Facebook Allows Hate Speech Against Fat People

This one has always rather puzzled me. "Obesity" is highly hereditary. Only with great difficulty can fat people help themselves. Yet there is no end to public condemnation of them.

Yet homosexuality is also largely inborn and also for them it is only with great difficulty that they can help themselves. So why is homosexuality zealously protected but "obesity" is not? Why is discrimination against one group just fine while discrimination against another group is the darkest of sins?

Clearly there is no principle involved. Discrimination is good or bad simply according to the politics of the day.

"Facebook protects many groups from hate speech. Here's one they don't offer protection to: Fat People. Check out these Facebook groups:

• beautiful girls, all over the world, except you. fat bitch.
• If sex is such good exercise, why are there fat sluts?
• You're not "thick", you're a fat-ass in denial
• I don't hate you 'cause your fat, you're fat because i hate you.
• "Do you ride Elephants in India?"..."No, do you ride fat people in America?"
• i hate fat/ugly people that try to act bitchy. like no, your fat.
• Friends don't let friends bang fat bitches
• I would carry you to the moon and back...LOL jk, your fat and i'd die
• Being Fat and Ugly
• we all know a fat slag who thinks their fit
• You're wearing a tight clothes and you're fat....that's not good.

Terrible grammar and lack of creativity aside, this cannot stand. When a user starts a Facebook group, they're notified that:

"groups that attack a specific person or group of people (e.g. racist, sexist, or other hate groups) will not be tolerated. Creating such a group will result in the immediate termination of your Facebook account."

The entire purpose of the above groups is to propagate hate speech against fat people, specifically women. Can you imagine similar slurs being cast on any other group? Yes, you can. That's why Facebook is so rigorous in removing groups that attack federally protected minorities.

That's fantastic--except lots of minority groups that aren't federally protected under the EEO laws, including gay or transgendered people, and Facebook appears to have silenced hate-groups against them.

And it's not because there isn't a single person on Facebook who hates gay or transgender people enough to take two minutes to start a group. It's more likely that every time a group of that nature pops up, it's very rightfully flagged and removed.

Well, the fat-hate groups listed above have been flagged numerous times, and yet they remain. What's worse, multiple women have had their pictures used without their permission in Facebook fat hate groups. Bloggers such as Fat Nurse, Definatalie, and Pretty in Plus all write of experiences with this.

Source

In case anybody thinks my comments about obesity are motivated by self interest, see below a picture of me taken in my early 20s



Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).