Self Magazine puts woke agenda ahead of reader safety
January 12, 2022
In the midst of the largest coronavirus surge to date, Self Magazine had an interesting choice for their “future of fitness” cover girl: an obese woman. Coronavirus is a disease that’s far more deadly to people who have underlying conditions such as obesity, but Self Magazine, whose tagline is ironically “wellness you can trust” cares more about promoting woke talking points about body positivity than they do about the health and well-being of their readers.
We have known since the early days of the pandemic that people who are obese are at far greater risk of death from coronavirus, even if they’re young. Researchers have found that “people with obesity who contracted SARS-CoV-2 were 113% more likely than people of healthy weight to land in the hospital, 74% more likely to be admitted to an ICU, and 48% more likely to die.” Why then, would Self promote something so harmful to their millions of readers?
The body positivity movement has been popular in left-wing circles for a while now. Back in 2020, Self even tried to argue that the coronavirus was bringing to light an “anti-fat bias” in the medical field, as though it is somehow the fault of doctors that people who are overweight were dying of covid-19 at an alarming rate. Cosmopolitan also came under fire amid last winter’s coronavirus surge for using obese models on their covers and declaring, “This is healthy!”
It goes without saying that shaming people or making fun of them for being overweight is cruel. People struggle with weight for a variety of reasons and no one deserves to be ridiculed for it. But there is a big difference between fat-shaming and encouraging people to lose weight for their own health and well-being. That’s supposed to be what fitness is all about and there’s a way to promote that idea without glorifying obesity, which is what Self has chosen to do instead.
The United States is one of the most obese countries in the world. Putting the coronavirus aside for a moment, people who are obese are far more likely to die of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. That’s according to the CDC, who – up until five minutes ago – the Democrats touted as the final word on all things science-related. If Self Magazine is correct and obesity is truly what the future of fitness looks like, then we’re in for a very deadly future.