Fatphobia exposed! I still love books and movies that shame fat people.
Hi Musers,
This is an interesting topic for me, sparked by something I read on Twitter about fatphobia in literature. The tweet said
Boy oh boy I just returned a book at the library that I was SO EXCITED to read, I had on hold for weeks, because of just… absolutely WILD fatphobia. Literally would like to enjoy a book without being reminded how the world looks at fat people, jeeezus.
The tweeter elaborated that the book in question was The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. This was a book I have both read and enjoyed. I did notice the fatphobia when I was reading, it was pretty blatant. The author dwelled extensively on how disgusting the man was, his lack of mobility, his shame at having to be helped to do everything including bathing by his servant. It was kinda like what you see in the worst moments of My 600lb life, to be honest! Having said all that though I did enjoy the book. The story is fascinating and I just had to know what was going on. If you read it you’ll never guess! The tweet made me wonder, have I assimilated fatphobia myself to the extent that in literature it doesn’t even bother me?
Changes in what is acceptable in books and movies now
Following the tweet, I did some soul searching. In the past I have read books that were fatphobic but I gave them a pass because they were written in a different time. I’m not saying fatphobia was ever acceptable but just as I don’t approve of the changing Tom’s owner in the cartoons to a white woman to hide the fact she might be interpreted as a slave (which I never did by the way) I don’t believe in judging media with the morality we have now. After all the James Bond books were incredibly racist and this translated to some of the movies being racist too. They were also misogynistic. I don’t believe we should ban or try to edit them though. They exist as a lesson in my opinion. They show how backward and unacceptable the thoughts of society were back then. It shows we have made at least some progress in changing our attitudes and simultaneously reminds us we still have work to do.
It was acceptable in the 80s?
One example of this is that I loved some of Jilly Cooper’s books growing up and still do. They’re like the reading equivalent of the tv show Friends to me. That is to say, I know them so well that if I’m at a loose end I can pick up any of the books, open it a random place and start to read. Jilly Cooper’s books, however, are horribly fatphobic. They also betray her total lack of understanding of what fatness actually is. She refers to a supposedly fat female character as “heaving her 11 stone bulk around the house.” For those not familiar with stones this equals 154 pounds or 70kg. In other words a perfectly normal weight! A male character who was portrayed as horrendously fat was 15 stones/210 pounds/95kg. Again still a very long way from fat.
I remember thinking as I read “ok Jilly, I get it – you hate fat people!” It shows how slim was portrayed in the 80s and 90s. One of her female characters was seven stone! Even back then I seriously doubt this was the norm for any fully grown woman. I saw that it was ridiculous and rolled my eyes. I still enjoyed the books though.
Small progress – we need FAT progress!
Similarly in movies, there are very few positive depictions of fat people. They are the comic relief or the ugly duckling who will lose weight and become a swan or “ripped” if the character is male. The only positive representations that spring to mind are the character of Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect movies and Melissa McCarthy’s character in Spy. Women who embrace their size and truly believe in their own hotness. Granted though in Pitch Perfect the Bellas didn’t want to accept Amy initially due to her weight so even then it’s not a great message.
I still watch fatphobic movies though and often enjoy them. One of my most beloved movies of all time – Love Actually – fat shames the clearly not even slightly fat Natalie character but I continue to watch it and love it every year. This begs the question….am I part of the problem?
Do I need to care more? To say it’s not ok?
In day to day life, I am prepared to fight tooth and nail for body acceptance. I post body acceptance messages here on my blog and my Instagram and Twitter feed. If I spy any brand that isn’t size-inclusive I routinely post comments to questioning why. I fight fatphobic comments and call people out on how biased they’re being. On social media and blogs I follow other body acceptance warriors and agree wholeheartedly with their work. That’s why this seeming blind spot in my life has taken me so completely by surprise.
I now find myself wondering if I can’t be truly body and fat accepting if accept these depictions in the books I read and the movies and tv shows I watch. On the other hand, is this hill I want to die on? Or would I prefer to fight rampant fatphobia in the workplace first? Protect fat people from bullying trolls on the internet? Get the word out that all bodies are beautiful right here in this blog even. At this point, I don’t know so continue to watch this space.
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