LONG BEACH, Calif. ? Move over, it’s Saturday night at Club Bounce and people are bouncing onto the dance floor in a big, big way.
These are big, big people, all dressed to the nines and many tipping the scales at 250, maybe 300 pounds.
That’s because this expansive nightclub a couple blocks from the Pacific Ocean, with its flashing lights, friendly atmosphere and wall-rattling hip-hop sounds, caters specifically to fat people.
That’s right, fat people. Not just any fat people, either, but fat people who are proud to call themselves fat people. People who joke that they are part of the new Fat is Phat movement.
“Self-conscious? No! Not at all,” laughs Monique Lopez, a curvaceous woman of 23 as she arrives in a tight, black dress and heels. “I was like, ‘I’m going to Club Bounce tonight. I’m going to wear my shortest skirt.’” (Which she did.)
The movement for equal rights for plus-sized people is nothing new of course. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, with chapters around the country, was founded 40 years ago. A nonprofit group, it advocates that everyone be treated equally regardless of size, arguing that we don’t live in a one-size-fits-all world. (Source)
This is absolutely ridiculous. Being fat isn’t healthy, at all. Its absurd that we not only promote but encourage this behavior. I’ve watched the last few days as the men on Morning Joe (Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, and others) as they’ve ridiculed Mika for her stance that there should be a tax on fatty foods and sodas. Its 2009, we know this stuff isn’t healthy for us. Just like cigarettes there should be no problem with forcing people who want to slowly kill themselves to pay more than responsible people. This Club Bounce is just yet another example of how we let irresponsible behavior go. These people should be at a fitness club not a night club.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
got a point……
if all unhealthy stuff was taxed heavily, costs of health care would go down….. life expectancy would go up…
October 27th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I get that overweight people don’t want to be singled out and ridiculed so I’m all for the notion of being nice to people of all shapes and sizes. HOWEVER, being fat is usually a lifestyle choice, not something that is beyond one’s control. So, with that, society needs to encourage people to get healthy by any means…this club is not an example of that. It’s sad.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I do not have anything against fat people, but this argument: “As the country gets heavier and ultimately unhealthier, in many instances the problem is people feeling bad about themselves, and feeling bad about themselves doesn’t motivate people to lose weight,” says Sternheimer, author of “Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture.” (src: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wires/2009/10/26/club-bounce-nightclubs-fo_ws_334117.html)
…is ludicrous! I mean come on. Since when does making it feel that it’s okay to be unhealthily overweight motivate people to want to do anything about it?
I can understand if there is really nothing you can do about it, but making people that can do something feel like it is okay to be fat is just going to promote them to get fatter. I can just imagine people saying, “Well everyone else is doing it, and they accept me.” And then they start asking, “If everyone else is doing it, and I am accepted then what is wrong with it?”
And health care costs are rising so who’s gonna pay for their bills? Everyone else. Not that they care. They are just eating themselves to a slow and miserable death.
Screw that.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
This club is actually making the fat people who go there workout by dancing