Quantum fatness

 Well, it's finally happened. After being blamed for every other problem afflicting human existence, fat people have now been blamed for the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines.

The argument (which I am not linking to) is thus: In some places, "obesity" is a qualifying condition for vaccination. Therefore, fat people, who are perfectly healthy and do not need vaccines, are selfishly stealing vaccines needed by the truly ill.

This is particularly confounding, because, generally, when fat people go about our lives, particularly when we have the audacity to ask for rights or representation, everyone is so very concerned about our health. People insist that we are mortally ill, at death's door, and that they are distraughtly worried about us. When fat people exist in non-medical contexts and spaces, our (presumed) life-threatening ailments are centered. But when fat people actually seek medical care, we are presumed not to actually need it.

Likewise, fat people are presumed, by default, to be mobility-impaired. Mobility impairments are also brought up (and pathologized) when fat people seek rights and recognition, and fat people walking or running are considered a novelty. But when someone who is fat also happens to actually be disabled, especially when a fat person uses mobility equipment, they are presumed to be abled and fraudulently using mobility equipment out of "laziness." This is particularly alleged of users of grocery store scooters, which are quite tricky to maneuver and would not be the slightest bit labor-saving to even the laziest of ambulatory people.

Fat people perpetually exist in a quantum state of healthy and ill, abled and disabled, depending on which better justifies ableist hatred of us. We're gravely ill right up until we seek medical care, when we transform into perfectly healthy hypochondriacs. We're unable to walk or run right up until we need accommodations or mobility equipment, when we transform into abled lazy fakers.

In reality, of course, people of all sizes experience all varieties of health, illness, and disability. Some people use mobility equipment. Some don't. Some have respiratory disabilities or chronic illnesses. Some don't. All people, whether disabled or not, whether "healthy" or not, deserve equal rights and equal access to healthcare. Fat people are not taking anything away from "more deserving" or "more in need" thin people. We are not your big fat scapegoat.