Chris Freind #fundie blogs.phillymag.com

Shaming isn’t the total panacea, but it must be an integral part of the solution. There’s no better example of how shame can change perceptions than smoking, which was once considered cool but is now viewed with utter disdain. Sure, cigarettes are expensive, but that’s not why smoking is down. It’s because society made a conscious effort to shame smokers. Try lighting up in a bar with co-workers, and you receive dagger-like stares. Do it outside, and people immediately move away, because smoking is regarded as disgusting, and therefore, the smoker must be, too.

Smoking kills, and we have no problem pointing out that as a deterrent. Yet so does obesity, and we still hesitate to mention it. Just as non-smokers are picking up the tab for the massive medical costs related to smoking, non-overweight people are subsidizing the obese since it is “discriminatory” to charge differently for health care (though a section of the Affordable Care Act would change that).

But shaming is now taboo, and no one is ever at fault or accountable for his actions. Consider:

• It used to be, when a student received a detention, they weren’t just shamed in front of their classmates. They knew they had to tell their parents, which would invariably trigger another punishment.

Contrast that to the reaction this week to a New Jersey principal’s letter to parents about pictures of their underage children on Facebook holding alcohol bottles. Instead of thanking the principal for bringing that situation to their attention, a number of parents ripped him.

• Airlines have attempted to charge double for obese passengers whose girth extends beyond the armrests. While this is clearly commonsense, since not doing so penalizes paying passengers of normal weight, such policies are met with scorn and even lawsuits by those lobbying for obesity-without-consequence.

• And since it would be considered “discriminatory” to have an obese-only section in stadiums, seats are being made wider to accommodate overly plump posteriors. And when seats are wider, there are fewer of them. Who pays? You do. The same way that the non-obese eat the cost of new toilets that must be installed with ground supports, as the standard wall-mounted commodes can no longer bear the weight of America’s fat brigade.

We have coddled ourselves so much that we have shamed using shame. As a result, people have become clueless to their appearance. Sure, what’s under the skin matters, and no one should feel that obese people are bad, but what’s on the outside counts, too. Or at least it should. But go to any beach, and count how many linebacker-sized women are showcasing themselves in bikinis. Ditto for men whose guts reach the next block. Since they all have mirrors, one can only assume that shame is simply not a part of their lives.

Should we have scarlet letters for the obese? Of course not, since there is no problem identifying them. But we should employ shame to shed light on an issue that affects us all, in the same way that some judges order drunk drivers to place “Convicted DUI” bumper stickers on their cars.

And speaking of cars, how shameful is it that overweight people are not just guzzling food, but fuel? A recent report calculated that one billion gallons of gasoline are wasted every year (one percent of the nation’s total) just to haul Americans’ extra pounds. And given that the average American weighs 24 more pounds than in 1960, airlines are using roughly 175 million more gallons of jet fuel per year just to accommodate the overweight. That’s downright shameful.

And if not shame, then what? Do we tax fast food? Soda? Candy? Do we regulate portion size? No. Not only are such ideas preposterous and unenforceable, but they are tactics, not strategy. It’s time to tip the scales against obesity and solve the problem.

Otherwise, we will soon find out that the “elephant in the room” isn’t a pachyderm at all.

It’s an average American.

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