Why THIS PART of European Lifestyle Triggers Americans…

Added: 2026-06-04

[00:00:00]I love living in Italy, but the fat phobia has kind of caught me off guard.

[00:00:02]>> Real quick, think of three things Americans get criticized for the most.

[00:00:06]Three major stereotypes that might not be that positive that Americans get criticized for the most. Marinate on that for a second because today we're going to be diving into something that a lot of Americans abroad have complained about for a long time. And it ties into one of those stereotypes, and it's fat phobia. Apparently, Americans traveling to Europe, no matter what country, have a huge issue with Europe's fat phobia.

[00:00:29]And apparently, we feel personally attacked and the society is structured in a way where you have to be a certain body size to navigate this, that, the third. If you guys agree with that, let me know in the comments down below. If not, let me know your opinion in the comments down below. Now, I live in South Korea where fat phobia really is a thing. There are literally stores that are titled big and fat or there's like these big icons on the ground. Like if you're above 90 kg, then you're considered morbidly obese in the eyes of a lot of Koreans and whatnot. It's a real thing out here for sure. To the point to me where it's almost laughable.

[00:01:00]I mean, I'm considered morbidly obese. I figured it'd be something interesting to talk about because it has been a point of discussion for quite a while. If you guys are new to this channel, welcome.

[00:01:08]If you guys are returning viewers, welcome back. Please support the channel by liking this video and subscribing if you haven't already. But warning, this video may ruffle some feathers a little bit. I love living in Italy, but the fat phobia has kind of caught me off guard.

[00:01:20]Fat phobia? Yeah, you know, like there's just like a general intolerance of folks who are like overweight. So, we can't care about health. What do you mean?

[00:01:28]Italians care about health?

[00:01:31]Is smoking healthy? What? We're talking about health. Is smoking healthy?

[00:01:35]>> Not going to lie, that is a fire clapback because through a lot of European countries that I've been to, and I haven't been to very many, at least the ones that I have seen myself, there is a huge smoking culture. the ones that I have not been to, but friends, family have been to, they have said the same sentiment like across the board. They're like, "Yeah, smoking culture is pretty big out here.

[00:01:52]Everybody be smoking, man. It's it's kind of a thing." So, in the same sense that people care about health as far as like how big our bodies get, you know? I wonder if people share the same sentiment about smoking culture.

[00:02:03]Although, yes, I have seen the commercials in different European countries for smoking, and they're they're pretty intense. I'm not going to lie, cuz they're trying to emphasize, hey, if you take this route, this is what may may or may not happen to you or this might be what is guaranteed to happen to you health-wise in the future.

[00:02:18]So, of course, people are very aware of it, but I wonder if there's as much pressure on the smoking as there is uh the alleged fat phobia throughout Europe. Now, one of the main complaints a lot of Americans have is the way that bigger people are treated in Europe.

[00:02:33]Now, one of the main complaints a lot of Americans have is the way that bigger people are treated. And I'm not sure if that's something that a lot of people throughout Europe can relate to. How does society in any European country view bigger people? Are they ostracized and exiled? Are they bashed? Are they encouraged? Do people just not care?

[00:02:52]What is the sentiment? Cuz I do know that in the United States, you know, there is this new trend as of very recent in the last like 5ish years where it seems like bigger people are getting exponentially bashed online.

[00:03:06]>> No. How many Italians smoke? That's not what this conversation is about. This conversation is about health. Is smoking health? No, it's not. Do you laugh at smokers? Well, of course not. Do you look at a family member who's smoking and do you shame them? Well, that would be hypocritical because you smoke too, don't you? It's a part of our culture. I thought your culture cared about being healthy.

[00:03:26]So, if your culture accepts smoking but doesn't accept overweight people, is that healthminded or is that more fat phobic? Being fat is unhealthy. Are you their doctor? Well, no. Do you think shaming them or bullying them is going to make them healthier? No. So, why do you do it? Because I don't like looking at them. And I believe that fatness is a moral failure. That sounds really fat phobic to me.

[00:03:50]>> Again, this is not the first time I've heard Americans complain about things like this before. And I have talked to a few friends that live throughout Europe and are from Europe, and some of them share the same sentiment. They're like, "Well, yeah, you know, people do go a little hard in the paint when it comes to that type of stuff." And like I mentioned, it is definitely ramping up in the United States right now. People are kind of checking each other. They're like, "Whoa, what are you doing? What are you doing?" So, it is getting a little heated to say the least, but two things can be true, right? Obviously, people are being more conscious about how their bodies are and stuff like that, the function of their bodies, how they look. But it's getting to a point where people are doing too much and they're forcing too much on other people. And it is getting pretty insane.

[00:04:28]And I'm not sure if that sentiment has spread throughout Europe or if if it has already been established there for a while because at least from my perspective, it's been there for quite a while based on the number of experiences I've heard about throughout the last 10, 15 years from friends and other acquaintances and whatnot. And again, it could just be a misconception. And that's why I'm asking the question, how do you guys feel about this? And what is the sentiment about biggerbodied people over throughout Europe and the stigma of Americans accusing all of Europe as being fat phobic? I'm Italian and overweight. Yes, fat phobia here is insane and I experience it every day. I appreciate people being more health consscious as of recent, but I don't appreciate people bashing other people and the way they look for absolutely no reason. Of course, people are very aware of their situation and whatnot. I don't need other people telling them about it.

[00:05:12]But what I've really noticed, and I'm telling you, Korea is wicked. Like, I live in South Korea and I I see it all the time. South Koreans are not subtle about judging people. Especially if you're Rotan. If you are big, they will make it known that they know that you're big. You won't question yourself if you're feeling uncomfortable and whatnot and you're traveling through South Korea. Now, South Korea is a beautiful country. The people are generally speaking pretty nice, but they are very judgmental. Like very judgmental. There are signs, posters, stores dedicated to biggerbodied people, fat people. They're ruthless. I mean, South Korea has been in the upper echelon of conventional beauty standards for quite a long time.

[00:05:50]So, it's normal for many people out here to get all types of plastic surgeries and things of that nature. So, it is quite polarizing when they do see rounder people and they they do not go they don't they don't go easy on them at all. And what's crazy is what they perceive to be fat. Most of the world would perceive to be very healthy or even skinny. Thought it was very similar honestly to some of the complaints I was hearing about throughout Europe.

[00:06:11]Obviously, it depends on the country, but most countries that a lot of my American friends have traveled to, they've had those complaints as well.

[00:06:17]So, I was like, whoa. Now, I have traveled to Europe myself and yeah, people are in better shape out there and stuff as well. But again, since there are an abundance of walkable cities, the food is actually very good and societies are structured for a more active lifestyle. I mean, I didn't question anything. Everything out there just seemed normal. I'm like, "All right, cool." I never had a problem finding clothes for myself personally. So, and I'm a bigger guy myself. I'm I work out a lot. So I I wear like double, triple, quadruple XL's and stuff like that, but I'm built kind of weird because my waist is smaller and my upper body is real big and my legs are kind of big. So like I'm shaped like a X a little bit. So it's it's kind of crazy. Smoking is why they're skinny. Do you guys agree with this take? Is smoking why you guys are skinny or is it the food, the active lifestyles, and a bunch of other factors aside from just the smoking that add to that? As an Italian, it's so true and it's aggravated by the fact that no one minds their business and everyone pushes their unrequested opinion about somebody every time. Elders do this more often, but are rarely told off because of respect. That is another thing I wanted to bring up as well. The brutal honesty I hear about that we've talked about on this channel a ton of times throughout Europe, no matter what country we're talking about, brutal honesty. And you know, whenever I bring it up, a lot of people are like, "Oh, well, I mean, if you guys can't handle it, that's on you." But, you know, we'd rather be brutally honest than play in your face and laugh and joke and pretend that, you know, the problem that exists doesn't exist. Problem with the brutal honesty thing. And where I think the line is drawn from it being brutally honest to straight up being rude is unsolicited opinions. And I think I've brought that up before. If you're just walking down the street, you don't know the person who's about to bump into you. If they look you directly in the face, they're like, "You're very fat today." And they keep walking by. That's rude. I mean, yes, you were being brutally honest, but that's also rude because a, the individual you said that to did not ask for your opinion, and b, you decided to give it because you felt like you needed to tell them for some reason. It's just like if you're already having a bad day, let's say you got fired from your job and you're walking home and somebody walks past you, they're like, "I hate your haircut." And then they keep walking. That's going to make your day feel even worse. And it was also a rude thing for the person to say. It's kind of crazy, but I don't know. Maybe there's a point of contention there.

[00:08:25]Maybe you guys don't agree with that.

[00:08:26]Let me know how you feel about that in the comments down below. But also, it's very notable that two of the comments we just reviewed were Italians from Italy that also agree that there is a sense of fat phobia out there. Probably a very intense sense of fat phobia out there.

[00:08:38]And it typically comes from the older generation for sure. I mean, the beauty standard back in the day was diabolical to say the least, right? It was it was interesting. And and the extremes a lot of people went through to fit the beauty standard were were pretty insane as well. At least I can say between the American, European, and Asian cultures is the older generation. Oh my gosh. All of them have zero filter and all of them will hurt your feelings. Okay? You walk in the room and you snack on something, they're like, "Good God, I've never seen a pig so big in my life before." You know what I mean? Like it it's crazy.

[00:09:10]Through a lot of these cultures, you're taught to respect your elders. So, no matter how disrespectful they are to you, you have to suck it up and be respectful back. Now, let me know if you guys agree with that in the comments.

[00:09:20]It's just an observation I've made and many others have as well. As an Italian, I absolutely agree with this and I've been saying this since forever. The stigma around being fat is crazy to me and the people deny that Italy is fat phobic. So, I'll turn this question over to you guys. Do you think specifically in this instance that Italy is fat phobic? Do you think that most if not all of Europe is fat phobic? A lot of Americans traveling throughout Europe make very similar complaints when it comes to that. They're like, "Oh, there's not enough food here and the clothes don't fit and the doorways are too small or the sidewalks are too narrow and things like that and whatnot." And maybe it's us Americans projecting ourselves on the societies throughout Europe. But it could just be that there is a sense of fat phobia throughout Europe. That's a very strong possibility, especially since we've already reviewed some opinions from people who live in Italy specifically who feel that way >> but there's one thing that the US does way better than France. Well, two, but one if you don't count overconumption.

[00:10:16]Talking about body positivity and self- loveve. living in Paris for three years and from what I see the culture around relationship with food and body is way behind where it is in America. It reminds me of the early 2000s in the US here in present day. Someone who's about 10 years into recovery from a 10-year long eating disorder. I'm really sensitive to these kinds of things and I notice the way that people interact with food and body and kind of body positivity. The talk about the body positivity movement as well has also opened a huge can of worms specifically because a lot of misconceptions about that movement is the perception that that movement promotes being huge and unhealthy and sloppy looking and things like that, right? When all it is is being comfortable being in the skin that you're in, accepting yourself so you can make changes that are healthier for you in the future. But it starts with the mindset. If you're not mentally there to even want to go navigate and be more active and things like that, then you can't help yourself. And I think a lot of people when they are stuck in ruts, they feel pretty bad. They feel like they're they're in sad places and stuff and it's not a fun feeling, especially since you're getting a a ton of unsolicited criticism from everyone, it seems, right? So, it's like, well, why try if I'm constantly being bashed all the time? Again, a lot of this has to do with how things are structured in this case in the United States. United States is not a society built on being very active. Now, we have people who are active in the United States for sure, but it is not a trending thing. And it does seem like from the top down the government is stripping a lot of resources and making it very difficult for people to go out and just by default be very active on the slimmer side. And I think a lot of this is genetic, but a lot of it is also social and cultural pressure to stay trim. Obviously, when you talk about uh societal pressure to stay slim, the thought process usually goes directly to women, but it seems that in France, men also have a lot of pressure put on them to stay thin. And when I say this, I'm not talking about like eating healthy and maintaining your health or like working out and take care of your cardiovascular system. Um seems a lot more aimed towards actually staying thin rather than staying healthy. For example, I was watching TV recently with a French friend and this guy came on the screen that was like the most normal, healthy looking guy I've ever seen. Like, he wasn't built. He didn't have a six-pack, but he just looked like a dude. Like, he was totally normal looking. And my friend goes, "Oh my god, he's fat." And I thought it was a joke. I was like, "What? Like, what are you talking about?" And he's so totally normal looking. My first host family wouldn't let the six-year-old daughter have a second serving of vegetables with dinner because she needed to watch her weight. My boyfriend's relative said that she has to go on a run every single day so she doesn't get a belly, not to stay healthy or strong, but just to maintain her stomach. And >> that's so sad. I mean, people shouldn't have to go through all that, right?

[00:13:06]Again, the whole point of doing all these things is to feel healthy and be healthy in general, right? But not to appease the eyes of other people. And I think that's literally what the whole fat phobic thing is. Other people get annoyed that people out in the world are biggerbodied, right? They're like, "Wow, you have an excess amount of fat on you and stuff and I feel like you should do something about it." And so they constantly remind them. Little do they know that person has probably been reminded a ton of times and they're probably actively going through some changes and stuff behind the scenes.

[00:13:35]Maybe they're going through something very traumatic that has caused them to get like that or maybe there's a medical condition. We just don't know. But you have a ton of people giving their unsolicited opinions and putting people down. And it kind of it it it doesn't feel good. It does not feel good at all.

[00:13:49]So it sucks because it's as she mentioned, it's not just adults that have to go through this. It's children as well. I mean, that same societal pressure gets put on kids like, "Oh, you have to be like pencil thin and whatnot.

[00:14:00]And if not, then you need to go out for, you know, a 20 km run or something or whatever." And I understand there's a fine line. Obviously, you want to be active. Obviously, you want to eat healthy. And obviously you're trying to do things to make sure that you are going to live the longest healthiest possible life. You can't. There's always been this back and forth, right?

[00:14:17]Especially when you bring up the fat phobia stuff with Europe specifically.

[00:14:20]It's like, oh, I'm not sure why they're so concerned about Americans being so fat and roton, but all of them smoke. So lung cancer must be a trending thing out there in Europe if they're smoking like that. You know what I mean? When you look at the United States and you look at the resources and the lack thereof and you see how the entire society is built and what the socially acceptable things are and the societal norms are then obviously you get into the outcomes of a lot of that and it is that a lot of us are pretty huge like and not in a good way. But the thing is I do think that part of changing that starts with a mentality right you have to feel good about yourself at some point to even want to try to make yourself better. But no matter how the beauty standard changes, bigger people have always been the bad end of the stick and it's unfortunate. But anyways, let me know what you guys think about that and how that affects you on a day-to-day basis or how it's affected maybe friends, family, whatever, or perceptions of beauty. Also, like 100 lbs. She's so tiny. One of the moms I babysit for said her Parisian mother-in-law told her that she needed to lose weight 48 hours postpartum. So, yeah. I can't speak to anywhere else in France because I've only ever lived in Paris in Europe, but I think it's a very difficult place to live if you do not live in a very very small body. This is a complicated discussion because I think that French culture in general is more health centric in a way that's not necessarily unhealthy or unpositive. They eat really local fruits and vegetables. There's not a lot of processed food. There's not a lot of artificial dyes that go into things and they're a lot more conscious and from what I have seen of French culture. Doing activities and being uh sporty is really kind of widely part of the culture. People are very focused on this. And these are all fantastic things when the like desired outcome is actually your body being healthy and not just keeping yourself thin and small. I personally am someone whose body doesn't want to be like that. I have been like that. And that was the result of years and years of destroying my mental and physical health. It was not eating. It was overex exercising. It was purging.

[00:16:27]My body wants to be at a size 6 to eight. Naturally. That's when I'm healthiest. When I'm working out, when I'm strong, when I'm muscular, and when I'm eating really healthy good foods, and also foods that are less healthy.

[00:16:39]>> See, I completely agree with this. I'd say 14 years ago, I had a completely skewed idea of what the beauty standard for men was, right? And I was like, you know what? I need to be like incredibly ripped to the bone. I'm trying to get myself down to 3% body fat, which I did.

[00:16:56]I got myself down to 3% body fat. But, as you could imagine, it was not very healthy. And the way I did it was wild.

[00:17:02]I had six to maybe 10 glasses of water a day, sometimes way more. I mean, I I let myself drink as much water as possible, but I only had two chicken thighs a day and a protein shake. Two chicken thighs in a protein shake was my diet. It was almost a year of that. But I felt lethargic constantly. I was working out for 4 to 6 hours a day. So, it was obviously bad and as you can imagine, I injured myself. The story I told about in a in in a previous video where I was in the hospital where I wound up asking the doctor for what the conversion of kg to pounds was was a result of me injuring myself in the gym. I messed up my back badly because I did not allow myself to recover. I worked out seven days a week, 4 to 6 hours a day, and I only ate two chicken thighs and a protein shake and drank a bunch of water throughout the day. All of this was to appease what I thought was the societal beauty standard for men. Health and beauty are very different things. You need to be able to appreciate what you look like and feel like. And I think that's very important. I think that doesn't get talked about enough. Maybe it gets talked about a lot, but I don't think that it gets talked about enough.

[00:18:14]Differentiating between health and beauty standards.

[00:18:18]>> Less nutritionally dense. This has been one of the hardest pieces of my journey moving to France for me to navigate.

[00:18:24]Maybe more with the younger generations.

[00:18:26]Now, there's starting to be more of a shift towards body positivity and self-love in general. But it's still way behind what I'm used to in the US in the amount of self-acceptance and acceptance of others that we would see there. I'll sit back here and wait to get absolutely roasted in the comments.

[00:18:40]>> As you can imagine, the comment section was very interesting. We're going to be going through a lot of these different opinions that people had because they raised some very interesting concerns and I wanted to open up this conversation with you guys as well to see what you guys thought about this.

[00:18:52]I'm in the Netherlands and I experience a lot of fat phobia from my family too and I'm barely overweight, slightly chubby at most. In most of Europe, body positivity isn't a thing. That's exactly why I wanted to emphasize earlier what body positivity actually is versus what it has been sensationalized to be on the internet. because I think again on the internet everything has to be sensational to get clicks and views and things like that. I completely understand that. But because of that it has twisted and misconstrued what different things mean. So body positivity again right I think the intention of it and you can correct me if I'm wrong was to fix people's mindsets that were in a in basically a depressive state. People who felt really bad about themselves. People were constantly being bashed about what they should or should not look like and as a result were pretty much stagnant. They didn't do anything. They didn't they they they didn't feel comfortable to go out and live their lives. Just literally live their lives because they were constantly being bered and bashed. Once you get your mind to a healthy place, you're able to positively change yourself. So, you are actually healthy.

[00:19:53]If you're not physically healthy and your mental is also not healthy at all, you're not going to do anything because you're not in the state to do anything.

[00:20:00]If that makes sense. I am from Brussels originally and yes, super fat phobic in Paris and Brussels, but I was in August, France this summer and totally different experience. Weird, huh? At the end of the day, it just depends on where you are and what the societal norm is there and the beauty standards and whatnot, but it is a massive topic because everybody at the end of the day cares about what they look like to some degree. Because if they didn't care about how they were perceived, of course, they would just think that their life is miserable for no reason and people are just bashing them for whatever. But of course, to avoid any type of conflict with other individuals out out there in the world, they're like, "Okay, at least I could be presentable so people don't bash me, people don't talk that much mess about me, whatever." Your government doesn't care and doesn't fund social and health security. You rely more on interpersonal and community care. In France, we pay to have an average good healthy policy.

[00:20:44]That's what I was getting at as well.

[00:20:45]The United States does not really uh take pride in its health and social programs that are geared towards helping people uh look better, feel better. Now, we say a lot of that in the United States, but we do not execute. We don't practice what we preach at all. As a French who lives in both countries, I fully agree. I'm midsize in the US, size 14, and felt great there. But I'm definitely plus-siz in France and can't find my size in a lot of stores. This is the same sentiment that a lot of my European homies had when they flew to South Korea to visit me. They flew to South Korea and they were all upset cuz they're like, I cannot find my size. I'm like, yes, you can, but you're not going to you're not going to like where you go find your size. Okay, you're going to have to look down there in the extra big and fat store uh where they do have clothes for for bigger people. But, you know, the thing is, we're technically just like we we look regular size. I mean, I'm a little bit bigger, right?

[00:21:37]Not in a way where I have like a 1,00 cm waist or something. You know what I mean? It's it's it's interesting. It's just very interesting cuz again, the same sentiment that Americans get when they travel throughout Europe and they're like, "Man, this place fat phobic as hell." Is the same sentiment that Americans and Europeans have when they travel to South Korea and they're like, "God dang, bro, I can't wear anything out here. I got to be tiny."

[00:21:58]Totally have experienced this. I have a French family that tells family members to lose a specific amount of weight in front of us all. But it permeates a lot of life here beyond direct things like this. Obviously, if you are concerned about other people's health and stuff like that, there's a polite way to bring it up. But if you don't know the person, nobody needs your unsolicited opinion.