (of all the humans alive, or ever born).
Now, I haven’t done enough research to know if either option has a biological basis. But don’t jump to so many conclusions… the whole “fattie ate our food”… Becase its a bit premature, since we don’t know how much of our repulsivness is biological (inheritted) in the first place. Could be 100% cultural, might be 50/50… Who knows.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:04 am
[...] in light of my previous post from a few weeks about excess body fat being repulsive I’m trying to get to the bottom of each persons response to this particular [...]
May 4th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
You have got your point over superior to I ever might, thank you!