And I mean that in every sense of the term. Well, not every sense. I'm not talking about the size of male equipment, but size in the sense of what size a person is (fat, thin, tall, short). I'm using "matters" as both a verb and a noun.
This morning on The Today Show (does art reflect culture, or does it create it?), the two women who usually (wo)man the desk from 10-11 a.m. were talking about some internet thing where people go to answer something like "I'd rather be [fill in the blank] than fat." People were putting in things like blind, amputated, stupid, and other permanent conditions as preferable alternatives to being fat. Speaking as a reasonably intelligent fat person, I could not help being aware of the irony. On every media source, for about the past decade, there has been a concerted effort to demonize fat people. When fat is discussed as a health issue, that's one thing. But when people are being conditioned and brain-washed to see fat people as immoral, lazy, stupid, incompetent, and downright evil, that's where I get pissed off. One of the people in the segment on the show this morning was talking about an experiment in which an overweight person sat on a train or a bus and read some book entitled Fat Is Contagious. Other riders would get up and move so they would not be sitting near that person. The commentators discussed various diatribes from people who have emailed their personal opinions of fat people, and believe me, these people weren't being kind. They were saying fat people stank, they were evil, they were disgusting, they were to be avoided at all costs, etc.
I know it's too easy to just say "I blame the media," but--I blame the media. For instance, my local tv station usually has at least one segment each evening that disparages overweight people. One of the newscasters (herself a "healthy looking" woman) actually curls her lip as if she smells something horrible whenever she delivers yet another story (as in "fable") about how even ten extra pounds will ruin your life, or some such nonsense. Her voice becomes strident, preachy. She clearly is preaching from the pulpit of the Church of Holy Thinness.
It's not easy being fat. There are things I can't do that I wish I could do. I know it isn't good for my health to be as big as I am. However, I think I can speak to the fears of most overweight people when I say that what's happening in the media--the demonizing of fat--may result in hate crimes worse than those we've seen against gays, minorities, religions. After all, fat people come in all colors, religions, and sexual preferences. It's the one group that virtually every other group can hate. Spend a few minutes watching Jay Leno or any other late-night host. You won't hear jokes about minorities. You won't hear (many) jokes about homosexuals. You won't hear ANY jokes about ethnic differences except self-deprecating jokes from someone who belongs to a minority ethnic group. What you will hear, over and over again, is fat jokes. No skinny jokes. No bald-people jokes. Usually no jokes that target a specific group at all, except for fat jokes. And these are mean fat jokes, not the "oh-ha-ha-I'm-one-of-you" fat jokes.
Look at how celebrities are treated. If one of them commits a crime (drunk driving, child neglect, shoplifting), we soon forgive and forget. But if one of them gains weight--death to the career. The daughter of Elvis Presley has been married to Michael Jackson (and about half a dozen other people), she's put out one of the worst rock records ever known to exist, and yet she wasn't attacked until she gained weight. She was forced to admit she was pregnant so people would leave her alone. One actress had to go on the defensive when photos showed her thighs appeared to be somewhat flabby. She's really quite a bad actress, but no one ever attacks her for poor acting ability. But cellulite?!! What a sin! Where's that scarlet letter "F" to emblazon upon her chest?
If people talk at all about beauty, it's physical skinniness that is praised. If the term "inner beauty" is used, it's usually only about someone in the last throes of a terminal illness.
I just realized that I was using "people" as if it included both men and women. Sorry. Fat men don't get vilified quite like fat women do. Think Drew Carey versus Kirstie Alley. I know fat men have their share of problems, but fatness doesn't seem to drastically reduce their worth to the world. Perhaps it's because there have been so many powerful men who were big. Even Santa Claus is a lovable being. (Try having Tinkerbelle gain a few ounces, though, and watch how the adoration drops away.) I know I seemed to be vilifying my brother in a recent post, implying that he had no will power or self-control, but it's not his fat that bothers me. It's his health. I don't care what size he is as long as his arteries aren't clogged. I want him to live.
We all have our prejudices, or so the cliche goes. I thought the point of maturing as a human being was to try to eliminate those prejudices. In the sixties, when the civil rights of black people were in the forefront of the news, we didn't hear newscasters reporting over and over about why black people were inferior to white people and thus deserved their fate, even if that was the ongoing prejudice among many people. Yet now we daily hear newscasters literally berating people for being fat, as if it were a choice, like a choice simply between steamed vegetables and French fries. Why is this sanctioned venue being provided for fat prejudice? Why are fat people feared, hated, and vilified even on The Today Show? Apparently fat people don't deserve civil rights. All we deserve is fewer good jobs, lower salaries, uglier clothing, and self-hatred. Gee, why it is not a surprise that fewer fat girls, regardless of their academic ability, go to college than skinny girls? Dr. S.
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