Fat People Deserve Better

The commercials this time of year are even more tiresome and relentless than the Christmas ones. First the bacchanalia, then the dieting. Admittedly, most of us would like be less cushioned, but the simple fact is that diets don’t work except to put money in corporate pockets.

I get tired of all the thin folk who feel as if they have a right to an opinion about the rest of us. They think they know what type of person we are just by looking at us. Sure, some overweight people overeat, but so do some thin ones. Not all thin people got that way by diet and exercise; a great percentage of them are proud of being able to eat whatever they want without gaining weight, forgetting that it’s an unearned genetic gift. And not all overweight people got there by overeating; their weight is also an unearned genetic gift.

I have been sad all my life over my own genetic gift of being short and fat, partly because of the way I look, but mostly because the way I look does not reflect the person I am. I look self-indulgent and lazy, though I am self-disciplined almost to the point of asceticism. I eat properly and exercise, but until menopause, I never lost weight. Nor have I been a regular in a doctor’s office. When I broke my ankle a few weeks ago, that was the first time I had seen a doctor of any kind in more than three decades. (Though I have to admit that has more to do with my dislike of the breed than because I enjoy perfect health.)

I know fat isn’t beautiful, but neither is thin. I remember my disappointment when I first saw nudity in the movies – all those bones jutting out was unsightly to say the least. Whether fat or thin, ninety-nine percent of us aren’t beautiful. In fact, some of those considered to be the most beautiful women in the world are downright unattractive. Dare I say ugly?

Fat is still the one allowable prejudice, perhaps because thin folk believe we brought it on ourselves. I have to grit my teeth every time I see an actor in a fat suit. Blackface is no longer acceptable, and neither should be the mimicking of fat people.

We have our own problems, we don’t need your attitude.