One of my favorite features on Daily Kos is the Abbreviated Pundit Round Up. I deeply appreciate the time and effort that goes into the feature, and love that I can keep up on what is being said without having to do any real leg work. I consider it a public service.
Today, following a summary of a piece by Frank Bruni about Chris Christie being pathetic, this was thrown in:
“Did he also smell of Big Macs, because, you know ...”
Now I am aware, as everyone is, that Chris Christie is fat. And I can hear the arguments in my head now that he deserves it, because he is evil. But are there not enough unflattering things to say about Chris Christie? Relevant things — like he’s a liar?
And certainly this is not even close to the only example of criticizing fatness on Daily Kos — many people here have made fun of Chris Christie’s weight, and the weight of other Trump supporters, and general people they disagree with. I am not referring here to pointing out people’s hypocrisy — such as noting that Donald Trump has no business making fun of someone’s weight. But that is not the same as making simple fat jokes. I’d like to make a few points about that practice:
First, it’s not that funny. Saying a person who is overweight must eat Big Macs is the kind of insult fourth graders hurl at their classmates. And I know, because I was a fat fourth grader.
Second, it appears hypocritical when we criticize people for fat shaming, and then engage in it.
Third, and most importantly, when you fat shame someone, you are not just attacking that person, you are making the argument that being fat in and of itself is a reason to be ridiculed and devalued.
Even if you reject reasons 1 and 2, I would ask you to really think about #3, and reconsider before attacking people based on their weight in deference to the members of this community who may themselves be overweight, or obese, or really obese, but who nevertheless are real people who do not need to come here, to a place they value, and see the idea that they are lesser because of their weight issues reinforced by this community.
I can tell you as a person who has been overweight or obese my entire life except for about 5 glorious years in my late teens and early 20’s that we are not all sitting around eating Big Macs, and though I’ve reached a point in my life where people saying stuff about fat people doesn’t hurt me personally, fat shaming in general is hurtful and harmful and makes the culture more crass and less kind.
Sunday, Oct 2, 2016 · 4:42:27 PM +00:00
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ZoBai
lilyevans1960 pointed out in the comments that "...the comment about Big Macs to refer to the time when Trump reportedly reduced Christie to position of errand boy and sent him out to fetch dinner from the fast food restaurant. I did not think the comment referred to his weight.”
I am really glad to here this, and I apologize for criticizing this specific example. I missed that. I would also note, that now makes the initial joke really funny.
However, I think the general point still stands. Theres are plenty of examples of this. The other day in a thread a person made fun of a hypothetical 400-pound Trump supporter, obviously in response to Trump’s imagined Hacker, and a community member pointed out that he or she was 380 pounds down from over 400, and reminded the person of the potential hurtfulness of fat shaming. That's the main thing - think about your readers.