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HealthObesity

Man V Fat Football- Red Card to The Sun

written by Stephen Morrison January 21, 2016

This Girl Can is a national campaign developed by Sport England and a wide range of partnership organisations. It’s a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets.

 

SportEngland’s #ThisGirlCan campaign has been a remarkable success. Over 2.8 million women have been inspired to be more active by a campaign that celebrated women in sport. A campaign that promoted positive body image and even more importantly, positive self image.

It made many women believe more in themselves and has given them the confidence to become try athletes.

It made stars of ordinary women and showed the world that they could be extraordinary.

SportEngland have recognised that this is a winning formula and intend on replicating it for other groups who could benefit from being more active.

One of those groups is the obese. Physical activity, on its own, will not make them slimmer, but the benefits of physical activity are well documented (least not by me).

I am a member of a group of obese men. 40,000 obese men. 40,000 obese men who are determined to reach a healthier weight. Many of them also want to be more active and enjoy the same activities as others, without feeling embarrassed or anxious about their appearance or fitness levels.

These men all belong to Man V Fat , the brainchild of my friend Andrew Shanahan. For the past few years it has been a supportive on-line community, where men of every shape, age and background offer each other advice and encouragement. It is a place where we aren’t judged, belittled or mocked.

Not like in the real world.

I have spoken about my own experiences as an obese runner. I had cruel words and wet liquids thrown at me as I tried to better my life. I will not paint myself as a hero. I crumbled and for months, I didn’t run. However, I realised that these were a few insignificant idiots who hurt me for a few seconds at a time.

It was not as if 1,800,0000 people were sharing a joke at my expense. I can only imagine how humiliated that would make me feel.

Unfortunately, I know a few men who know exactly how that feels, thanks to The Sun.

Man V Fat has stepped out from the shadows of the internet and we now have weight loss classes, cycling groups and hopefully, this year Man V Fat running groups.

We have even launched a Man V Fat Football League to give our guys the chance to play football. Men are as body conscious as women.  We worry about our wobbly bits and fear that others will judge us. In a survey, many of our men responded that they wanted to play football.

The Man V Fat Football League would give them a safe and fun environment to showcase their skills, to build their confidence and to help them on their way to healthier and happier lives. The fantastic Football Fans In Training initiative has proven that football is a successful vehicle to attract men and unsurprisingly, 90 obese men (to take part your BMI has to be over 30) turned up, on a bitterly cold evening, for our inaugural matches.

I watched some video highlights and was amazed at the speed, skill and strength of the players. Watch this for a goal:

This should have been a night to remember for all of those who participated and an amazing start to an initiative that I cannot wait to bring to Scotland. On Man V Fat we celebrated and congratulated those who had been so brave to step onto those pitches.

And then, in the morning, all our cheers turned to first despair and then anger.

The UK press were in attendance at the event and many, such as the Daily Mail, published glowing reports. However, for reasons only known to themselves, The Sun decided to indulge in some good, old fashioned fat-shaming.

MVF Football

Red Card for The Sun

Rather than praise the efforts of the players and use their stories to inspire others, they chose to mock and ridicule them. They also chose to use some pretty lame and tired jokes at the expense of guys simply trying to have fun and improve their lives.

This is the newspaper that gave Katie Hopkins a platform to abuse the obese and regularly calls for “fatties” to do more to ease the burden they place on the NHS and society as a whole.

The Sun could have and should have approached this more positively. They are the new media partners of Great Run , a running series whose showcase, The Great North Run, is as much about the charity runners and plodders who take 4 hours to complete the race as the elites that are finished after an hour. Just how will they cover these events? Will the headlines read “Run, Fatty, Run”?

These footballers are not professionals, living their lives in the limelight. They are ordinary men, with families and feelings, who by getting up, getting out and playing football are doing extraordinary things. The Sun has bullied and belittled these men for simply doing what everyone asks of them. They took responsibility for their own health and made the effort to get active.

These men did not deserve to be portrayed this way and they deserve our full support. Despite the abuse and the embarrassment caused, these men will not give up. These men can and will show true grit and prove to the likes of The Sun that they are made of stronger stuff.

These Men Can. 

Man V Fat Football- Red Card to The Sun was last modified: August 13th, 2016 by Stephen Morrison
bloggersFat Lossfat-shamingFFITfootballget activeMan V FatObesityStephen MorrisonThe Sun
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18 comments

Marcus Smith January 21, 2016 at 10:55 pm

The Sun are just an all round disgrace. I’m glad the other papers were so supportive, concentrate on that and ignore the boo boys. Prove them wrong Ste!

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 22, 2016 at 8:56 am

Yes, we will focus on the success and the courage of our guys

Reply
Bev Nelson January 22, 2016 at 8:14 am

Unbelieveable – Massive respect for these guys – keep up the good work… The Sun should be ashamed of themselves..

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 22, 2016 at 8:55 am

Agree, Bev. We should be building them up, not knocking them down.

Reply
Clem Nihill January 22, 2016 at 9:30 am

Stephen, the Man V Fat idea is awesome. Keep up the good work. I would like to think the majority of sensible people would see the positives of the idea. The Sun represents the kind of ignorant, insecure trash that tries to belittle efforts in any initiative big or small. I’m sure you guys can use that stuff to make even more bulletproof 🙂

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 22, 2016 at 9:51 am

Thanks Clem. It is an awesome community and the guys will not let this stop them. We will use it it fuel our efforts.

Reply
VKR January 22, 2016 at 11:18 am

The Sun have and will keep on embarrassing themselves. They appeal to the lowest common denominator and have shown to be lacking in basic compassion and morals when it comes to a number of issues.

Keep fighting the fight and hopefully this will mean a few less buyers of this pathetic publication.

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 22, 2016 at 11:24 am

Thank you. The Sun have disappointed me, but they haven’t surprised me. They have not and will not respond to communications. Howeve, the support that Man V Fat has received has been fantastic. It doesn’t make up for the mocking of our guys, but it has brought many to our cause. Thank you for your support.

Reply
Will Morris January 22, 2016 at 12:24 pm

The Sun. Unworthy in all respects. Ignore as millions of others do.
Thrive on the positive comments. Well done guys !

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 22, 2016 at 1:03 pm

Thank you Will and we will do. These guys have picked themsleves up and will not give in to the bullying Sun.

Reply
Billy January 22, 2016 at 7:00 pm

Great blog, good work. You are right.

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 22, 2016 at 8:15 pm

Cheers Billy. Here’s to starting my Jogscotland Man V Fat running club. Thanks for the support.

Reply
Torcuill Torrance January 22, 2016 at 7:59 pm

Today’s paper, tomorrow’s fish wrapper!

Body shaming is pathetic and sadly what I’ve been exposed to personally and professionally.

I will of course respond by filling in their application form for the Tour of East Lothian a cheeky little 106km arduous cycle event starting 22nd Feb from Musselburgh. Then we’ll see who has enough lead in their pencil!

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 22, 2016 at 8:13 pm

It has no place in society, but is everywhere (body shaming, not The Sun). We will move on and I will not share this post further. Good luck in February. I would love to do a tour/sportive one day Please let me know how you get on.

Reply
Gillian January 23, 2016 at 9:21 am

I hope the journalist who had the audacity to write that article is hanging their head in shame. The This Girl Can campaign is an amazing motivational tool. Kudos to you & Andrew for creating something to embrace that same thing for men! Middle finger to the Sun! Great read & so many valid points Stephen.

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 26, 2016 at 9:10 am

Thanks Gillian. We have approached the editor in question and invited him to take part in a charity match with our guys. Andrew has created a wonderful community and I am delighted to be able to support it.

Reply
MGN January 26, 2016 at 8:48 am

The same paper that is paying a certain Mr Joe “Body Coach” Wicks to promote healthy eating and exercise. Maybe they should ask him for his opinion and feedback on the article.

Reply
Stephen Morrison January 26, 2016 at 9:13 am

Indeed. The Sun regularly publish inspiring sfat loss stories and promote healthy living, so it is strange that they woudl go down this route. Thank you for your support.

Reply

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