Are We At War With The Overweight?

In today's world, it ain't phat to be fat.

Gone are the days when figures of Ruben-esque proportions would be considered voluptuous, beautiful or even desirable. In fact, it is often pointed out that Marilyn Monroe, if she were to be in her prime today, would be considered overweight by current standards.

It is undeniable that "excess luggage" brings with it a plethora of health problems, ranging from diabetes to heart disease and many others in between.

Still, Joanna Gilbert Asson's explosive allegations late last year about being told that she was too fat to be a teacher also points out an oft unspoken issuue - overweight people are discriminated against, jeered at and sometimes hated simply because of the shape of their bodies.

America's "Glamour" magazine made a bold statement with one of its pictures in September. It wasn't a routine, airbrushed photograph of an emaciated-looking model the likes of which adorn almost every fashion rag. Instead, they published an image of 20-year-old, plus-sized Lizzie Miller in the nude. Readers, more used to protruding ribs and jutting collarbones, were instead given a look at a tasteful and nicely done portrait of a woman with generous curves and a little stomach pouch.

Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive said the most shocking thing about Miller is that she has a "belly that looks...wait for it...normal."

The comments from the fashion magazine's readers - women for the most part - were mostly wildly enthusiastic. However, when the story was picked up by newspapers - fashion critic Debra Bass being one of them - the reply was very different.

The LESS nasty comments on Bass's Style File blog called Miller names like "overweight", "foul", "gross" and "disgusting".

Overall, the comments - mainly from men - were so appalling that Bass had to begin policing the usually uncensored column.

Also in September, a book, titled “Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves”, was released. It tells the story of Crystal Renn, a 23-year-old size-12 model. She relates about how she was discovered as a "chubby cheerleader' at the age of 14. The fresh-faced kid was told to lose 50lbs - 40 per cent of her body weight - in order to model. Renn lost the weight and became a constantly hungry, always exhausted teen model whose hair fell out in clumps. Eventually she rebelled and settled into a weight she was comfortable with.

But Renn's case is the exception rather than the norm. Models are routinely encouraged to lose insane amounts of weight in order to further their careers. Actresses are also made to shed weight because "the camera adds 10 pounds to their figure".

Clothing in department stores too seem to be increasingly cut for small figures, with larger framed women (and men!) having to trawl the nether regions of shops for sizes that fit them.

Beautiful but unrealisitcally waifish characters like Kate Moss and Keira Knightly are held up as ideals of beauty, influencing millions and millions of women and girls around the world. Does it surprise anybody then, that girls have the highest rates of eating disorders and self-esteem issues?

In a follow-up blog, Bass noted that a global study revealed 40 per cent of men and 30 per cent of women are overweight.

She further pointed out that the American Centers for Disease Control research showed that 66 per cent of U.S. adults over 20 are overweight or obese and asked whether there really is "a raging, pompous, condescending 34 percent of the population making all the noise about weight control".

Newsweek recently published a report called “America’s War on the Overweight: Anti-fat rhetoric is getting nastier than ever. Why our overweight nation hates overweight people.”

The article said that a lot of the jeers and catcalls come from self-haters who struggle with weight but consider their missteps to be legitimate excuses, while the missteps of others are foul acts against will power and discipline.

Associate professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, Ryan Martin was interviewed for the piece and, citing studies done on people’s emotions, suggested that people actually enjoy feeling angry.

“It makes them feel powerful, it makes them feel greater control, and they appreciate it for that reason.”

A person's body size comes down to a variety of factors, including exercise, eating habits and genetics. In some instances and occupations, weight and fitness is undoubedly an issue. Nobody wants out-of-shape policemen or firefighters, for example.

However, in most instances a person's size has no bearing whatsoever on their capability to do a job, whether it's teaching or administrating or whatever. And being rude, obnoxious or discriminatory about somebody's weight is just plain wrong. Human beings are more than just sacks of meat to be measured by the pound.

Thin may be "in", but a person's body is ultimately their private and personal concern which nobody else has a right to criticise or condemn.