Fat And Happy By Mary Ray Worley Summary

Pressures to stay fit and skinny are becoming increasingly overwhelming from media, society, and doctors as obesity climbs toward becoming an epidemic, claims Mary Ray Worley. Worley, a member of National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), believes that today’s society is now obsessed with being fit/thin to the point of people “would rather die or cut off a limb than be fat” (163). In her article, “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance,” she is on a mission to dispel the belief that society should stigmatize overweight people to coerce them into losing weight; she wants people of high weights to accept themselves and love their bodies the way they are and to forge “a new relationship with our bodies, one that doesn’t involve
She finds herself and her confidence at the convention will never be the same as a result (163). However, in her “home planet,” she is ridiculed, has no self-confidence, and is lucky to find a swimsuit that fits her body. These two “planets” are vastly different, and she wants this world/society now to be more like the new planet in which overweight people are all accepted. She continues through the article talking about the struggles overweight people face every day: being ridiculed by strangers, feeling too embarrassed to wear shorts, and feeling reluctant to visit a doctor for fear of being criticized (165). Mary Ray Worley’s article claims that people of America do not need to lose weight, but be happy and accept one’s weight. Worley’s article is ineffective, as it does not have much factual information or outside resources with citations, though there are some positives; the article is only contributing opinions and biased statements, which may be effective to some readers, and it is attempting to persuade people to accept fat