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For some time now, I have been bothered by the prevalence of "fat shaming" and "humiliation" in our community. I frequently see posters repeating the fatphobic memes of the mainstream culture. Larger women are referred to as "pigs" or "cows". It is assumed that anyone who is overweight is lazy and their appetite is assumed to be completely out of control. Even women who are only slightly larger than the mainstream ideal or who have gained a small amount of weight are subjected to these kinds of remarks. I recognize that a significant subset of folks here, both men and women, get off on this stuff. They are aroused by teasing and fat shaming. In particular, there seem to be a lot of men who are turned on by directing humiliating comments at women's bodies. I think this deserves discussion. On one hand, whatever 'floats your boat" should be fine as long as there is mutual consent and no one is harmed. On the other hand, I think these comments reinforce a lot of ill-informed stereotypes about food, health, body image, and are corrosive to the self-esteem of larger people. As a practical matter, making these kinds of comments seems self defeating to our online community. Receiving a stream of fat shaming comments can only discourage most models from wanting to post here. I am probably particularly sensitive to these issues because of a long friendship with a beautiful curvy woman in recovery from bulimia. Because of her struggles I did a lot of reading about eating disorders. Pressure to be thin is a primary driver of eating disorders. Young women who restrict their food intake in an attempt to conform to the overly narrow "beauty standard" end up throwing themselves into eating disorders that are incredibly dangerous, far more dangerous than being moderately overweight. Recovery is often an extremely difficult process that can dominate an E.D. sufferer's life for decades. Rather than reinforcing our culture's fatphobic stereotypes, I would very much like to see this community embrace "body positivity" and support finding beauty in a broader range of body types. I think that would make it easier for fat women to feel good about themselves and allow more men to have an easier time with their attraction to larger women. These topics aren't simple or easy. Most of us who are here have struggled to come to terms with our own sexuality. I don't want to condemn others. But I do think it is worth discussing why humiliation is arousing to many and how those urges can be redirected or at least expressed in a more constructive manner. I hope this thread can promote some respectful discussion. Thanks!

Hate when I'm scrolling through facebook and see something like this: A fetish video found by someone outside of the fetish and uploaded onto a popular page on facebook for many people who don't get it at all to throw in their uninformed opinions and judgments. You should see the comments on this. Everyone's like "why would she try to wear pants that are too small" and "she's disgusting; she needs to find a gym. She's going to die." On one hand I'm laughing my ass off because they don't even know the half of it, but on the other hand I'm incredible upset and can't do anything about it but look away. I mean, they are kind of right, and this IS the internet (where almost anything goes and everything is immortal). I just don't like feeling ostracized from society.