You can comment on a fat person on the cover of a magazine because they are of course “promoting obesity”, duh. This concern for their appearance mitigates body shaming because it’s to do with health.
Funny then that Megan Fox can pose for GQ smoking a cigarette and not cause James Smith to upload a video?
The irony is that whenever these conversations around weight pop up in the public eye, they always get taken over by non-fat people for their own gain. Slim influencers who post pictures of their bodies in all sorts of contorted positions to show their ‘rolls’ for likes, no nonsense PTs who are here to help you if only you signed up to their 4-week trial and well-meaning commenters who unwittingly dish out more backhanders than Emma Raducanu.
Even in my privileged position as a writer, I don’t always speak up when these conversations arise. It’s not because I don’t care, I do, but it’s painful.
It’s embarrassing to have to share the time a man screamed “fat c*nt” in my face at a party to get you to understand the abuse I’ve experienced. It’s uncomfortable to tell you that people like James Smith made me so paranoid of people in the fitness industry that when I shared an office with writers for the likes of Men’s Health and Runners World, I was scared to even walk past them for fear of judgment.
Thankfully I was proved wrong by those colleagues and eventually struck up some great friendships, but it just goes to show the impact body shaming has on every aspect of your life. Which is why it’s so infuriating when people defend their remarks with the health argument because not only is it a lie, but it also doesn’t work.
I always thought I hated exercise until I met my trainer Hannah Lewin and realised that it wasn’t sport, I hated, but the fat shaming incidents that I’d experienced in my formative teenage years. Now, working with someone who makes me so completely at ease, I’m motivated to become stronger.
If you were outraged by Steve Allen’s comments, I hate to break it to you, but they really are just the tip of the iceberg, which is why it’s so important to actually listen to Tilly’s words.
We have to keep that same outrage for all incidents of body shaming, regardless of the recipient’s appearance. The next time a debate is happening about a fat person being on the cover of magazine, question why it’s happening. Evolve your language, stop calling yourself fat because you ate some cake at lunch, teach your children to treat everyone with respect and think what you’re saying when you write “she’s not actually chubby though”.