This is just . . . weird

[pegkerr]

Doctor in trouble for calling woman obese.

The story doesn't say exactly how he phrased what he said to her. I gotta think there is more to the story here.

It makes me think of that term Berke Breathed coined: "Offensensitivity."

Comments

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

You've hit the nail on the head, pointing out that fear reaction. Fear of losing control is kind of funny when you think that people don't really have much control to begin with. We've got heredity, and happenstance, and we've got patterns of dealing with food that are learned at our parent's knees. These may allow us leeway for modifying our behavior to some extent, but they are always going to be exerting their influence, however much we think that we're in charge.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

Something I was reading recently revised my opinion on this--now I'm amazed at what a blend of conscious control and lack of it we have over bodily functions. We do indeed consciously control essential physical processes like when we do and don't defecate or unrinate, which is actually a big accomplishment. And we know a lot of things to do that often get the results we want, like physical activities to make us stronger or faster or whatever. So there are areas of control, and these can sometimes give us the illusion that everything the body does is or should be under conscious control. And it is quite an illusion, as we agree.

Also, those who physically demonstrate that our bodies are not always under control are marginalized, sometimes literally shamed into staying at home and sometimes "invisible" even when present. (A great collection of essays called Scoot Over, Skinny! has a piece on how, paradoxically, being bigger makes people somehow not notice you, looking past you, treating you as if you aren't there.) Another way that an absurd idea is actually given some support.

I want it tobe 100% clear that I do still think about this issue the way I said--but I'm also mulling over reasons that people can possibly believe the notion that we can totally control out bodily functions.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

You're right that some things are more subject to control than others. We can 'hold it' (whether breath, bladder or bowel) - but only for so long. And, with years of discipline some people (yogis, frex) can learn even greater control. It's definitely a good thing to be able to hold your breath when you're in the water, and to hold other things when you're in adverse circumstances.

Maybe there's some evolutionary advantage in learning to control our very metabolisms. But, given that this is not presently how things work, it seems weird that so many people seem to expect it.