Fat Rant

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 150565


> kchuplis:
>  
> Well, to be honest, I think we are talking about "gluttony" as 
> in "greedy" when it comes to the characters you refer too, which 
is 
> different than this constant pressure to be Kate Moss that girls 
> undergo and yes, being called FAT at 130 lbs. I believe that her 
> point was what is actually "normal" weight for girls is now often 
> looked upon as being "fat" and that yes, it is something people 
seem 
> to abhor. Perhaps it is dawning on her now (after all, she is 
quite 
> the attractive lady, but has now had to fight the battle of age 
and 
> getting back in shape). Oddly enough, my supervisor related seeing 
a 
> relative she had not seen in a long time yesterday and the opening 
> comment her relative had was "you look great for your size". Now, 
my 
> super is maybe 30 lbs overweight. This really is a problem. I have 
> seen it for years (mostly men) saying how this actress or that is 
FAT 
> when they are skinny. Finally, I have begun to see a bit of turn 
of 
> tide on the internet for the most part. I now am seeing comments 
> like "feed that girl a hamburger". HOwever, it is a slow tide to 
> turn. 

Magpie:
In my experience "feed that girl a hamburger" has been the standard 
thing to say for at least 10 years.  And rants like JKR's already 
exist in all the fashion magazines right next to tips about 
dieting.  The weight issue is far more complex than the evil media 
making girls want to starve themselves.  Girls are starving 
themselves.  At the same time in the US, for instance, the average 
weight has gotten bigger and bigger in the last 20 years, and 
studies indicate that no, we're not particularly bothered by it.  In 
fact I think advertisers are figuring this out now too. Just as fat 
is considered taboo, it's also considered just fine.  

That's what bugs me about easy "that celebrity is anorexic!" stuff.  
Not that there aren't anorexic celebrities; I'm sure there are, and 
if someone looks unhealthy or sick you'd expect people to comment on 
it.  But to me it just encourages this swing from one extreme to the 
other: someone that thin "must" be anorexic, imo, suggests this idea 
that you're either "normal" (even if normal means unhealthily 
overweight) or "anorexic."  Just as at the other end of the spectrum 
having breasts is considered fat.  You can't do anything about it 
one way or another, so there's no reason to consider changing. 

Within canon, for me I don't think there's some line drawn between 
thin/good people and bad/fat people.  But there are scenes where I'm 
uncomfortably aware of the way fat seems to be portrayed.  It's hard 
for me to just pass an easy judgment on it since okay, if someone is 
very overweight it shouldn't be out of bounds to suggest that they 
overeat or whatever. But the pudgier characters do seem often 
trapped by their gluttony and their size often seems far more 
surreal than the thinness of the thin people.  Dudley's a killer 
whale who takes up the whole side of the table, Slughorn takes up 
half a store iirc.  Both of them seem like walking garbage disposals 
who steal and eat anything.  (Even Crabbe and Goyle are pranked with 
laced cakes and pudgy Neville eats the canary cream).  And it 
doesn't seem like their relationship with food is ever treated with 
any particular compassion or anything.  They just like candy.  In 
real life I think I'd find someone like this sad and disturbing 
rather than anything to laugh at.

So I don't know...I've got no problem with the idea that women 
should be judged on things other than their weight.  I quite agree 
with it.  But it still seems about as daring a thing to say as doing 
a rant about how racism is bad.  Weight just seems to have become a 
huge issue in western society that can't be reduced to thin models 
and the bad media, or some people being unable to not eat anything 
put in front of them.

-m