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Gainer blogs: Meet the people who think bigger is better.

*Hello – if you’ve come to this post via another website after reading about the controversy stirred up by fat activists, welcome. Since I am unable to watch this particular post 24/7, comments are currently closed on this post after requests from fat activists who were concerned about potentially hostile comments.*

There are some really interesting people in the world. Different people. OK, odd people. People like Gainers – men and women who deliberately try to become as fat as they possibly can. Yes. You read that right.  And did I mention deliberately?

The pro-anorexia website phenomenon was shocking enough. Now, the opposite extreme – emphasis on the extreme – has snuck out of the shadows and onto the internet.

The latest group of fringe dwellers to come to mainstream attention are gainer blogs which document weight gain efforts and really do encourage obesity. Quite literally. This is Donna Simpson. She is a 42-year-old New Jersey mother who recently made an announcement that she is trying to reach 453 kilos.

I know you’ll be surprised to hear that the idea of intentional weight gain and its promotion has sparked concern from  health experts.

Although purposely gaining weight isn’t a definable eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia, it may be symptomatic of underlying mental health issues.

According to an article in the SMH:

Donna Simpson

At 170 cm and weighing a hefty 113 kilograms, Peter, who requested that his last name not be published, is on a quest to become even more corpulent. He documents his weight gain on his blog, GitBigger.com, under the pen name “Stupidgit.”

“I love how my weight feels when I run, falling and shaking my body shortly after each step…” the 23-year-old Lexington, Kentucky, resident, writes on his blog. “The only thing I love more than being fat, is getting fatter.”

As hard as it is to understand, Peter is not alone in his desire to gain weight. The internet is rife with “gainer” blogs, plus dating sites and discussion forums that glorify big bodies, with names such as Fatnesse Follies, Growing Larger and BellyBuilders.com.

While far from mainstream, the phenomenon was brought into the public eye in March, when a 272 kilogram New Jersey mother announced she is trying to reach 453 kilograms (1,000 pounds) to become the world’s fattest woman.

Donna Simpson, a 42-year-old mother, told Britain’s Daily Mail that she raises money for her weekly $US750 ($802.65) food budget through a web site where men pay to watch her eat. Her longtime boyfriend reportedly encourages her weight gain.

[Thanks Lucy]

UPDATE: 3 things

1. I did have a sentence in caps at the end of the first par in my original post. It said “AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN”. I deleted it because I felt it didn’t add anything to what I was trying to say and was proving highly effective in diverting the discussion from the subject to me which wasn’t the point. I have made many comments on this post clarifying that I am not persecuting overweight people in this post (it is about an individual) and asking for this post not to become an attack on obesity.

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2. There are one or two commenters posting below under many different names. We can see this in the back end of the site. So while it may seem there are many people in agreement that this post is outrageous, it is in fact just one or two people agreeing with themselves. Still, I’ve chosen to allow their comments to remain. Interestingly, the comment I have attempted to post on their blog, inviting them to do a guest post on the subject of fat acceptance has been deleted. I’m just saying.

3. On Tuesday night, I decided to close comments on this post. I think everything worth discussing has been covered now – repeatedly. Since this website is only staffed by me and a voluntary moderator, I can’t watch it 24/7.  Given the heat around this post (see point 2) I have taken the decision to close comments to prevent any nasty comments being added (even though I have not deleted a single post by a vocal but persistent minority who have repeatedly slammed me for reasons that are STILL unclear to me). There is no hatred for fat people or any people on this post or in the comments below. I’ve looked and looked – as have others – and I can’t see it. Because it’s not there.