Interupting My Busy Schedule ...
To rant, slightly.
From the Real Simple (a magazine I do enjoy, I'll admit it)'s Newsletter: "Handle Nosy Questions in a Clever Way: Someone dares to ask how much you weigh? Be funny and vague. Say, 'One and a half Mary Kate Olsens.'"
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love (sarcasm) how its perfectly acceptable to make fun of people who have eating disorders/are on the low end of the weight spectrum. How perfectly acceptable it is to say "ugh, she's an anorexic bitch", because you know, that sentence needed to be qualified beyond the fact that someone is a bitch. Or the fact that the Family Guy, a show I otherwise truly enjoy, has a running joke about people suggesting Meg become bulimic - HILARIOUS, I tell you. Or, let's go for some more personal examples - people deciding its perfectly fine, since they know me to comment on how I'm eating, what I'm eating, or when I'm eating - "You're going to have lunch and dinner? I was sure that you only ate once a day." Uh-huh. Really now.
Seriously folks. I've been on the other end of the spectrum. And I'll shout it to the rooftops - thank G-D that it is really becoming less OK to use someone being overweight as either an insult, a joke, or conversation. I loved it that in the most recent Miss Conduct (Sunday Boston Globe magazine regular column, see the third letter down on that link) they covered the fact that you can't be a jerk on public transport because you feel someone is taking up too much space because of their weight. I really do understand. I've been the girl who was wearing clothes with L and XL labels, I've worn sizes in the plus range. I've been there. And I understand, I really do. Believe me, I understand, with how I grew up? I've freakin' been there, I've heard the comments. In 8th grade? I was the subject of a running "Moo-cow" joke in my class. That (sarcasm again) REALLY DID WONDERS FOR MY SELF ESTEEM. So I really do have a very personal appreciation that it seems to be growing more socially unacceptable to use high weight as a snarky comment. I know how much it hurts for someone to made a snide, cutting comment on you weighing too much, in whatever setting, and I'm glad its going out like last season's stupid trends.
And at my current weight? I know how much it hurts for someone to make a snide, cutting comment on you weighing too little. Or calling you anorexic. Or bulimic. Or asking if you eat. Or thinking its OK to ask how much you weight/if you've gained any weight, and thinking it is fine to interrogate you, just because you are small. Or using you as a joke.
Want to know something, folks? IT HURTS JUST AS MUCH to be insulted, joked about, or questioned thoroughly just because "oh, she's so skinny!" No matter what the name that you're being called is, its still a name that you're being called. No matter what the joke is, you're still the subject of the joke. It feels JUST as bad.
I'm so tired of it. I'm tired of folks thinking it is a fine question to ask or joke to make; I'm tired of being expected to laugh at my own expense; I'm tired of people thinking it is fine to interrogate me. I would never interrogate anyone about their weight or what they're eating, no matter the weight. What makes anyone think it is ok to do it to ANYONE is beyond me - its tacky and distasteful irregardless. Polite people DON'T do it.
So, no, Real Simple, who started this rant, no, I don't find it "clever" to answer in a denigrating way. Want to know what would be "clever" - to simply point out "My goodness, I didn't know that anyone still found it OK to ask such a personal question!" Fuck taking the approach to it that you should make a joke - its a rude question, you're allowed to point that out. Anyone who wants to make fun of someone in response to that? Is being just as rude and just as much of a jerk. I wouldn't answer the question with a "oh, I'm 1/4 *insert larger person here*, tee hee." That wouldn't be ok... and neither is the opposite.
Ok, ending rant.
From the Real Simple (a magazine I do enjoy, I'll admit it)'s Newsletter: "Handle Nosy Questions in a Clever Way: Someone dares to ask how much you weigh? Be funny and vague. Say, 'One and a half Mary Kate Olsens.'"
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love (sarcasm) how its perfectly acceptable to make fun of people who have eating disorders/are on the low end of the weight spectrum. How perfectly acceptable it is to say "ugh, she's an anorexic bitch", because you know, that sentence needed to be qualified beyond the fact that someone is a bitch. Or the fact that the Family Guy, a show I otherwise truly enjoy, has a running joke about people suggesting Meg become bulimic - HILARIOUS, I tell you. Or, let's go for some more personal examples - people deciding its perfectly fine, since they know me to comment on how I'm eating, what I'm eating, or when I'm eating - "You're going to have lunch and dinner? I was sure that you only ate once a day." Uh-huh. Really now.
Seriously folks. I've been on the other end of the spectrum. And I'll shout it to the rooftops - thank G-D that it is really becoming less OK to use someone being overweight as either an insult, a joke, or conversation. I loved it that in the most recent Miss Conduct (Sunday Boston Globe magazine regular column, see the third letter down on that link) they covered the fact that you can't be a jerk on public transport because you feel someone is taking up too much space because of their weight. I really do understand. I've been the girl who was wearing clothes with L and XL labels, I've worn sizes in the plus range. I've been there. And I understand, I really do. Believe me, I understand, with how I grew up? I've freakin' been there, I've heard the comments. In 8th grade? I was the subject of a running "Moo-cow" joke in my class. That (sarcasm again) REALLY DID WONDERS FOR MY SELF ESTEEM. So I really do have a very personal appreciation that it seems to be growing more socially unacceptable to use high weight as a snarky comment. I know how much it hurts for someone to made a snide, cutting comment on you weighing too much, in whatever setting, and I'm glad its going out like last season's stupid trends.
And at my current weight? I know how much it hurts for someone to make a snide, cutting comment on you weighing too little. Or calling you anorexic. Or bulimic. Or asking if you eat. Or thinking its OK to ask how much you weight/if you've gained any weight, and thinking it is fine to interrogate you, just because you are small. Or using you as a joke.
Want to know something, folks? IT HURTS JUST AS MUCH to be insulted, joked about, or questioned thoroughly just because "oh, she's so skinny!" No matter what the name that you're being called is, its still a name that you're being called. No matter what the joke is, you're still the subject of the joke. It feels JUST as bad.
I'm so tired of it. I'm tired of folks thinking it is a fine question to ask or joke to make; I'm tired of being expected to laugh at my own expense; I'm tired of people thinking it is fine to interrogate me. I would never interrogate anyone about their weight or what they're eating, no matter the weight. What makes anyone think it is ok to do it to ANYONE is beyond me - its tacky and distasteful irregardless. Polite people DON'T do it.
So, no, Real Simple, who started this rant, no, I don't find it "clever" to answer in a denigrating way. Want to know what would be "clever" - to simply point out "My goodness, I didn't know that anyone still found it OK to ask such a personal question!" Fuck taking the approach to it that you should make a joke - its a rude question, you're allowed to point that out. Anyone who wants to make fun of someone in response to that? Is being just as rude and just as much of a jerk. I wouldn't answer the question with a "oh, I'm 1/4 *insert larger person here*, tee hee." That wouldn't be ok... and neither is the opposite.
Ok, ending rant.