Fatphobia is a relatively new term, but it has always been present in the life of researcher, activist and journalist Agnes Arruda.
In an interview with CNN Radio, on CNN No Plural, she reported that she suffered from prejudice, but took a while to understand that prejudgment against fat people was rooted in society.
“Fatphobia is a prejudice against fat people usually associated with the aesthetic issue, but it goes deeper than that. It retroacts in various environments, segregating from social, family, labor market, limiting the person’s life.”
According to her, society imposes the “erasure and silencing of these people, which is very violent and causes pain and suffering.”
Agnes reinforced that fatphobia “is not mimimi”, it is not a case of people who “are lazy and don’t diet”: “as we live in society, we realize that there are mechanisms that reinforce prejudice, such as language.”
Prejudice is institutionalized, it is part of socialization, in the family, school, church, state and even the media.
Agnes Arruda
The researcher points out that treating the term “fat” as pejorative is a problem. “This is a physical characteristic, denying it using words like ‘strong’, ‘cute’, ‘full’, ‘full’ carries stereotypes.”
Agnes also believes that information on the topic is important. “There are people who never realized that something like this exists and happens, it is very important to know that there is another perspective, including with regard to health, a fat person can be athletic.”
“Women are more affected by this prejudice, and if, at an earlier age, girls have an educational contact on the subject, they will think more before committing violence, this will help in their training.”
Reference: CNN Brasil
