Prime example is the current Cosmo row about putting obese models on cover ("This is healthy") while Covid is rampaging in the US and killing obese people https://www.rt.com/news/511466-cosmo-fat-healthy-covid-cover...
> Even the oppressive insistence that we should love our body, no matter what, can tip into upbeat intolerance by implying that it’s not OK to want to work on tummy folds or laugh lines.
I read the Cosmo cover as suggesting "it's OK to not want to change your body", toxic positivity would be "it's not OK to want to change your body". In that case, toxic positivity is more restricting -- it's the difference between "it's fine to not be sad" and "it's not fine to be sad".
Yes, it's "okay" in that you should not experience body or fat-shaming for being obese. No, it's not "okay" in that you are at extremely elevated risks of every health disease - and your quality of life is really terrible in comparison to people who are not obese. It's actually really terrible for the state and for society to normalize this level of disregard for out health.
I think this lesser form of "toxic positivity" inspires complacency and a general victim mentality out of people who for whom their pain is partially or entirely self-inflicted.
That's factually inaccurate.
> It's actually really terrible for the state and for society to normalize this
I don't believe there is any science to back this assertion up. It's an interesting hypothesis, but I doubt it's true.
> think this lesser form of "toxic positivity" inspires complacency and a general victim mentality
Actually, the opposite is true. Shame is linked with health care avoidance: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S17401...
I'd be interested if you have seen evidence that shame increases weight loss in obese people? Am I understand you correctly that's your thesis?
GP comment doesn't claim that. You're just making this up. It's a scientific fact obesity is a health risk. What is the point in denying that?
I’m not debating what’s healthy, I’m debating what we consider “ok”.
“Obesity is a health risk” is a fact indeed. “All health risks are not ok” is not a scientific fact.
For all the fat hate, there are also the people who genuinely think that being obese is healthy. What better way to get through to those people than to trojan horse them with that controversial cover?
It's certainly related.
Toxic positivity is something that happens in interpersonal communication. It's meaningless praise and excitement, bordering on condescension. It usually also comes from a person who isn't really qualified to distinguish accomplishments from regular work, because they aren't an expert in the field.
Is smoking healthy? Philip Morris would certainly like it if people believed that. Fortunately, they do not believe it anymore.
The false dichotomy of "either you hate fat people or you feed them positive bullshit" definitely looks like toxic positivity to me. No space for "your weight will likely cause you health problems down the line, here is how you can help it" there.