nice to know most people are being civil about this this time

well michael jackson proved he could change his colour so does that mean then that racism is not discrimination?

Are you talking to yourself again Lee? Voices in the head?

In answer to your question there seem to be a lot of deletions today! Can't ever find the bleddy posts I was gonna be sarcy back with! :joker:

haha no probs :p

Are you honestly being serious?

You thiink having your skin bleached...or the 'official' reason of getting a skin disorder, is the same as going on a diet?!

I dont want to be pedantic and dont want to get into a long drawn out argument over it, but that is not strictly true. Some medications will make you put on weight and if that person has mobility problems or in a wheelchair for example there is not a lot they are able to do short of starving themselves.

Making fun of people because of their weight IS discrimination and making fun of someone who is overweight shows ignorance as you dont know if that person is on medication or has some medical condition causing their excess weight or whether they are just a lazy so and so, which in itself s still not a reason to accept making fun of someones weight.

If someone is lazy, doesnt want to exercise, comfort eats and is not on any medication causing it, there will almost always be an emotional issue be it depression or low self esteem. Making fun of such a person will only make them feel worse. So no I dont think it should be any more acceptable than commenting on colour or sexuality.

People who say these kind of things on internet forums should ask themselves before posting whether they would say what they are typing to a persons face. If the answer is no then dont type it.

Vicky how do you stand all this day in day out, it must be soul destroying.

If you treat someone differently because of a physical attribute then you are discriminating, whether you personally choose to call it that, it still is by definition.

It is a cheap excuse to say weight is OK to bully people with because in your opinion they can change. And you cannot say being gay is genetic because it simply is not - there is no evidence for that claim. For example a gay mother or father is no more likely to father or mother a gay child!!! Being gay is more to do with gender psychology than genetics!!!

I think it is wrong to discriminate on the grounds of APPEARANCE, whatever that is.

Being gay and being black cannot be considered in the same category, one IS a life choice the other you are born with - being black is what you are born with.

Whether we should discriminate on life choices is a separate matter to physical attributes or genetic conditions.

For example, if someone is a drunk driver and loses their legs in an accident, on visual appearances alone you would sympathise with them, but their disability would have been due to a life choice? Should we also discriminate against parents who know they may pass on a genetic disease? Or their offspring, as that is a life choice?

I dont agree with taking the piss out of someone for being fat, but I dont see it as the same as rasicm or homophobia. May have been a better way of putting it then.

I am aware some people CANT lose weight, but the example we were given, of Josie...she was called fat because she constantly went on about it HERSELF, thus drawing attention to it, and also ate a LOT more than an average person would and lay in bed all day. She was not fat entering the house. But she became fat inside the house, so I think its obvious that there wasn't really a medical reason for it, it was just a case of being greedy and lazy.

he still changed his colour of skin so yes i am, and also i cant believe im arguing on a mod over whats right and wrong.

It's about WHITE people slagging off Makosi and STRAIGHT people slagging off Brian.

So your point is invalid. Of course a white heterosexual male making a comment about another white heterosexual male is nothing.

I'm sure Nadia has plenty of critics that hate her for her personality. It's just that when people refer to her as 'he' or 'it' or 'Bob the Builder', it doesn't really help their argument.

Some of the "people don't fancy Makosi, because they are racist" type comments have been really OTT though.

Due to obvious emotional issues that she has, evidenced by her being 25 and still sucking her thumb. It does not and should not make her any more of a target for ridicule just because it's not a visually obvious affliction.


If she saw some of the threads that have been created about her over the past few months on various sites she would have a breakdown

I can, since you appear to be following me round disagreeing with everything i say anyways.

So, you think that people should be able to be racist, because it is perfectly easy for a black person to get their skin bleached?

you seem to have forgotten i mentioned dave aswell?

Very well said.

There are many factors in weight.

And bringing this back to the OP, it would not be wrong to say Josie is a publicity seeking hypocrite but it would be wrong to say her weight has something to do with it. And when we say something about a HM it should be about their behaviour not their body.

A lot of people avoid forums and youtube comments etc because they are full of provoking cowards hiding behind the safety of thier anonymity spewing vile troll crap they would never dare say to another persons face. I have no idea why but its probably the same people who read and believe The Daily Star and watch Jedward - Let Loose.
The general feeling all accross the net is that if you don't like something - you attack in the lowest, most crass way possible. Don't like Nadia shouting? Call her a fat man. etc etc. There's no solution. Welcome to the human race. God I'm depressed.

no but your saying its ok to be against overweight people.

So, ridiculing someone because they are fat is the same as being racist?

I really don't think so.

Yes, it is still kind of discrimination. But it is not the same. If it was, you would be locked up for calling someone fat in the street, like you would be for being racist.

I'm saying I don't think it is the same as racism or homophobia. theres a difference.

Yes its EXACTLY the same. Its discrimination, pure and simple. Go up to a perfect stranger in the street and call them fat you will be arrested for harassment.

but considering your a mod that has banned people for being racist,homophobic and transphobic,you or any other mod have not banned anybody for discrimination against peoples weight.

i infact got an infraction for reporting discrimination the once.

If you are a Manager of a tour operator and someone who is 35 stone walks into your travel agents and you say 'oh sorry you cant have a seat on this plane you are to fat' that is discrimination, that person could sue and the tour operator would be committing a criminal offence, that is no different to someone saying 'sorry you cant come in, we dont have blacks in here'

That is a total lie. You would never get an infraction for reporting discrimination.

And I have actually banned people before for being negative about peoples weight, so get your facts right before you accuse me of stuff thanks.

Over the top posts, or posts that just say 'i hate **** coz shes a fat cow' or something like that, are infracted.

But I cannot for the life of me see how someone would think calling someone fat was the same as being racist.

Can I also add, I have never discriminated against Josie about her weight...not that its relevant, but i think it needed to be said :)

Erm, what if the person IS actually too fat for the seats?

Would the airline have to make changes to the plane that the 35 stone person wanted to fly on?

I'm actually curious :S

Evidently, the first thing that came up when I goggled to find out more about this, as i didnt know this was illegal...was this story http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news...d-off-jet.html.

So how come that airline isnt being prosecuted? :/

i did get infracted when i reported oddballmisfitsftw about it.

Well this just highlights your ignorance and certainly robs your thread of any credibility. I agree sexuality is not the same as skin colour. One relates to somebody's personality and inclinations, the other is something that a person cannot change, at all.

Can discrimination against fat people even begin to be given the same weight as either? Not a chance. Obesity is a health problem, it affects your proneness to heart failure, diabetes and cancer. Race discrimination and homophobia should be opposed in all cirumstances, because it deems, out of ignorance, that those things are somehow undesirable or unhealthy with no real evidence and demands an entire group of people change something which they can't.

You cant flat out say to someone sorry you're to fat to do this. That person has the same legal rights and the right to be treated with respect and dignity as someone who is 9 stone. If that person has no medical reasons not to fly then (which if they were 35 stone I imagine there would be) the airline would have a legal and moral obligation to accommodate that person. You cannot turn someone away because of something that maybe wrong with them, that is illegal.


Discrimiination is discrimination, you cant pick and choose what is and what isnt. Ridiculing someones weight is no different to ridiculing someone because they have no legs or because they are black

no dont speak sense its against the forum rules.

First off thats the NOTW so they sensationalise it

Second of all they made efforts to accommodate him by offering him two seats, they fulfilled their obligation. It is not their fault he turned it down.

PMed you the real reason for that warning..even though it says on it :)

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/15022010/...fat-fly-0.html well theres another then, not from NOTW.

Surely it is classed as discrimination to say someone who is too fat has to pay for two seats?

Nope its been to court under consumer regulations and also business practices. It is fair and reasonable for an obese person to be expected to reimburse the travel operator for two seats if they require two seats to accomodate them safely.

if they are even fatter, and require a half a row row (it does happen) do they have to pay for all the seats? or are they just not allowed to fly?

I didnt even know about any of this :laugh:

Anyone can ring up and book a seat on a plane it is the person booking the ticket's responsibility to inform the agent of any special circumstances, it's illegal for them to ask.

A perfectly normal sounding man could ring and book a seat on a plane then turn up on the day of the flight in a wheelchair.. no special arrangements would have been made and that person will not be able to fly.

If you phone up and say can I book a seat on a plane to Corfu please, however I am morbidly obese, i'm in a wheelchair, I cant walk very far, I have to be near a toilet they HAVE to accomodate you.

The man in the first story clearly didnt inform them or point out that it would be a problem. They wouldnt have pointed it out to him as they would have been breaking the law. In that case they only told him when he was on the plane and it was plainly obvious that him being there was causing safety issues for him and other passengers.

Thats never been tested in UK courts but the natural extension of the decision is, if you require more than the average person you pay for what you use.

An example would be a person hospitalised and bed ridden, on being transferred by air, the health insurance of the invalid would pay for however many seat spaces they require for safe transport. Or the full costs of a small charter aircraft if the person needed to be transported that way.

The assumption of the passenger that the airline must carry them if they purchase a single seat is incorrect. The airline may do so out of goodwill, however if the person fails to declare any special requirements at the time of booking, that in itself is sufficient to invalidate any contract.

But then surely...the example you gave before about someone going to book a flight and the operators not being able to tell them they are too fat(obviously in nicer words though)...is silly then?

Surely it would be so much easier all round if it was pointed out at the time of booking(if possible) so that this could be avoided :S

Actually I blame shami chakrabarti and Mrs Blair the human rights lawyer.

i saw a big argument on this not so long back when Sky News reported the same airplane issue

It stemmed from the fact that if someone is so large that their bulk goes over their 1 seat, is it fair that the person sat next to them gets less of a seat for the same price due to the bulk of the obese person taking over part of their seat

Personally I thought the debate was a little OTT however both side did make valid cases about this and for certain if the obesity problems continue down the current trends then airlines will more than likely address this once they can ensure there will be no recourse

Anyway, I digress. I actually agree with the OP. I have been a lurker on this board for a long long time yet only started posting recently however I must admit, I tend to avoid certain threads for fear of being 'branded'. The transphobic line seems to appear on every single Nadia thread and I agree, it is tiresome. I saw many threads at the start of BB11 regarding 'blackpeople out 1st, racists etc' - in my mind those particular housemates were the correct people to go for their personality (or lack of on 1 case) traits however the PC mob were only too quick to scream racism.

The constant accusations do need to stop, some people just call it what it is without treading on eggshells, exactly what a public forum should be

Fat-hate is somewhere in between "racism/homophobia" and totally valid, but it's impossible to tell who has a genetic condition or predisposition and who's just lazy. So I just wouldn't say ****.

As for seats on planes, obese folks unfortunately have a practical problem race or sexuality doesn't bring: physical size. Cry discrimination all day long, if they can't fit in one seat they can't fit in one seat. You're paying for square footage, you're paying for the weight of your luggage and yourself in the air. In addition, everyone else on the flight paid for a full seat and one unlucky person doesn't deserve 1/2 a seat or less because the bigger person doesn't want to pay more or have their feelings hurt.

It sucks, but it's a totally unavoidable practicality.