ANY Hope for Mankind???

The reaction to Susan V's (Fat Free Vegan) announcement of her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment on the McDougall forums is exactly why I don't mention my weight over there any more.

Here's one example quote:

I'm sorry but you can't be fat LONGTERM and call yourself fat free vegan, if you have been in this WOE for a couple years you need to be lean wise like Dr M. or Neal Barnard and if you are a female the equivalent version, no excuses, seems she was sneaking some burgers in or something 

I got a similar reaction around 15 years ago when I mentioned my weight struggles, including an email from Dr. McDougall accusing me of "cheating" and telling me I "must be eating fat" because it's impossible to be fat using his food plan, that as long as no fat is eaten, all excess calories are magically burned off, no matter how many of them are taken in (I was restricting myself to 800 - 1000 calories a day at the time, so no excess anything was being taken in - I even mailed him my food logs). I was even banned from posting on the old McDougall forums on VegSource by the owner for daring to question the program. They were banning a lot of people for a while there. We were so happy when Dr. McD took over the forums and moved them elsewhere.

Many women have been bullied away from the McDougall forums by people, just like we've been bullied everywhere else in life, including by our own families and doctors. This particular thread is as vicious as some of the others in the past. Is it any wonder why Susan avoids the McDougall McDougall forums and concentrates on her own sites, such as her YahooGroups, blog and web site? I don't blame her at all!