Lay off Josh Duggar's Weight?

[Guest Anonymous]

Those were the days, get to eat like everyday was Thanksgiving and still lose 2-3 pounds a week.

See, I'm the rare type who actually gains weight while nursing. I actually lost weight while pregnant with DD, but after 2 years of nursing her I'm up at least 15 lbs. With my son, things went back to normal after I weaned him and that extra few lbs melted off, but this girl doesn't seem to want to give up her "boo" anytime soon :|

[nuri]

I'm of the opinion that for snarking purposes, fatness is is a cheap shot. Make fun of people all you want, but, like many thing -- it's more fun when wit comes out.

That and most of the guys I know have gained weight after they get married. Why should Smuggar be any different?

[DamnPrecious]

Me. I have had weight issues all my life and I would jostle anyone out of the way to be the first to call Josh Smuggar a fat fuck. He is fat, and he's a fuck, and I don't have a problem with calling a spade a spade.

:clap:

I'm a fat ass. Go ahead, I don't care.

[Cassandra]

I guess you could say Snark is a buffet. You go down the line and you pick the Snark you want and ignore the Snark you don't like. If you don't like weight snark, don't read it.

Personally I think anything and everything is fair game.

[whirlygirly]

Oh and as for BMI, it is BS. According to my doc since I'm 5'2 the charts say i should be 120 or less, but since I'm 130 and wear a size 5 I'm close to obese for my height. Whatever.

Your doctor is wrong. I'm 5'0" and every BMI chart I've seen says my ideal weight range is 98-128. If I weighed 130, I'd be only slightly overweight, nowhere near obese. And you've got a couple inches on me so 130 should be well within your healthy range. MOF, I just ran it thru an online calculator and your BMI is 23.8- perfectly healthy. Tell your doctor he can suck it!

[Eponine]

I'm still not getting why weight is something that we need to lay off because it hurts some people's feelings, but topics that might hurt other people's feelings are totally fine.

It's because Doug holds himself up as a paragon of manliness, dignity, historical knowledge, marriage and family, and then is effeminate (or faux-butch), undignified, and seems to spend more time with his dress-up boys (dressing inaccurately) than his family.

This, to me, makes it seems like the gay jokes are equally cheap - if not more - as the fat jokes. He sucks as a person, likes faux history and his interns, so it's okay to call him gay? You even think he's probably straight but since "gay" is the ultimate insult to him and his lifestyle it's fair game. [Note]

Either censor people on similar issues because feelings might get hurt, or don't censor people at all. The picking and choosing just smacks of having personal issues with a specific topic - and trying to bend board rules or whatever to accommodate someone's personal issues just seems (because this word is being used to often here) "wrong" for a board like this.

[JesusFightClub]

What angri-la and Eponine said. People like the Duggars think most of us on this board will eventually go to a place of eternal fire, pain and torment with a worm that either bites the shit out of us or pisses us off in some way, at any rate. And their hearts aren't exactly breaking, are they?

Under the circs, fat fuck is almost polite.

[Childless]

While I know there are people out there that cannot loose weight, that isn't universally true. My sister was severely obese. In January, she vowed to get the weight off because she was tired of being fat. Since then, she has lost 60 pounds by eating better and exercising. I think most obese people in this country fall into the same category. Sure, there are some that can't do anything about it, but most could slim down if they so desired. It's not impossible.

I think Josh is one of these people. Before he married, he looked really good. He was a healthy weight. Just a handful of years later, he's obese. That is entirely due to lifestyle. If he changed his eating habits (even if he didn't exercise), he'd drop the pounds. The fact is he just doesn't care and that's a bad attitude to have, especially if you've got kids. They learn by example.

I have no issues when someone snarks on Josh's weight. I'm overweight right now and if someone snarked on my weight, I'd agree with them. I gained it during my pregnancy. I wasn't able to breastfeed, so it never came off. And now, I admit that I don't eat well or get enough exercise. I need to change my lifestyle and I know it. Maybe if Josh heard some of the snark, he'd start to care a little more about his health also.

[amie]

..........

[thoughtful]

I'm still not getting why weight is something that we need to lay off because it hurts some people's feelings, but topics that might hurt other people's feelings are totally fine.

This, to me, makes it seems like the gay jokes are equally cheap - if not more - as the fat jokes. He sucks as a person, likes faux history and his interns, so it's okay to call him gay? You even think he's probably straight but since "gay" is the ultimate insult to him and his lifestyle it's fair game. [Note]

Either censor people on similar issues because feelings might get hurt, or don't censor people at all. The picking and choosing just smacks of having personal issues with a specific topic - and trying to bend board rules or whatever to accommodate someone's personal issues just seems (because this word is being used to often here) "wrong" for a board like this.

FTR, I didn't call for any sort of censorship, even self-imposed. Like several other people have said, I figure people here will skip the snark that annoys, offends or bores them.

I know that, once a thread gets heated, it's hard not to see any participation as taking one side or the other. But that's not what I did. I joined the conversation to give another perspective, not to beg people to lay off of Josh. I have no reason to be kind to either Doug or Josh.

I think you might have missed my point based on the part of my comment you quoted. Let me try again.

It was that Doug is among those who rail for "family values," strict gender roles and publicly acts like being gay is a sin.

If Josh was disapproving about fat, especially if he had been for as long as he'd been a public figure, despite being fat himself, I'd be more tempted to snark on his weight.

It's the hypocrisy issue that tempts me -- a person who has a flaw that doesn't really relate to the way they are obnoxious to others doesn't inspire my snark.

So I (personally, not saying what anyone else should do!) enjoy snarking on the strange dichotomy in the way Doug consistently presents himself more than someone whose issue is recent and bears no direct relationship to what is obnoxious about him.

That's all I was trying to say.

While I'm here, though . . .

I think it's also because the kind of bigotry that GLBT people have faced, historically, has been more vicious, more life-altering, more deadly, than that aimed at fat people.

And the rights of gay people are a political issue in the US now -- nobody is denying fat people the right to eat. That also tempts me to snark more.

To me (again, not saying what anyone else should do!), it's a more serious issue.

BTW, I am a straight fat woman who was once badly hurt by a gay man, so I don't think it's due to personal hurt feelings that Doug's bigotry tempts me to snark, and that I don't care whether people snark on Josh or not.

As I said before, YMMV.

Edited for clarity

[AnnoDomini]

oh yum, a concern troll.

IT'S CALLED BEING REASONABLE.

[Guest Anonymous]

IT'S CALLED BEING REASONABLE.

USING CAPSLOCK MAKES PEOPLE AGREE WITH ME AND IMPROVES THE VALIDITY OF MY ARGUMENT.

Wait, it doesn't? It's just obnoxious? Nevermind then.

*Edited because riffles are bad.

[pomology]

I feel somewhat conflicted on this issue.

While I see merits to fat acceptance, I also think that America is far too obese and as a country we need to change or eating habits and our exercise habits. Different people are healthy at different weights and that is fine. I think people of all sizes can be beautiful and it’s sad that society only attaches beauty to thinness that is often unhealthy. I don’t approve of crash diets or exercise to the point of over fatiguing yourself. Anorexia and bulimia are just as unhealthy as obesity, if not more so. I know that obesity can take a psychological toll and somebody either because of the health problems it causes or because people reject you socially for it. I think that is incredibly sad and I do not think that people who suffer from health or social problems from being extremely overweight deserve it, even if it is their own fault that they are overweight. It doesn’t matter why somebody is overweight, it is sad if it causes them suffering.

That said, I think that most overweight people (at least people who are in their twenties or younger and therefore at their prime) can lose and keep off weight if they choose to put their mind to it. I was a relatively chubby kid and when I was 16 I lost a ton of weight because I spent six weeks not eating very much (not for any desire to lose weight, but because I was at a camp where the food was, in my opinion, nauseating—the vast majority of the eating I did in those six weeks was junk food). I have kept that weight off for five years because I eat reasonably well and I exercise on a reasonably regular basis. My brother was overweight for years (mostly due to depression, I think) and has lost a ton of weight recently by going on the elliptical for an hour a day (I think he also eats a lot better than he used to). I know it can be a struggle to force yourself to exercise (especially when you’re out of shape) and delicious, unhealthy food is incredibly tempting, but I think it is possible for most people to lose and keep off weight.

In a nutshell, I think society needs to grow the fuck up and accept that people are and always will be different weights and there is nothing wrong with that, but I also think that there are a lot of people (by no means, all) who are incredibly overweight/obese that just need to get off their asses and eat healthier and less food. Healthy food can be just as delicious as unhealthy food. I realize that the heavier you are, the more difficult it is to do things like exercise etc. That is why I would never condemn any specific person for their weight issues and instead I just believe that teaching younger generations to eat and exercise right (and that you don’t have to be skin and bones to be beautiful) is the way to go.

As far as Smuggar goes, I don’t think the snark is really about the fact that he is overweight. The snark is on the fact that in the three or so years that he has been married he has gained a ton of weight while smugly advertising his lazy-ass personality, his sedentary lifestyle, and his atrocious diet on television.

[keeperrox]

Maybe I completely missed them, but have there ever been threads solely devoted to bashing Smuggar for his weight? I've seen a few comments and quips here and there, but I'm getting the impression from some of these posts that his weight is all people ever comment on anymore, which I don't believe to be true.

I think it's human nature to comment on things we see, like weight gain. Does that make it right? Well, that's not for me to decide, but I'm not going to think less of someone who does.

[Jencendiary]

And I don't think it's your place to say if or when someone needs to, "just need to get off their asses and eat healthier and less food."

IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, in the same way that your use (or not) of birth control or your attendance (or not) at public school or college are not any of the Fundies' business.

[O Latin]

My only real issue with the Josh's weight snark is the implication that he is overweight because of his fundie beliefs (although I see that a lot more on TWOP than I do here). Maybe Josh could stand to get off the couch and lay off the fast food, but so could a lot of non-fundies. Not taking care of yourself is a problem that crosses all religions.

I don't typically snark on Josh (about his weight or anything else) because I don't find him as smug, arrogant, ass-ish, etc. as a lot of people do. But as others have said, I usually just stay out of those conversations. I don't care if people are "nice" to Josh or not.

[amie]

..........

[Feberin]

Maybe I completely missed them, but have there ever been threads solely devoted to bashing Smuggar for his weight? I've seen a few comments and quips here and there, but I'm getting the impression from some of these posts that his weight is all people ever comment on anymore, which I don't believe to be true.

I think it's human nature to comment on things we see, like weight gain. Does that make it right? Well, that's not for me to decide, but I'm not going to think less of someone who does.

Exactly! I think this thread is the most focus that has ever been on Josh's weight. I mean we call him Smugger not Fatugger or something.

[nuri]

You'd assume so, by the zealous pearl-clutching this thread has inspired.

This is true, there haven't been threads devoted to his weight, but the comments are in most topics concerning him. It's a constant commentary.

(on the subject of FA, I'm generally HAES. I do think the modern world has fallen into some bad habits, but shame is a horrible, horrible motivator for change)

[pomology]

And I don't think it's your place to say if or when someone needs to, "just need to get off their asses and eat healthier and less food."

IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, in the same way that your use (or not) of birth control or your attendance (or not) at public school or college are not any of the Fundies' business.

What I meant, wasn't that people who are overweight should be forced to those things if they don't want to, but that if a person who is in good physical/mental shape wants to lose weight, all it would take is putting their mind to those things.

However, I do think we as a society should educate people that in order to avoid obesity (and obesity related health issues) they should generally exercise and eat healthily just like I think as a society we should educate people that in order to avoid STDs they should practice safer sex and all that that entails.

You're right. It isn't my business what people do with their lives and I apologize for implying that it was.

[Beeks]

What I meant, wasn't that people who are overweight should be forced to those things if they don't want to, but that if a person who is in good physical/mental shape wants to lose weight, all it would take is putting their mind to those things.

However, I do think we as a society should educate people that in order to avoid obesity (and obesity related health issues) they should generally exercise and eat healthily just like I think as a society we should educate people that in order to avoid STDs they should practice safer sex and all that that entails.

You're right. It isn't my business what people do with their lives and I apologize for implying that it was.

Is there really anyone who doesn't actually know this? Most fat people I know know way more about nutrition and exercise than naturally thin people.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Here's a thought: I don't think I would have ever commented on Josh's weight had he always been overweight.

There is a big difference, in my mind, about snarking on an overweight teenager and snarking on an adult who gained more weight during his wife's pregnancies than she did. The first, to me, is cruel as I don't think children who are taught their parents' eating habits/choices are at fault for their weight. Josh is an adult, married with children.

When you see someone who is frequently on TV gain weight dramatic amounts of weight in a short period of time, people notice and will comment. It's human nature.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Now I'm off to watch Friends on the treadmill for an hour :-)

[Kelya]

Just to reemphasis this, everyone who commented on the first page is commenting on a completely different post due to massive editing.

Is there really anyone who doesn't actually know this? Most fat people I know know way more about nutrition and exercise than naturally thin people.

Oh, yes! I was a public health major in school and we did an outreach project with a local community center in a low income neighborhood and you'd be shocked at the lack of information both the children and their families had about weight, nutrition, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, self esteem, etc. Even families who had someone with diabetes living with them weren't too clear on the specifics of what was happening to their relative/why their relative had a special diet. You'd think the information would be pretty accessible, but for anyone outside of regular internet access, library access, doctor's visits and reasonable schools it isn't nearly as readily available as one might think.

USING CAPSLOCK MAKES PEOPLE AGREE WITH ME AND IMPROVES THE VALIDITY OF MY ARGUMENT.

Wait, it doesn't? It's just obnoxious? Nevermind then.

*Edited because riffles are bad.

LOLing now.

[formergothardite]

USING CAPSLOCK MAKES PEOPLE AGREE WITH ME AND IMPROVES THE VALIDITY OF MY ARGUMENT.

Wait, it doesn't? It's just obnoxious? Nevermind then.

*Edited because riffles are bad.

LOL Internet screaming at people never works well. It also makes me think the writer is about 12 because all the preteens I know on FB write in capslock all the time. I think I'm turning into an old person who sits around shaking my head grumbling about today's youth. :character-smurfpapa: