Links, über die ich mich seit Tagen freue:

– Andrea ist gerade in Brüssel und hat unter anderem das Comicmuseum besichtigt.

– Jens zeigt ein beeindruckendes Battlestar-Galactica-Video, das sich von Beastie Boys’ Sabotage hat inspirieren lassen.

– Franzi erwähnt den wunderbaren Trololo-Mann und eine noch wunderbarere Parodie, die Christoph Waltz für Jimmy Kimmel eingespielt hat.

– Isa übersetzt gerade Jonathan Safran Foers Eating Animals, über das Natalie Portman im letzten Jahr in der Huffington Post geschrieben und dabei einen sehr unglücklichen Vergleich gezogen hat:

“I say that Foer’s ethical charge against animal eating is brave because not only is it unpopular, it has also been characterized as unmanly, inconsiderate, and juvenile. But he reminds us that being a man, and a human, takes more thought than just “This is tasty, and that’s why I do it.” He posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don’t believe in rape, but if it’s what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it).”

was ihr eine Menge Flak eingebracht hat, zum Beispiel von Salons Broadsheet:

“Any other belief? Really? That’s a stretch in and of itself. But to go the extra mile and equate pleasing one’s hosts with a “so be it” attitude toward the kind of violent assault that a 15-year-old girl endured at her high school dance last weekend, the sexual abuse that women and men and children endure every day in their homes and schools and prisons, is so flat-out offensive that to even dignify it with a rebuttal would be like shooting and consuming delicious fish in a barrel. But we’ll mention that if you really don’t believe in rape, maybe you shouldn’t make movies with rapists.”

Ein Link, über den ich mich überhaupt nicht freue: For Obese People, Prejudice in Plain Sight, via giardinos Gezwitscher.

“Over the last few years, fat people have become scapegoats for all manner of cultural ills. “There’s an atmosphere now where it’s O.K. to blame everything on weight,” said Dr. Linda Bacon, a nutrition researcher and the author of “Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight” (Benbella, 2008). “If we’re worried about climate change, someone comes out with an article about how heavier people weigh more, so they require more fuel, and they blame the climate change crisis on fatter people. We have this strong belief system that it’s their fault, that it’s all about gluttony or lack of exercise.” (…)

Despite the abundance of research showing that most people are unable to make significant long-term changes in their weight, it’s clear that doctors tend to view obesity as a matter of personal responsibility. Perhaps they see shame and stigma as a health care strategy.

If so, is it working? Not very well. Many fat people sidestep such judgments by simply avoiding doctor visits, whether for routine checkups, preventive screenings or urgent health problems.

Indeed, Dr. Peter A. Muennig, an assistant professor of health policy at Columbia, says stigma can do more than keep fat people from the doctor: it can actually make them sick. “Stigma and prejudice are intensely stressful,” he explained. “Stress puts the body on full alert, which gets the blood pressure up, the sugar up, everything you need to fight or flee the predator.”

Over time, such chronic stress can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes and other medical ills, many of them (surprise!) associated with obesity. In studies, Dr. Muennig has found that women who say they feel they are too heavy suffer more mental and physical illness than women who say they feel fine about their size – no matter what they weigh.“