Not Really Fat

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005 - 4:01 a.m.

What the hell is going on in the world of talk and entertainment?...

Recently, Tyra Banks donned a fat suit that duplicated the dimensions of a 350-lb person, and shambled out into the streets to see how she would be treated. Her people made certain there was plenty of press before and after the show aired, and she stood before the cameras and got all weepy and was downright shocked at how awful people were to her. Next, about a week later, on ET, Vanessa Minnillo, a former Miss Teen USA, *also* put on a fat suit and braved the world disguised as a person of supersize.

She too, was very upset by how she was treated by people.

Who the hell was this a surprise to ??...??

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I have two things to say about the 'thin cutie in a fatsuit' trend.

1. Where the fuck have these women been living? Are they so self-involved that they never even thought of the fact that people of size have feelings, too?

2. And why in the name of all that is reasonable don't these shows simply hire a genuine large person to do this work in the first place? Do they just not want to be bothered with the day to day gruesome details like not being able to shop in fashionable stores and not being able to bend or wipe or sit or walk or anything without a great deal of difficulty?...

And something cruicial I noticed was absent... what neither of those women said during all of their crocodile tears is how often they've laughed at fat people.

Vanessa actually dared to say "I'm fighting for overweight women everywhere".

This reminds me of what happened about twenty years ago when Magic Johnson turned up with HIV.

It's as if the problem didn't fucking exist in the mainstream media before he caught the bug.

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At my highest weight, I was right around the 300 lb mark. I've lost about 100 lbs since then, and I have around 50 to go before I'll feel truly healthy.

But it's a slow process, it's been a learning experience, and it isn't something I can peel off at the end of the day.

If it's all the same to you -- I'll listen to Fergie and Kirstie Alley before I listen to sniveling stick insects in fat suits, thanks.

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Have a good Tuesday, folks.

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8 of my readers commented on this entry

CGG
I think the fat suit concept is supposed to be a 'Black like Me' idea. Years ago we actually had to do something similiar in my high school psychology class. Last year I raised hell in a workshop on giving tours to disabled students when the woman running it had people put patches over their eyes so that they could experience different kinds of visual impariments and blindness. When I politely declined a patch (afterall I'm blind in my left eye every day) I was accused of being insensitive to the needs of the disabled, and yes she knew about my own disability. I'm sure people who do these "experiments" have the best of intentions, but perhaps they should just get over their prejudices.
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art
very well put!! these people are fucking morons!
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Terry
Don't forget that most people really don't know very much general knowledge, and that applies to current events, recent history and the way things work in the world as well as skul larnin. // People need to spend many years after graduating from school before they learn enough about life and the world in general, then start chewing on it and sorting it out, in order for them to start to see what's going on with a lot of things. // That's why college students are so smart, and yet so naive, and therefore easily duped and recruited by terrorist organizations and other cults. They are very susceptable to people telling them bogus information about how things work in life. // We had a college student from Hong Kong who had lived in Communist China as a child, and who maintained a lot of ties to friends and family in the "old country" after escaping to Hong Kong with her family. She completely believed all the drivel that the communist government said about the U.S. Things such as the U.S. police state kept most of the Blacks in concentration camps, only allowing a few to serve as media tools in carefully orchestrated coverage. Even after being in this country for a while, she still believed it. // We are the product of our upbringing. We see what we want to see. Still very true.
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Terry
I knew someone who was tall, slim and good looking. He confided in me one day that his kind of people get all the breaks and the best treatment. That's the way it is.
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Terry
I go out of my way to make short, fat, ugly or otherwise different people feel better. I smile at them, compliment them, help them, etc. And I sneer at pretty people and otherwise ignore them. Maybe I can help balance things a little.
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Belle
LOVE the lava banner ad. Although now I keep hearing, "Will Robinson. Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! Crush! Kill! Destroy!" As for Tyra, maybe she made a point, but for her personally, I have no sympathy. Another diarist once detailed a fundraiser she did with her, and let's just say that Tyra was probably treated better in the fat suit than the way she treats people every day, including sick children.
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Kat
I think they are just jumping on the Dr. Phil bandwagon. He had his son get all ugly (I can't remember if he added some pounds or not) to show that people treat the non-attractive differently and since I saw that show suddenly all these cuties are dressing up fat, to show how it feels to be overweight and how others treat them all and all. I agree with you, shut up! This is not a new topic folks, um Oprah covered it from both angles years ago.
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Pfirsich
I also always was dwelling in the aw-poor-fat-people attitude. But I just found out some are just really mean! Like,you always assume:oh,God,YOU must feel little.Like,you always expect them to be kind,humble and meek because of what they are going through:diets that they canīt succeed with. Like,donīt you always expect kind of doormat-ish people?!! Thatīs what I did! But,they arenīt that way,I have met several fat people,who are really not doormaty at all,who are very much on a powertrip! To me they are always so powertrip-y.
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