You know that thing that happens when something new comes into your life, and suddenly you notice that thing is everywhere? Like, say you buy a green pick-up truck – all of the sudden, you notice how many green pick-up trucks there are in your town. Well, that same thing has happened to me with fat shaming. Once I became truly conscious of it, I started to see it was everywhere.
In the summer, I watch some pretty bad TV. (Trust me – this relates to the previous paragraph.) A couple of the shows I watch are Franklin & Bash and Perception. They are pretty much junk, but they’re entertaining enough in a season when there’s really not much on except reality shows and “talent” competitions, neither of which interest me.
Franklin & Bash is about a couple of lawyers who use unconventional and “hilarious” means to win their cases. They live and work in southern California, which means there is plenty of opportunity to show them at the beach, and throwing wild and crazy parties featuring scantily clad women. An interesting thing that I’ve noticed about F&B this year, now that I’m so aware of fat issues? There aren’t any fat people on the beaches of California! Not a single one. Not even a mildly chubby person (excluding F&B’s clients). Every beach shot on this show features thin, bikini-clad women and muscular men. Body fat does not exist in the world of Franklin & Bash. Which of course makes me feel like I should be even more ashamed of my non-thin body. Clearly I would never be invited to hang out at the beach house!
Another dumb summer show I watch is about the brain. It’s called Perception, and it’s about a schizophrenic neuropsychiatrist and college professor who helps the FBI solve brain-related cases. It’s pretty harmless – until it starts fat shaming, out of the blue and in completely unnecessary ways. In an episode that aired last week, they were talking about a “deep brain stimulator” implant meant to treat various conditions such as Parkinsons. At one point, the two main characters are watching a marketing video by the implant manufacturer, which claims that the next generation of their device will help treat other conditions, including obesity. At which point the male main character says:
“Are you listening to this? Obesity. If people are fat, they should stop stuffing their faces with cheeseburgers and cupcakes, not get brain surgery.”
What? He didn’t really just say that, did he? I rewound the scene and watched it again. Then I rewound it one more time so I could write down the quote.
This is the crap that fat people have to deal with every. single. day. First, we are prevented from seeing any bodies that look like ours in mainstream media (unless we’re watching a news report about the “obesity epidemic,” in which case we will be treated to shots of headless fatties). And on top of that, we are bombarded with ignorant, hurtful comments about how lazy and undisciplined we are. Why? To what end? That off-hand (possibly meant to be funny?) comment didn’t make me magically skinny. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it every day until people start listening: Shaming does not work. Being told to “just put down the [insert high-calorie food of choice here] and start [insert physical activity of choice here]” does not change my genetic makeup, I’m sorry to tell you.
So, what’s my point? (Besides the fact that I’d probably be better off spending my summers doing more reading and less TV watching?) Part of me just wants to complain to y’all about how pervasive fat-shaming is in our society. But more than that, awareness is the first step in making a change. We can boycott companies that fat shame their employees; we can write letters to companies that fat shame (I’ve already written to the people who produce Perception). And we can continue to demand – in louder voices – that we want to see more body diversity in media.
Since you’ve been reading BFD, have you been more aware of fat-shaming or other fat-related issues? What are you doing to change the culture of fat shame? Share in the comments!
