Fat Shaming Double Team

[hopita]

So I got into a fight on the train. That was fun. I sat down next to a woman who was in the mood to do some fat shaming. It happens from time to time. Being a woman of a certain size, I take up a certain amount of space. Occasionally, people don't like to share, and feel compelled to yell at me and my "fat ass" for sitting too close to them. Whatev

Comments

[furious_mold]

A while ago, when I was still on Facebook, I made a post about how I noticed women doing the "Oh no, I shouldn't..." when faced with tempting food choices during Italian Days in Bloomfield. Someone I know commented and it turned into a debate (about unhealthy food) where I basically said, "All I'm saying is, every once in a while, people should indulge their cravings. There is nothing wrong with eating a pastry or a meatball sandwich during a food festival. I see a lot of people, especially women, deny themselves things like this and it's getting old. Eat what you want!" I didn't want it to turn into the "obesity in America" debate, but the person made it that way - he said something like, "The problem is people are eating what they want, and too much of it. Fat people are sick people. Period.". I remember trying not to get into the debate because I didn't want to, but I pointed out that skinny people could be sick people too and they can also make poor food choices. He said something like, "This isn't about teen girls who

[dabroots]

There seem to be meme-like images for discouraging bad eating habits, both in print and in video, particularly for national and local news stories on the topic of obesity. You might recall an SNL skit that featured a news team being sent out to "get some shots of fatties," and the cameraman pointing out that it seemed unnecessary, as they already had hundreds of clips on file. If Mayor Bloomberg and others want to promote healthier eating, it would be much more effective--I think--to show happy people eating healthy food, not yet more images of overweight people being miserable on a subway staircase.

[hopita]

Can I ask how you know that she's miserable?

I mean, I know that's the assumption we're supposed to make, but her head is down, so we can't actually see her expression. Maybe she's having a great time, thinking about the $500 paycheck (note: I have no clue what she was actually paid -- I'm just making that comment based on my Law & Order payday) that she's going to get for an hour's worth of work. Or maybe she is miserable, but it's because of a old ankle injury that makes stair climbing painful, or a genetic joint issue, or any number of other reasons not relating to fat.

The point is that this ad pushes us to make that exact assumption -- she's fat, so she's having trouble with the stairs -- without providing any actual proof. And thus a stereotype is perpetuated.

[dabroots]

I don't know that she's miserable, but it's implied.

[hopita]

Exactly! It falls under that same slippery heading "Everybody Knows." I made this comment in another post, but it reminds me of last winter, when I tore the tendons and ligaments in my ankle. Recovery took months. I went from crutches, to a cane, to walking, first with a limp, and then more evenly, but still very slowly. I wonder how many times in the course of a subway ride, or walk down the sidewalk, somebody saw me and thought "she's so fat she can't even walk." None of them knew that I'd gotten my foot stuck in a hole in the sidewalk, something that could happen to a person of practically any size. Culturally, we have it so ingrained into our heads that fat = unhealthy that it becomes the oft-made (and frequently erroneous) default assumption.

[sabotabby]

A lot of people in ads like this are appearing without their informed consent (like the non-diabetic non-amputee). Especially since her face isn't being shown, she may have even been photographed without her knowledge, or she may have been photographed for stock without knowing where the photo might be used. So I wouldn't fault the model herself at all.

The marketing agency, the New York City Health Department, the diet-industrial complex, the patriarchy, capitalism-I totally fault those.

Go you telling that woman calmly to fuck off! I can't imagine what kind of a shitbag of a human being you have to be to fat-shame, especially right in someone's face like that.

A very delayed response

[hopita]

But here's a bit about the model, and what she did or didn't know. The short version: She answered a Craigslist ad for an "overweight actress," offering $250 for a photo shoot. They photographed her the next day, and gave her $300, which made her very happy because it meant she could pay her rent.

The linked article doesn't make it 100% clear how much she knew or didn't know about the focus of the ad. It also doesn't specify whether she actually has any of the health problems the ad warns about, or whether she's as healthy as our friend the fake amputee.