My fatness causes adults to laugh or sneer or hurl abuse in the street, or to say horrible depraved things online. Strangers hate my extra flesh so much that they can’t help but regularly inform me about it as I’m tweeting, walking home, standing in a mall, ordering a drink at a bar – or once, entering my own front door.
They were probably astonished that you could get through it...
I can’t remember every one of the numerous public incidents but I do remember the first time it happened. I was a (lonely) 14-year-old waiting for the bus with a bunch of other kids at 8:30am, and men drove past and shouted “WHALE” at me. It was humiliating, it was stupid (I am clearly a land animal), and in my memory it was the sharp beginning of my life in a fatphobic world.
Oh, god, here we go...
The rise of Ozempic in combination with an already extremely thin-obsessed world means that there are almost no fat – or even kind-of-fat – people on any sort of screen.
Why should there be? I mean, yes, screens are bigger these days, but so what?
This week, Vogue and Gigi Hadid – obviously not people I would rely on for body inclusivity – went a step further in the wrong direction by doing a Hairspray-themed cover and spread, including posting a full lip-sync of the song ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’ online. If you aren’t familiar with Hairspray, it’s one of the only musicals in existence featuring fat leads, and a big part of the story is fatness being spotlighted. Vogue’s cover and lip-sync featured only thin people.
And this is portrayed as some sort of outrage.
I implore people to start thinking about this, both broadly and specifically. We need people carefully considering how we portray and include different kinds of bodies – and what we are saying when we don’t.
I think we're saying 'No ugly fat dollops, please!' aren't we?
10 comments:
Whatever next? Allowing the 'pale stales' to appear in adverts other than stair-lifts and cremation plans?
See how easy it is to adopt a victim stance?
Well, suppose we’d best run the anthem again, no?
https://youtu.be/aLnZ1NQm2uk?si=EbkK10aunvN8m6iJ
The lead in Hairspray is generally a girl that I would describe as being pleasingly plump rather than fat. She also has to be pretty and a good dancer. Most of us find very fat people unattractive, that is just a fact of life.
Stonyground.
Richard Griffiths ( Withnail & I , Pie in the sky ) managed a successful acting career without whingeing about people commenting on his size.
Whilst I personally do not find overweight women attractive, I defend their right to exist (as long as the floors can support them)
Easy, and vital these days, it seems...
😂🤣
The progressives are anti-fact.
Also Robbie Coltrane.
😏
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