9.10.2001
Ignorance shows up anywhere. In a thread at the AVS TiVo Forum, talk of giving up soda has turned into perpetuation of another fat stereotype: that fat people eat fast food and order nothing but Diet Cokes with high calorie meals. It continues with another member saying that fat people eat a lot and never exercise, clearly the oldest and most offensive stereotype around.

That said, I had little hesitation of mentioning it here. Despite what one fellow argued - that stereotypes have some basis in reality - anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a stereotype's blanket statement knows the truth. Don't be afraid to stand up to people who are being sizist.
- Paul McAleer [5:02:28 PM] [comment]

9.8.2001
Caught the aforementioned episode of Flipped yesterday. I think that their candidate - a 15-year-old girl who never, ever wanted to be caught dead hanging around with a fat person - was a good choice. She was very focused on looks, and thought fat people were slovenly, ugly, and so forth. She was outfitted with a fat suit, a big double chin, and a special wardrobe - pretty ordinary stuff. She wanted to walk around with a bag over her face because of her big cheeks and chin.

She was led around for the day by her producer, whom wasn't a small woman herself. It was interesting to note how this girl felt weird being stared at, and also how she was treated in a clothing store - cameras were able to catch other customers' reactions to her wearing an outfit, and they said it all.

The entire segment is very much worth watching, and I hope that this experience stays with this girl. If you've seen it, share your thoughts in the comment box!
- Paul McAleer [2:48:51 PM] [comment]

9.7.2001
Interesting. It's been learned that obesity really doesn't affect heart failure and in fact may help the situation.
- Paul McAleer [4:59:48 PM] [comment]

9.5.2001
An episode of MTV's Flipped features a so-called "perfect 10" wearing a fat suit to see what it's like to be fat - she has confessed to hating "imperfection", which has been interpreted as "fat" in this case. The show aired this afternoon but, as with other MTV shows, it's on fifty times before Sunday. Here's the MTV page on the show, which includes some great PDFs on size discrimination. It's also neat to see a page there with links - kudos to MTV for giving this issue a spotlight.
- Paul McAleer [3:39:41 PM] [*comment]

9.3.2001
A Chicago Tribune article on fat camps leaves me feeling somewhat sad. While I'm not going to deny that it's good that kids are getting exercise and eating well, why do we feel the need to incorporate weight loss as one of the big things here? If it happens, it happens; if it doesn't, the kids shouldn't feel bad about it. The article fails to mention what happens to kids who don't "pass" fat camp.

And more importantly, these very young and impressionable kids are being taught two links: fat is bad, and thin equals acceptance. I can speak from personal experience on this one. I lost about 50 pounds before 6th grade. Was it a magic thing for me? Absolutely not. My feelings echoed those of Tiffany in the article; I expected kids to suddenly be amazed at me. They weren't. Fat camps serve a misguided purpose in a majority of cases. Kids should learn to eat well, exercise, and accept themselves. By making weight loss a priority, we're telling them that acceptance doesn't mean anything unless they're thin.
- Paul McAleer [10:34:41 AM] [*comment]

The trailer for Shallow Hal is now online. Check it out, and post your comments here. (Also: this blog won't turn into the Shallow Hal blog, I promise.)
- Paul McAleer [10:28:53 AM] [comment]

8.27.2001
I decided to watch part of Primetime Glick this weekend, which features Martin Short as Jiminy Glick - a fat movie interviewer. I had sensed a massive negative vibe from the fat acceptance community but wanted to judge for myself. I'm here to tell you that they were right: Glick is a self-centered, clumsy, awkward, pathetic slob who eats all the time. He also elicits negative qualities in the interviewees: Chevy Chase suggests Glick should lose weight, and Jerry Seinfeld consistently pokes fun at his weight. The show is an abomination, and reinforces every single stereotype about fat people you can imagine.
- Paul McAleer [12:03:24 PM] [*comment]

8.22.2001
An article at MSNBC, Help Your Daughter Love Her Body, features excerpts from an upcoming book. It includes a snippet on baby fat, but instead of promoting self-acceptance, it reminds parents that not all kids who are fat become fat adults. Also interesting is reading about a father's reaction to his fat daughter, who was 13 months old:

"...But Steve kept joking that Rachel had thunder thighs and that she needed to work off the fat."

Thirteen months!
- Paul McAleer [9:00:41 AM] [*comment]