When I contact Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the first things she does is gently correct my use of obese person, redirecting me to the most neutral obese person instead (and proving, in the process, that fat people are very capable of entering the culture of fatphobia). “When we call an obese person, it is not taken into account that there is a disease process controlled and regulated by the hypothalamus of the brain that causes each of us to regulate our weight differently,” Stanford explains. “When people look at patients who are obese, whether mild, moderate, or severe, they presume,‘ Oh, it’s something they did to themselves, and so they got it for something they did. ’We don’t put the same thing. thought processing nor do we blame people who have cancer. “
Stanford agrees that doctors are generally one of the “worst groups” in terms of perpetuating fatphobia, but is determined to set a different level of care for their patients. She is tasked with placing obesity within their larger sociocultural context, noting that racial minorities are more likely to be obese, in addition to having a higher risk of contracting COVID-19. “When obese patients come to me and ask me if they should get the vaccine, I tell them a statement that is an unequivocal yes because the data show that COVID-19 results are significantly worse for obese patients. I will give any advice I can to make sure they are better protected against this virulent disease that has affected all of our lives, ”says Stanford.
While medical bias is a risk factor for many, if not most, obese people, our internalized phobia and our judgment can be so psychologically damaging. “At first, I thought [my BMI qualifying me for the vaccine] it was ironic because maybe I wouldn’t have qualified if I hadn’t gained the weight I have during the pandemic, “said Catherine, 24, who will soon receive her first dose of vaccine in Brooklyn.” I’m already afraid of the things that the “People can say or think about my vaccine, not only because I’ve gained weight, but also because I’m unemployed. It’s really hard not to feel so fat and unemployed. It means I’m worthless and I’m lazy.” Catherine he is happy to receive the BMI-based vaccine, but is also aware of the dissonance instilled in him by a society deeply fueled by diet culture: “It’s weird that I’m being rewarded for failing.”