The Great Weight Debate (pretty much OT)

[joywitch_m_curmudgeon]

Well said, Ginger, and thanks.  Rant on!

--JMC

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "quigonginger" 
<quigonginger at ...> wrote:
>
> Ginger here. 
> 
> I posted my canon-based thoughts on TOL, so I'm going to do my 
> personal rant here.  
> 
> As most of us are aware (and may even have read), JKR had some 
things 
> to say on her site (under Extras, if anyone is still trying to 
find 
> it) about weight and society's perceptions.
> 
> Anyone who has met me (ok, that would just be JoAnna) knows I'm 
about 
> as far from svelt as a person can be.  I don't just tip the 
scales, I 
> send them through the floorboards.
> 
> I've always been that way, and have been known as The Whale, 
Thunder 
> Thighs, BuffaloButt, Cavemama, and other things I won't print here 
as 
> they are actually nasty.
> 
> Are JKR's comments going to influence us here in any way?  Heck, 
no.  
> We're adults.  Our minds have been pretty well set about things 
like 
> that.  Either we pity our portly brethern and sistern, or we have 
no 
> time for the hogs.  None of us are about to think "gee, JKR says 
we 
> shouldn't judge a tome by its cover, so maybe I should start being 
> kind to the gravitationally challenged".
> 
> Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground in the way 
> people think.  I put on almost 100 in the last few years as a side 
> effect of medication.  In the 9 months I've been off it, I've lost 
> almost 40, but I tell you, when I see a skinny chick eating a 
> cheeseburger, I just about want to shove my celery somewhere it 
would 
> hurt.  Believe me, I have noticed that an increase or decrease in 
> weight influences how even the closest of friends and relatives 
treat 
> you, whether they realize it or not.  Don't get me started on my 
> mother.
> 
> So what's the point of JKR's little homily?  Not to change the 
minds 
> of those who are already whispering "be-LOO-ga" under their 
breaths 
> (or above them) when they see a blimp go by.  That may have been 
her 
> intention, but it ain't gonna work.  What good can it do?  Why is 
she 
> wasting several inches of type that could be better devoted to 
> whether Snape now prefers boxers or briefs?  Who can possibly 
benefit?
> 
> Well, JKR herself was an outsider as a child.  IIRC, she described 
> herself as a "swotty little know it all" or some such thing.  Not 
the 
> same as being fat, but she was ostricized as a child, and 
ostricized 
> is ostricized no matter what size your ostri.  So if somewhere out 
> there in cyberland is a heifer who reads the Potter books as an 
> escape and has come home from school after a bad day of teasing, 
and 
> sits down at her computer with a vat of Ben and Jerry's and sees 
that 
> JKR herself thinks that brains and character are more important 
than 
> appearance, it may have a positive effect on her.  JKR was an avid 
> reader as a child.  Perhaps she feels that some strong words from 
her 
> favourite author would have salved the wounds of adolescence and 
> wants to confer that onto the children who read her books.  More 
> power to her, I say.
> 
> Better to light a single candle, set your hair on fire, and have 
> something serious to bitch about than to curse the darkness.
> 
> I say if she wants to rant, let her rant.  She's paying for the 
space.
> I get my rants for free.  Thanks to you all for that.
> 
> Ginger
> Has anyone seen my celery?
>