sethman wrote
I think the problem is that rich people don’t get richer if ordinary people like themselves the way they are. Otherwise, what would they sell to the ordinary if they don’t hate themselves and want to change without having to work for it? It feels like we’re all in a sort of “keeping up with the Joneses” society where everyone’s goal is to be on par with everyone else and to be normal. Until the definition of normal is changed to adjust to what normal people really are nowadays (them being fat and getting fatter), I don’t see things getting better for us.
I don’t want to sound politically incorrect or whatever, but the part of the article discussing racism seems like a load of crap to me. If anything, those minority groups are given less crap about their weight. I present Exhibit A, show business. Do you see any successful fat white women that aren’t Kathy Bates in movies or TV anymore? Nope. Everyone who tries ends up breaking down and going on Jenny Craig, becoming just another skinny white girl in the endless sea of skinny white girls.
[snip...]
Meanwhile, we have Queen Latifa, the girl from Precious, Whoopi Goldberg, Mo’Nique, Sherri Shepherd. All fat. And no one bats an eye.
Hey, Seth, great post!
Two thoughts:
1. You're totally right about the wealth thing. It was a big realisation for me that insecurity--the making and perpetuating of it--is a major branch of contemporary capitalism. Sad.
2. This is one thought with two parts:
a. Queen Latifah, Whoopi, and Mo'Nique have all very famously dieted.
b. The demographics of fat are very much weighted, as it were, towards blacks and Latina/os in the US. Whether or not that is secondary to class is not something I've seen seriously analysed, but I would like to. Those kinds of analyses aren't easy and require real quant social science chops.
