Fat shaming
Sofia Hashi | Fulcrum Staff
AT THE RISK of sounding too much like Chris Crocker, leave Kim Kardashian alone! For that matter, leave all pregnant women, skinny women, overweight women, and any type of woman alone. It’s no secret that Ms. Kardashian is expecting a bundle of joy with boyfriend Kanye West, and the media and online blogs seem preoccupied with criticising her weight gain. Wait, what?
With headlines like “Is Kim Kardashian Failing At Pregnancy?” “Kim Kardashian Too Fat For Kanye,” and “Pregnant Or Fat?” this poor Kardashian has been the butt of all fat jokes ever since Kanye announced her pregnancy in December. Who can forget the popular meme comparing her to a killer whale? The situation has gotten so ridiculous that Kardashian herself has decided to remind everyone that she’s pregnant and has feelings. Sadly, her words were turned against her, and other headlines surfaced, like “Pregnancy Taking An Emotional Toll.” And while I’m not pitying Kardashian or suggesting we should all become hung up on celebrities’ problems, there is something deeper going on here: fat shaming.
Our online culture currently supports pro anorexic and bulimic behaviour—called pro-ana and pro-mia sites—and thin inspiration websites. Our society’s obsession with people’s outward appearance is harmful to our own well-being. Whatever happened to just eating right and exercising? Whatever happened to caring more about who people are on the inside than what they look like? There’s a reason eating disorders are on the rise among young people, and a lot has to do with our fat-shaming culture.
I understand it—up to a point, it’s gossip like anything else. I used to be one of those young girls surfing celebrity websites like TheSkinnyWebsite, reading people bash Victoria’s Secret models and their appearances. Hurtful and cruel comments littered the sites: things like “Her waist-to-hip ratio is unfortunate,” “She looks like a man,” and “She’d be perfect if her arms got thinner.” Unfortunately, these were among the kinder comments I read.
Whether someone is fat or skinny, pregnant or not pregnant, keep your comments about their weight to yourself. It’s easy to put an end to this fat-shaming culture: just stop taking part in it. Don’t read those magazines or blogs or watch news segments promoting an unhealthy body image. They’ll have one less viewer absorbing that useless info and you’ll be filling your days and mind with much better things.
