Ladies, have either of you ever woken up in the morning and felt like it was going to be one of your fat days? You know instinctively that none of your clothes will look right on you, you assume everyone at work will see the cellulite on your legs, and your raging PMS hormone-addled body is screaming for chocolate, salt, or a combination of the two. (French fries dunked in a chocolate shake? Why, yes I will!) So when I came across this drivel, I'm sorry, this blog post which masquerades as a piece of freelance writing worthy of monetary compensation Should Fatties Get a Room? (Even on TV?), I am happy to say that I could care less about your ignorant, C minus creative arts class assessment on fat/big boned/obese people. (And really, if you took out the word "Fatties" out of the title and inserted a different age/social/religious/ethnic group, for example, Welfare Recipients, Blacks, Mormons, Hasidic Jews, there would be one hell of a lawsuit and boycott on your hands.)
It's taken me almost 30 years to realize and understand what the ever witty Jen Lancaster says in her book Such a Pretty Fat, "I'm tired of books where a self-loathing heroine is teased to the point where she starves herself skinny in hopes of a fabulous new life. And I hate the message that women can't possibly be happy until we all fit into our skinny jeans. I don't find these stories uplifting: they make me want to hug these women and take them out for fizzy champagne drinks and cheesecakes and explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don't matter." (Emphasis mine)
See, my body type tends to be more like this:
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| She is so gorgeous! |
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| What's not to like? |
Instead of THIS:
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| I've seen healthier legs on a stork! |
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| I want to scream, "Eat a damn sandwich!" |
And while you think that your half-assed attempt of an apology (I'm sorry your feelings got hurt for what I said, even though what I said is right, and I'm actually a victim too) is going to cut it, don't count on it. We live in a day and age where cell phones post videos directly to YouTube, blog posts can go viral in a matter of hours, and talking heads love to comment on 'controversial' topics (Joanna's words, not mine). This isn't going to be swept under the rug that easily. My mother said that when you say a word in anger, once it's out there, you can't take it back. The damage has already been done. So Ms. Kelly let this be a lesson to you, never trust an editor who goads you into writing on a topic that you have no real clue about, and understand when you piss off one friend, you've lost one friend. When you piss off a large (pun intended) contingent on the internet, you're screwed.
I have to be honest: I'm fat and I don't want to watch fat people on TV.
ReplyDeleteI recall being offended upon reading Plato's assertion that short people can never be beautiful.
But the fact is that true beauty is a reflection of perfection. Part of perfection is order.
It's not ordered to be overweight - whether it's from overeating or health issues, such as thyroid imbalance.
It's not ordered to be unhealthily waifish, either.
I think it's natural and good to be attracted to that which reflects, or strives to reflect, order and perfection.
I think the key that's missing on both sides of the fat argument is that we are capable of loving regardless of those things which don't reflect order and perfection. In other words, true love isn't for the "fatness" or the "thinness" of a person.
All of this needs to be qualified by the fact that there's a huge difference between "fat" and the women in the photos you posted. Those "plus-sized" women are historically beautiful in nearly all cultures. When can we get back to that?
To Mary~ To paraphrase the line from Luke's Gospel, "to those given much, much will be demanded" the point I was trying to make in my rebuttal to Ms. Kelly is the fact that with great power comes great responsibility. Ms. Kelly is aware that she has a vast audience and must realize that many of her readers are affected by her influence. There are some people who are so insecure they will believe the hog wash being fed to them. (I know all about insecurities and lack of self worth, as seen in a few of my former relationships. Thank God for therapy!) :)
ReplyDeleteWhen she set out to condemn a show that she had never watched, she decided to single out an entire group of people, many whom are already upset/distressed/hate themselves for being the weight they are. Fine, she can have her 'opinion' that she thinks fat people are gross, but to talk down to the 'fatties' and give dieting advice is condescending.
I want any of my readers out there that I am finally at a place in my life where my weight doesn't affect the amount of self-worth I have, and that Ms. Kelly may have hurt many women (and possibly men) by dismissing them as disgusting and akin to drug/alcohol addicts.
Her article is unacceptable. Her apology lame and fake. I don't think there is any excuse for what she wrote except she is prejudiced. If you look through the eyes of empathy and compassion, you are not "grossed out" by much.
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