Plus-size passengers reveal anguish of 'flying while fat'

[cubby]

Mesomorph, technically.

Nice word find.

[Wewlad]

Ever seen guys with the inverted triangle-sort of body? I don't know the word for it in English. Even at my leanest when I played football I was still 6'4 and over 200 lbs and I still hated airline seats and my shoulders and arms still encroached on other folks seats or into the aisle.

All right, that's different from what I thought you meant. Must be really shitty seating, since the planes I ride on with my friend (who's a mesomorph) had seats that fit him well enough and he's 240 lbs slim.

[Stelio Kontos]

All right, that's different from what I thought you meant. Must be really shitty seating, since the planes I ride on with my friend (who's a mesomorph) had seats that fit him well enough and he's 240 lbs slim.

Yeah, I have noticed it matters on the airline.

Alaska Airlines seems to give more room.

When I flew to Asia it was with KoreanAir and then a Thai airline and they were nightmarishly cramped.

[tyrlaan]

I'm not saying people don't fat shame - I'm saying that this issue isn't about fat shaming. There will always be people who are assholes about any subject, so don't be surprised when they show up here.




Airplane seats are the size they are - and that won't change in the near future. So people who are severely overweight need to make proper arrangements. And it isn't like airplane seats are the only seats that are this size - most city bus seats are the same as airplanes. Even commuter trains have similar sized seats.

On a side note, and related to fat shaming, I was wondering if I could get your opinion on something. Sort of removed from this topic but very much related. An objective review, if you will.

Aye, I agree - the issue isn't the fat shaming, people bring it into the conversation unfortunately. We're on the same page.

Sure, happy to opine on whatever it is you're curious about.

[Mistame]

Why should someone who has abused themselves and allowed their weight to get to a point they don't fit into a seat have a special privilege?

Different people are different sizes. Airplane seats are one size and unfortunately a size that's actually too small for anyone but children and European models.

This is healthy weight shamming and you are triggering me. I feel judged for being of normal healthy weight and I want bigger seats too.

Please ask your attendant for a box of complimentary* tissues.

[Seani]

Because weight is subjective? Do you honestly feel like a 240 pound man who is 6'4 should have to pay for 2 seats while a 220lb 5'0 female can get away with 1 seat?

A healthy weight is determined by BMI.

[niil945]

I'm curious how many people fat shaming in this thread are insulting themselves in the process.


More importantly, anyone fat shaming is just plain ignorant.

1. Do you think insulting someone will make them thin?
2. Do you realize that increasing scientific evidence suggests being overweight is not linked to the various medical conditions historically associated with it
3. Do you have mind reading powers to know that the reason someone is overweight is always "poor life choices"?

Granted there are people here being blunt and some being rude, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with someone wanting to have unimpeded use of the space they are paying for. I'm not sorry to say, I honestly don't care why someone is overweight. I'm a little overweight and I fit perfectly fine at 6' even and ~210 lbs. I fly at least a couple times a year to visit family, hell I'll be hopping on a plane to visit family on my way out of the country here in less than 2 weeks. While seats across various airlines aren't luxurious and large like most movie theaters are nowadays, they're also not too small for an average sized male adult plus some. We're not talking about people who are a little overweight. We're talking about people who are much more than a little overweight. And frankly neither the why or the how matters. I paid for my seat. If you can't fit in yours that's not my problem, but don't think you're going to use part of mine because you can't fit in yours. How you resolve it, again, isn't my problem. Lose weight, pay for two seats, always make sure you aren't in a middle seat, wear one of those idiotic "It Works" spandex bands to wrap yourself up like a mummy, I don't care. Just stay out of my space.

[Tennis]

I powerlift. My weight fluctuates a lot, but it's usually in the area of 250lbs. I'm a very big guy and I take up a good chunk of room. I do my absolute best not to inconvenience anyone though. I don't put my arms in their area and I try and keep as compact as I can. I try and make the flight as comfortable as possible for people beside me, but it isn't going to the roomiest situation.

Remember, size can mean a lot of different things other than "fat".

How is that ethical. If you really are that large that you take up the other person's space then you need to pay for 2 seats.

[Seani]

This thread really deteriorated quickly

[Spectral]

Let's be perfectly clear: there's a legit conversation to be had about the situation of a fat person and crappy airplane seats, but there's no reason fat shaming needs to be part of that conversation. Calling out fat shaming does not in anyway speak to the debate about airplane seats for heavier people.

Why do you think fat shaming is a bad thing? Is being fat not a shameful thing?

[PaNick]

The only problem here is that obese people think it is acceptable to remain overweight and keep on living there life, not realizing that is actually effecting others. Keep this in mind the human body was not made to put this much stress on their bodies, that is why most obese people have outrageous health problems. Its better for your body and the environment to sustain a healthy lifestyle rather than a lazy one. Don't fall privy to the fat acceptance movement.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

[tyrlaan]

A healthy weight is determined by BMI.

BMI is a terrible metric to use.

Granted there are people here being blunt and some being rude, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with someone wanting to have unimpeded use of the space they are paying for.

I'm not arguing that point one way or the other. I'm arguing against fat shaming, which, unsurprisingly, is rampant in this thread.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Maybe you should fly business then to ensure there isn't anyone too close to you.

Business is still pretty cramped on non-international flights, tbh (given as in the 737 and A320/1 it's the same seats, with the same legroom as economy, just without somebody sitting in the centre seat).

[hydrium]

Thats why people save, to do things. Why make it more expensive? People save up for material things, why is a vacation any different? This is so dense of a comment.

So companies should be forced to forgo profit because fat people wanna fat?

[Spectral]

BMI is a terrible metric to use.

No, it's actually pretty good - 95% of men and 99% of women that are obese by BMI are obese by body fat. There are a few exceptions, but most people are not the exceptions.

[Tennis]

Business is still pretty cramped on non-international flights, tbh (given as in the 737 and A320/1 it's the same seats, with the same legroom as economy, just without somebody sitting in the centre seat).

Well short haul flights aren't that long. Just get the exit seat with extra legroom and either lean against the window or out into the aisle if you're large.

[cubby]

Aye, I agree - the issue isn't the fat shaming, people bring it into the conversation unfortunately. We're on the same page.

Sure, happy to opine on whatever it is you're curious about.

It's regarding fat shaming. In my basic research, I've seen very few situations of overweight people literally having no control over their situations. In most cases, people who are borderline OW (overweight) just each too much junk and don't exercise enough - which is the category that I fall into, lol. Larger, more OW people either have this problem in spades, or run into chemical imbalances - such as thyroid problems, PCOS, etc. Most of which are manageable with the right meds, diet, exercies, etc.

The labeling of fat shaming, as we've already seen in this very post, is both mean and at the same time, fairly accurate. It's certainly not nice to call people names - period. But at the same time, isn't there some accuracy to the statements?

(please don't think me mean here - I'm really interested in a conversation about fat shaming - I'm not someone who could actually call out people in this manner)

[mittacc]

My fathers ribcage is literally like 3x my size. He has bigger bones than I do. Even if I was his height and body fat, I'd still weight a lot less than him

An object's weight is it's mass times the acceleration of said object. Now, is weight subjective?

[callipygoustp]

There needs to be a follow up article:
Airline passengers reveal anguish when sitting next to "plus-size" passengers when flying.

[niil945]

I'm not arguing that point one way or the other. I'm arguing against fat shaming, which, unsurprisingly, is rampant in this thread.

I did say that some people are being blunt and some just flat out rude. What's worse? Shaming people for being overweight or shaming people for using language you don't like by using SJW buzzword terminology? Personally I think the latter of the two.