I am fat.
“Fat and Happy?”:
In "Fat and Happy?”, Hillel Schwartz claims that the reason obese people are not happy is not because of their extra weight, but rather because of their peer's disdain. He blames society as a whole for fat people's self esteem issues. Schwartz rationalizes that propaganda against fat people is the real reason for their health issues, not their physical state itself.
Throughout his article Schwartz attempts to persuade his readers into accepting his biased point of view. He seems to have a grudge against society for making a mockery of fat people and tries to win sympathy for them in several ways. Schwartz repeatedly uses the word fat as an attempt to overwhelm the reader into a feeling of acceptance of the word. He also redefines several familiar words, stating that dieting is cannibalism and fat people constitute their own minority. Schwartz goes on to inject many revolutionary claims in his article and does so very convincingly. At a glance, his logic seems sound, however with deeper thought many holes can be seen in his thinking.
Schwartz first assertion is that dieting does not help. He believes that fat people will most likely fail and become disheartened as a result of dieting. They will then simply agree with society that they are incompetent. Schwartz fails to realize that many dieters do succeed and feel a huge ego boost after seeing the desired effects of dieting. The people who fail at diets are those who have poor work ethics and are not dedicated enough to their diet. These people are lazy and, to some extent, deserve the ridicule they receive.