Extra Event #2: What’s wrong with fat?

It is very lucky to get to see the specialists working in different areas to share their thoughts about “what’s wrong with fat”. The organizer is very great as we have professors from department of sociology, gender studies, medical school and the author of the book to talk to us their own knowledge or opinions over this issue. Their differentiated perspectives help the audience learn about this more holistically.

The guest speakers are very professional and they share some wonderful ideas over the issue of fatness. They first share about their feelings/thoughts after reading the book, and then talk about their own experience related to this topic. I thought it is common sense that being fat means being unhealthy. There are definitely health risks from being fat, but people tend to put too much attention on the negative effect on this issue.

I like professors sharing their opinions which may not be coherent with the viewpoints from the book. In fact, the guest speakers talked about what part of the book that they disagree with the author. Before stepping into the conference room, I thought that this talk will be fairly one-sided. However, the guest speakers share something different from the points in the book, which is very interesting to me and lead me to more brainstorming.

I also appreciate the author’s effort of looking at the fatness issue from a standpoint of a sociologist. I also have some fat friends, and sometimes their fatness may be something which causes them to get teased. I have never thought about the social impact of fatness and how people should look at this issue. This talk brought me a lot of fresh thoughts and made to reflect on my personal feelings over the topic.

I really appreciate this opportunity to listen to professors from different departments to talk about the issue of fatness. I will probably read this book during the winter break. I guess I will definitely enjoy reading it as I gained so much from this talk.

the guest speakers and the author of the book

the host

having lunch before the event

Reference:

"What's Wrong with Fat? A Book Discussion with Abigail Saguy." — Center for the Study of Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. <http://www.csw.ucla.edu/events/whats-wrong-with-fat-a-book-discussion-with-abigail-saguy>.

"UCLA Professor Abigail Saguy on What's Wrong with Fat?" Reason.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. <http://reason.com/reasontv/2013/03/18/ucla-professor-abigail-saguy-on-whats-wr>.

"What's Wrong with Fat?" - Hardcover. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. <http://global.oup.com/academic/product/whats-wrong-with-fat-9780199857081?cc=us>.