Another Feminist Delusion

[madscience]

For every genuine male privilege that is eradicated from our society (and good riddance!), fourth-wave feminists invent three more in a vain attempt to secure their own relevance. This is the most laughably delusional one I've seen yet: our society doesn't discriminate against fat people... if they're male!

Comments

[recuntulous]

Really? When was the last time you saw a movie about a funny fat girl having hard times in high school and coming out victorious and still fat at the end?

[madscience]

Is there a movie like that about a funny fat boy?

I submit that fat men like Chris Farley are funny in part because people are laughing at them for their grotesque obesity. They are the circus freaks of our age. You don't see women in those roles because we've been told for so many years that we shouldn't pick on women for their appearance. But fat men are still fair game.

It takes a special kind of dementia to view the mainstreaming of such cruelty as a privilege.

[recuntulous]

There are plenty of movies like that. It's much more socially acceptable for men to have a belly than women. You don't see lots of high power females with a gut that hangs over their belt, but men get away with it without question. Chris Farley was still famous and well-liked and make jokes about plenty of things other than being fat.

[recuntulous]

Fat women don't even have the opportunity to become famous actors like that. Especially ones who are just a little fat. Men who are just a little fat are everywhere!

[madscience]

I think that's because men make movies, men run corporations, and men dominate politics. That's the inequality. Not some gender bias in society's perception of fat people. I think that if women made more movies, for example, the opposite situation would present itself: more realistic female actors, and more gorgeous hunk male actors.

[madscience]

It would be interesting to study the body types of the actors in movies produced and directed by women. But I highly doubt the fourth-wavers bothered to do that before pronouncing a gender bias.

[madscience]

My perceptions may be skewed by having been through an environment where physical appearance (not just fitness) is extremely important. Male Marines are required to submit full-length photos with their NCO performance reviews. "Fatbodies" and "shitbirds", as they're called, simply don't get promoted - and the military doesn't even try to hide that discrimination.

[recuntulous]

That's interesting. I am far from that environment. The other day, I was having lunch with a woman who recently moved here from Italy and after an obese man left the room, she talked for about 20 minutes about how disgusted and fascinated she was watching him eat his lunch. He was an extreme case, thinking about the really really fat people, I feel like there are more women than men.

But, I don't think it's stupid to recognize that we don't mind when men are fat nearly as much as we mind when women are fat! I don't see why it matters that it would be different if women made all the movies. If things were different, things would be different!

[recuntulous]

right. what I meant about the Italian woman is that she was so shocked, and I had to sit there and tell her that there are people like this everywhere and we're all used to seeing them. A very different environment than yours!

[madscience]

"I don't see why it matters that it would be different if women made all the movies."

Because it's important to be precise about what the problem actually is. Is everyone more accepting of fat men than of fat women, as the article claims? Or are men more accepting of fat men, and women more accepting of fat women? I'm much more inclined to believe the latter.