Comment on Karim Diané on playing Star Trek’s first gay Klingon
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 1 day agoWe can all see she’s overweight
I can’t. My perceptions have been altered by the high prevalence of obesity in our society. I now have higher standards. She looks a little thicker than most people, but not in a way I’d been conscious of before today.
JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
It’s true that general obesity can make it hard to identify overweight people today. I’m lucky to live in Europe, and it’s not as bad here yet. Wiseman is somewhere around 35-40%, which is where the official diagnosis of “obesity” begins.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 1 day ago
This is a good example of soulism. Something as basic about our perception of people as whether they’re fat changes based on our home culture. Ultimately, the quality of being fat is a social construct. Science can’t give us a hard cutoff, only culture can do that. Science can only give us degrees.
A naive realist would respond to this ambiguity by denying its existence and saying whatever they think is fat, is fat. A scientific realist would try to find an objective answer in science, perhaps using appealing to the authority of BMI, or looking for a more reliable measurement. A social constructivist would accept that there’s no answer. But a soulist would begin asking what definition of “fat” helps society the most, so we can make a conscious choice of what to believe. The soulist is the only one displaying true agency in how our perceptual world is created.
JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I like how that focuses on the desired outcomes. Research shows that health risks increase (on average) after a BMI of 25 (slightly more for women). So I would propose a soulism approach in which anyone over a BMI of 25 be considered overweight. That’s generally how medical guidelines categorise weight now.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 1 day ago
Well then John Cena is overweight. In fact, he’s obese, with a BMI of 33.9. So BMI isn’t objective reality. And I think it’s useful only as a very rough guideline.
Now I want to question something that’s gone unsaid in this conversation so far. We started with the question “Is Tilly fat?” And now suddenly you’re talking about medicine and health. Is fatness purely a matter of health? I don’t think so. I think fatness touches beauty standards, body autonomy, culture, gender presentation, expression, and identity, and a lot more. I don’t think it’s just health.
And if it is, then Tilly isn’t fat, because she lives in the Federation where they have advanced medical technology. I don’t believe Tilly’s weight is a health concern in the same universe that has dermal regenerators in every first aid kit. I think her blood levels are all great, her physical fitness is within regulation, and her joints are all in perfect condition for her age. I assume that about every Starfleet Officer. I think they have the technology to make all that possible at any weight we’ve seen in the show.
Furthermore, I think Tilly could lose weight very easily if she wanted. Starfleet has synthetic alcohol that breaks down in the presence of adrenaline, I think meals to match an ideal nutritional profile regardless of your fitness goals and portion size are easy in comparison, given replicator technology. I think Tilly chooses her weight because she likes the way she looks and feels the way she is.
So, given all this, is Tilly fat? Well, I think that’s her choice. If we’ve controlled for health, then the biggest effect of the definition is her own comfort. So we should be asking her if she’d like to be called fat. Some people do, and that’s valid. Some people don’t, and that’s valid. I believe in technology and personal choice.