The Fight Against Fat is a Thinly Disguised Prejudice

Why does everything come down to the envelope instead of the letter? What is it about a person’s physical appearance that defines her/him? I understand media emphasis on beauty is a powerful incentive to remain thin and attractive however this “achievement” doesn’t entitle a person to bully someone less attractive.  What is it about fat people that makes them a public target? watch starving for perfection part 1/5

There are cultures in this world that highly value obesity in women, such as India and certain countries in Africa. They sneer at thin.  The fatter a woman is, the more desirable for marriage. Sadly, women in such countries gorge themselves on cattle feed since it is inexpensive and easily accessible.  The side effect is death. This emphasizes the obese female body as her most significant value and no, it isn’t any better than our obsession with dangerously thin. watch extreme skinny celebrities part 1

In an effort to measure up to someone else’s sick standards, eating disorders run rampant in our society. Does anyone other than me notice the pre-pubescent figures that many 20 and 30-something actresses have?  No bustline or “booty“, no “sexy” or “womanly“: a 10-year-old boy in a dress. Remember the curvy Marilyn Monroe (watch marilyn monroe’s coke commercial )and Betty Paige, the healthy women who(gasp) ate and enjoyed food, flaunting luscious, female curves? watch fat-a new documentary

You may have witnessed the Britain’s Got Talent 2012 audition when poor, morbidly obese 17-year-old Jonathan admitted he has been bullied about his “size” for most of his life, stating that “each time someone said something to me it just took a little piece out of me.”  Then pushing his shoulder-length curly hair out of his face, Jonathan lifted his operatic voice to the rafters, bringing the audience and the judges to their feet.  Even Simon Cowell, the poster boy for pompous assh–s everywhere, assured the 17-year-old, “Jonathan you are a future star.”  There is something delicious in knowing Jonathan’s high school peers are squirming. watch fault lines – fast food, obesity in america

There are many persons in this world who may lack something or display an obvious difference, be it autism, a disability, obesity, or what have you.  Perhaps some of these people, like Jonathan, are blessed with a quiet, powerful gift, fate’s retribution for psychosocial suffering. watch a musical savant shows talent  Yet unless, like Jonathan’s cynical peers, people shut up, stop discriminating and recognize that gift, it remains undiscovered. watch the skinny on obesity

That is to everyone’s detriment. Including you skinny ones.

Celebrities Who Pass the Buck on Obscene Public Behaviour

Pass the Buck Syndrome (PB)

 PBS syndrome (I made that one up) consists of celebrities committing obscenities in public then insisting it was beyond their control or better still, someone else’s fault. Why do spin doctors insist on inventing syndromes and genetic causes for bad attitudes, promiscuity, obesity, reckless credit, alcoholism, as if we are clueless enough to buy into this stuff? Remember Mel the anti-Semitic Gibson and that ridiculous explanation he offered after his drunken rant against Jews:  “That wasn’t me talking.”   (That’s his mug shot btw). Way to pass the buck, Mel.
Career Revenues:  35 million dollars
Uploaded Youtube Rant:  $5.00
                                    Snotty attitude even while apologizing to the public:  Priceless

Then there was Kramer’s (from Seinfeld) racist rant on Youtube about white and black men. Watch Michael Richards Goes Crazy. Its pretty much destroyed his career (and rightly so). Watch Michael Richards “So called apology“ I love how other celebrities refused to let him pass the buck on that one:  Watch Kramer’s apology (Family Guy)
Career Revenues Before the Incident:  $25 million dollars
Career Revenues After the Incident:  $0 dollars
Blaming the blacks in the audience for heckling him and causing his ignorant remarks:  Priceless

Tom Cruise.  Need I say more?  The Brooke Shields criticism, the anger toward Matt Lauer about his understanding of psychiatry (enclosed), his warped behaviour on Oprah (admittedly a different type of bizarreness).  The difference in TC however is that he actually believes in his own public idolatry and believes he has no reason to make apologies to anyone. I wonder if his wife was permitted to have an epidural while she gave birth to Suri?  Watch Tom Cruise chews out Matt Lauer
Career Revenues:  $100 million dollars
Personality Disorder:  $0 dollars in psychiatric visits (he doesn’t believe in psychiatry)
Obvious effort to not lose it on Matt Lauer even though Scientologists aren’t allowed to get angry:  Priceless

Self-Sabotage Syndrome (SSS)

Then there’s the bizarre  “Self-Sabotage Syndrome” (I made that one up). This is the opposite of Gibson and Richards where a celebrity deliberately sabotages a career in order to get back into the limelight. Lindsay Lohan is a prime example. She fakes public humiliation to attract the paparazzi and distract public attention from her crummy acting. She started out as an adorable kid who had acting talent which soon disappeared, so she re-invented herself as a coked-up drunk who bares all in Playboy, and does a little jail time now and again.  Who does she think she’s kidding? What a waste of court dollars.  Watch Lindsay Lohan leaves court in handcuffs.
Career Revenues:  $55 million dollars
Breast Implants and Hair Bleach:  $10,080 dollars
Trying Really Hard to look Remorseful in Court but Her Acting isn’t Up to Par:  Priceless

Winona Ryder, a pretty actress who, like Lohan lacks actual talent, is only famous-by-default due to her ex-relationship with Johnny Depp. She displayed a fine example of SSS with her fake kleptomaniac arrest. Watch Winona Ryder shoplifting. We’re still waiting for the subsequent comeback that hasn’t happened. What a surprise.
Career Revenues:  $25 million dollars
Kleptomania Stash:  $10,000 dollars
The fact that no one born in 1985 knows who she is even though she was in the headlines for stealing:  Priceless

Obesity and Ostracism: How Guilty Are You?

Audience interaction time. There are so many prejudices in this world it’s hardly surprising that obesity is among them. Prejudice results from ignorance, ignorance meaning “lack of knowledge“.  Obesity leads to crippling professional, psychology and social consequences. Watch jess talks about obesity and discrimination.  Here are scenarios that are based on both discrimination and/or ability to perform work, and social isolation by peers.

1. Unemployment. Obese people often experience difficulty obtaining or keeping jobs due to their weight. Watch Obesity and discrimination Were the courts correct in assessing this case as one of ability and not discrimination?
2. Underemployment. This discrimination applies more often to women than men. Read page 3 of Bias, Discrimination and Obesity. Have you been underemployed based on obesity?
3. Graduation from school. WatchToo fat to graduate. Is Lincoln University within its right?
4. Watch Tyra Banks – Extreme Dieting. Which is less socially acceptable to you: an extremely underweight or an extremely overweight woman?
   Watch “Kirstie Alley’s Bikini Shock“. What do you think of the audience’s reaction to Kirsty Allen on Oprah? What is yours? Watch
5. Watch Fight the Fat: Obesity and Bullying and Childhood obesity: Austin’s Story. Were you bullied for being the “fat kid” as a child?
6. Watch Dr Phil: 3 ways I am making my child fat. Why do parents instill poor eating habits in their children?
7. Watch Mom sues McDonald’s. What is your reaction to this mother’s lawsuit?

 

It’s a lot to think about. There aren’t right or wrong answers to these questions; perhaps a closer look at your own beliefs about the issue of obesity. Hey, it’s a start.