Fat Shaming – Is It OK To Fat Shame Another Person?

What You Need to Know

• On the Friday, September 6, 2019 episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the 63-year-old, never-married comedian ran a segment where he looked in the camera and told the world it is OK to fat-shame people who are overweight.
• In the aftermath of Bill Maher’s bulling segment, true comedian James Corden addressed the issue of fat-shaming, bullying, and common decency and let Maher know he was out of line.
• Fat-shaming is nothing but bullying and it is time for it to end.

When is it ever OK to fat shame someone?

Is it ever ok to talk down to another human being?

Do you feel you are superior to someone else and can say whatever you want to them?

Is a person’s belly size, weight, or health funny to you?

Is fat-shaming another person really ok in 2019? Was it ever OK?

What Is Fat Shaming?

From the Wikipedia article Social stigma of obesity:

Anti-fat bias refers to the prejudicial assumption of personality characteristics based on an assessment of a person as being overweight or obese. It is also known as “fat shaming”. Fat activists allege anti-fat bias can be found in many facets of society, and blame the media for the pervasiveness of this phenomenon.

Fat-shaming affects men and women, rich and poor, young and old.

Fat-shaming is nothing but bullying and it is time for it to end.

Fat-shaming happens in person, in schools, in the workplace, in sports, in churches, by doctors, in politics, on the playground, on airplanes.

But that never means it’s ok.

This is a social injustice that has no place in our world.

What About the Boby Positive Movement?

From the Wikipedia article Body Positivity:

Body positivity is a social movement rooted in the belief that all human beings should have a positive body image, while challenging the ways in which society presents and views the physical body. The movement advocates the acceptance of all bodies no matter the form, size, or appearance.

It’s about respect, plain and simple. Read Every Fat Person, Healthy Or Not, Deserves Respect. 

What Elitist Comedian Bill Maher Said About Fat Shaming

Watch the video:

Some Truly Low Things Bill Maher Actually Said on TV

• Being fat isn’t a birth defect. Nobody comes out of the womb needing to buy two seats on the airplane.

• Obesity is linked to terrible conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and virginity.

• If people just didn’t eat like assholes who are killing not only themselves but the planet.

• Weight Watchers had to literally take the words “Weight” and “Watchers,” I’m not kidding, out of their name. It’s now WW because merely the idea of watching your weight is now bullying. What’s next banning scales?

• You hear it all the time – someone sees a merely trim person “you should eat something.” No, you should not eat something. I should be more unhealthy so you can feel better about your fat ass?

• Fat-shaming doesn’t need to end. It needs to make a comeback. Some amount of shame is good…It’s not just about being able to see a doctor it’s also about being able to see your dick.

True Comedian James Corden’s Reply

Watch the video:

Some of James Corden’s Highlights 

• I found it so surprising that he or anybody thinks that fat-shaming needs to make a comeback. Because fat-shaming never went anywhere.

• There is a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy and we’re not. Like we get it. We know. We know that being overweight isn’t good for us.

• It’s proven that fat-shaming only does one thing. It makes people feel ashamed and shame leads to depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior. Self-destructive behavior like overeating.

• Fat shaming is just bullying. That is what it is. It’s bullying. And bullying only makes the problem worse.

• Believe me, I can see a dick.

What It’s Like to Be Fat In America

Laura Bogart wrote in HuffPost in 2018: 

We exist, and persist, in a world that opposes us at every turn: Every time we enter a new office or a movie theater, we must perform the mental Jenga of whether that seat can accommodate us. Every time we take any kind of mass transit, we walk a gauntlet of stink-eyes and people not-so-subtly maneuvering suitcases and grocery bags and umbrellas to the seat next to them, just so we don’t get any ideas.

Every time we enter any kind of public space (especially doctor’s offices, grocery stores or any kind of exercise class), we become sideshow spectacles ― our bodies exist as other people’s horror shows, objects of disgust and pity, the subjects of much comment and, now, even prayer.   

From the moment I begin my day until I’m finally asleep again, I swallow so many indignities. Some of these indignities are obvious enough that most folks could understand them, even if they can’t entirely empathize with them. Read the full HuffPost article What It’s Really Like To Be Fat In A World That Hates Fat People. 

Whether You Are Overweight or Not, Be a Leader

Sometimes it means showing compassion to another human being whether you know them or not.

Sometimes it means moving out of someone’s way without calling attention to them or yourself.

Sometimes it means changing your seat or offering your seat to another person.

Sometimes it means talking to them without broaching the subject.

Sometimes it means to just shut the fuck up and go about your business. Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean you have permission to force it on someone else.

Sometimes it means not supporting the bullies and assholes that sit and judge others who are different than you. They’re not better than you, they’re just different.

I’m taking my stand

I bought my last Bill Maher ticket. I like some of his humor but fat shaming isn’t humor, it’s bullying. It’s an elitist asshole showing his true colors.

How do you feel about fat-shaming? Let us know in the comments below.