The Cry Of The Fat Scientists

Theo (Chelsea) Newbold is a chemist. And fat. A fat chemist. A fat female chemist.

This is not me saying so. This is the preeminent science journal in the world saying it. Nature herself says it. It must therefore be true.

Before you NPR listeners go off about "ad hominems", understand that you are wrong. That's a fallacy when an argument is dismissed because a fat female chemist is making it. We are not making that argument. The point of this prestigious science article, in our best journal, is to discuss the fatness of fat female chemists and other fat scientists. And what that fatness means to science.

Now one day, early in her career, Newbold was looking for a lab coat, these being de rigueur for chemists of whatever BMI. Nature tells us Newbold "couldn’t find one that fitted at the campus shop, which stocked only up to a size XL. Newbold needed a 3XL. Without a lab coat, they couldn’t start their chemistry class."

"They", Nature said, "their", when speaking of Newbold directly. So often do they do this in the article that it can't be a mistake. From which we conclude to do modern science one must use poor grammar.

A sociologist with the delightful name of Cat Pausé (yes) said, "In a world overflowing with messages about the dangers of obesity and never-ending lists of ways to lose weight, it should be no surprise that weight bias is as prominent in science as in every other field."

It's likely the world is overflowing with messages about the dangers of obesity, because being obese isn't good for you. This is worth mentioning because, as Nature tell us---and we really shouldn't laugh---that "Pausé was interviewed for this article before her sudden death in March."

According to pictures on her Wikipedia page, our Cat was positively circular. She was 42 when she died. Cat was "an American academic specialising in fat studies and a fat activist." Wiki dryly notes "Her cause of death has not been made public."

Back to Nature:

Yet weight bias — defined as prejudice towards people with higher body weight — has received little attention. Whereas searching for Twitter hashtags such as #queerinSTEM and #blackinSTEM reveals thousands of tweets, #fatinSTEM and #fatinacademia each yield only a single message — a sign that even those researchers who are comfortable with their size face significant stigma.

There is no higher being in our culture than the Victim. And the fat want in on Victim calculus, both arguing that being fat is detrimental, and also that being fat is perfectly healthy. Which, if so, makes them non-Victims.

But whatever. We no longer expect consistency in arguments from the regime.

I confirmed Nature's lament. I looked up on Twitter "#fatinSTEM" and "#fatinacademia" but only found five or so references, all but one to the Nature article. But with a little bit o' luck, this post will join right in.

Here's my favorite parts:

Creating a workplace that is accepting of all body sizes is straightforward, says Robert Rosencrans, a neuroendocrinology MD–PhD student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham — by bucking the narrative around weight, health and morality....

To Robert Rosencrans...the problem begins with the language used to discuss the issue. It’s commonly referred to as the obesity epidemic, yet, Rosencrans says, the issue doesn’t meet the true definition of an epidemic. He doesn’t deny that average body weights around the world have risen, but “there’s never been exponential growth in the number of people with a BMI over some arbitrary cut-off point”, Rosencrans says. Yet calling it an epidemic frames larger people as inherently diseased and a menace, he says.

Not an epidemic? Here's the CDC data from 2020:

If you're squeamish, don't examine the charts by race.

It's probably churlish of me to remind the reader that one way not to get sick is not to be fat and, according to Rosencrans, becoming a menace.

We also learn of one Mads Tang-Christensen, some sort of scientist or other, who, we are told, "has an obesity diagnosis".

Which makes his fat official. Because you can't know you're fat without the official stamp---a very large stamp, presumably---of approval from Experts.

Buy my new book and learn to argue against the regime: Everything You Believe Is Wrong.

Visit wmbriggs.com.