When I get to Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the first things she does is easily correct my use. obese person, redirecting me to the most neutral obese person instead (and proving, in the process, that fat people are very capable of playing in the culture of fatphobia). “When we call an obese person, it doesn’t take into account the fact that there is a real process of disease controlled and regulated by the hypothalamus in the brain that causes each of us to adjust our weight differently,” explains Stanford. “When people look at obese patients – whether mild, moderate or severe – they assume, ‘Oh, it’s something they did on their own and they ended up like that because of something they did.’ We do not put the same thought process or blame on people suffering from cancer. ”
Stanford agrees that doctors are generally one of the “worst groups” in terms of perpetuating fatphobia, but is determined to set a different standard of care for her patients. She is careful to place obesity in its broader socio-cultural context, noting that racial minorities are more likely to be obese, in addition to the fact that they are already at greater risk of contracting COVID-19. “When obese patients come to me and ask me if they should receive the vaccine, I give them a statement that is an unequivocal yes, because the data show that COVID-19 results are significantly poorer for obese patients. I will give them any advice I can to make sure they are best protected against this virulent disease that has affected us all our lives, ”says Stanford.
While medical prejudice is a risk factor for many – if not most – obese people, our own internalized fatphobia and self-judgment can be just as 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 had during the pandemic, “says Catherine, 24, who will soon receive her first dose of vaccine in Brooklyn. “I am already afraid of some things that people may say or think about the fact that I will receive the vaccine, not only because I have gained weight, but also because I am unemployed. It is very difficult not to feel that I am both fat and unemployed, it means that I am worthless or lazy ”. Catherine is happy to receive the BMI-based vaccine, but is also aware of the dissonance instilled in her by a society deeply enriched by culture and diet: “It seems strange that I am apparently rewarded for failing.”