I was listening to the Ozempic podcast from the Maintenance Phase and their discussion of the discourse around the drug and the type of language being used around it really illuminated me to an issue that I wasn’t completely aware of. It’s this kind of idea that fat people can never win.

They try to lose weight and somehow they’re doing it the wrong way. They don’t alter their weight and somehow they’re all lazy and a waste of space. To generalize people like this and to pretend like you know everyone’s situation or motive is ridiculous. For one it frames losing weight as some type of cure all that will make society into a utopia, secondly it really trivializes how hard it can be for someone to lose weight. There’s the issue of accessibility, mental health, and all kind of biological differences people have. And the thing is this sort of fat phobia is highly unlikely to come from a place of concern or worry about health. If that was the case I think people who vape would be called disgusting, dehumanizing names. It comes from a place of hatred for those who don’t fit the norm, and yet it’s so incredibly ironic because most people don’t really fit the norm. Everyone strays from what is considered socially acceptable one way or another, but somehow it just so happens that being fat is a more acceptable target. There was another really interesting point that was brought up in the segment that I think really highlights the lack of care for those trying to lose weight. Because Ozempic and Wegovy are in a shortage right now that means that compounding pharmacies are now allowed to make their own sort of version without FDA oversight. However their version is potentially harmful to humans because it’s using semaglutide sodium, which has not been cleared. Because of the shortage these companies are not legally required to tell people what they are putting in their drugs. This is just a stark example of how the health of fat people are not actually being prioritized, in fact when they try to do the “right thing” and try losing weight they’re actively being poisoned. It just goes to show that again, fat people can’t really win within this society because there are constant set backs. There’s also this sort of notion that fat people are to blame for the shortage of Ozempic, as if most fat people or anyone in general really has easy access to it. I think this blame really takes the focus out of the severity of the issue. There are people who are really depending on this drug, many diabetics are on it just to survive and it isn’t like they have many other safe and viable options. Hopefully the shortage ends soon but in the meantime I really think conversations surrounding Ozempic should be about solutions to making it more accessible to those who need it instead of speculating who is on it and if they’re “taking the easy way out”.