Tag Archives: fat shaming

The Soapbox: Too Chunky To Cheer?

Fat News Anchor
Wisconsin news anchor responds to fat shamer's bullying letter. Read More »
"Hippo" Slur
Melissa McCarthy
Asshat movie critic calls Melissa McCarthy a "hippo." Read More »
Too Fat To Tan?
An Ohio tanning salon told this woman she was too fat to tan. Watch »
Open Letter To The Fat Girl
Winona pens an open letter to the fat girl. Read More »
kelsey williams

On April 22, Anna-Megan Raley, under the pseudonym of Claire Crawford, wrote a blog post for CBS Houston titled, “Is This Girl ‘Too Chunky’ To Be An OKC Thunder Cheerleader?” In the post, she spotlighted Kelsey Williams, a three-year veteran of the Thunder Girls, the dance team that performs during the home games of the NBA’s Oklahoma Thunder. Referring to a picture showing Williams in her uniform — a bra-like halter top and short shorts — Raley questioned whether Williams was “bad-looking,” noting she had “pudginess around her waistline.” Although she praised Williams for being “comfortable wearing that tiny little outfit,” she wished the dancer had “a little more on top, if you know what I mean,” and asked readers, “Is this chick ‘too chunky’ to be a cheerleader?” Then the half-assed statement, “We think she’s beautiful,” followed by a poll allowing readers to vote on the options: “She has no business wearing that outfit in front of people” or “She could use some tightening in her midsection.”  Keep reading »

CBS Fires Blogger For Asking If Cheerleader Kelsey Williams Is “Too Chunky” To Cheer

"Hippo" Slur
Melissa McCarthy
Asshat movie critic calls Melissa McCarthy a "hippo." Read More »
Fat-Shaming Jessica
On Jessica Simpson, her pregnancy, and reclaiming the word "fat." Read More »
Stop, Kirstie Alley
kirstie alley fat
Kirstie Alley continues her fat-shaming reign of terror. Read More »
Joan Rivers' Fat Jokes
joan rivers
Comedian Adam Hills tells Joan Rivers "f*ck you" over Adele fat jokes. Read More »
  • CBS Radio 610 fired blogger Anna-Megan Raley (who writes under the pen name Claire Crawford), who questioned whether the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder cheerleader Kelsey Williams is “too chunky” to cheer. [Scallywag & Vagabond, Houston Chronicle]
  • Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon renewed their wedding vows at Disneyland. Would you expect anything less? [US Weekly]
  • Here’s some spoiler-y details from “Homeland” season three. [Huffington Post]
  • Is this Martha Stewart’s real Match.com profile? [Laughing Squid] Keep reading »

Kirstie Alley Continues Her Fat-Shaming Reign Of Terror

Yo Yo Dieting Isn't A Career
Some celebs seem to exist just to talk about their weight loss. Read More »
Your Fat Partner
melted butter
Seven ways to be a good ally to your fat lover. Read More »
Open Letter To The Fat Girl
Winona pens an open letter to the fat girl. Read More »
Enough Already!
... with the reality TV weight loss shows. Read More »

Kirstie Alley has good Photoshop skills, but questionable judgment when it comes to pointing out her weight issues. She posted this pic of her head Photoshopped onto a fat woman’s body on Twitter, cracking jokes about drinking beer and whether her “butt looks big.” I can appreciate that she’s a celeb willing to poke fun at herself. And I don’t blame her for having body image issues; lots of us do.  But poking fun at her yo-yo dieting/weight loss, which is clearly a very big deal to her and has been for years, vis-a-vis another, obese woman’s body just makes me uncomfortable. That’s a real person with feelings (and, apparently, a chain bikini)! Not cool, Kirstie. [Twitter.com/KirstieAlley]

Comedian Adam Hills Tells Joan Rivers “F**k You!” Over Adele Fat Jokes

Adele On Her Weight
Adele would only lose weight if it affected her health or sex life. Read More »
Karl's "Fat" Comment
Adele is "a little too fat," according to designer Karl Lagerfeld. Read More »
Adele Responds
Adele responds to Karl Lagerfeld's comment that she's "a little too fat." Read More »
joan rivers
Joan Rivers Fat-Shames Adele

It’s not often that a dude comedian stands up for a woman who’s getting fat shamed — and be funny about it! So a big high five, or whatever it is they do Down Under, to Australian comedian Adam Hills for telling Joan Rivers to STFU.  Joan’s been all over the place cracking jokes about how fat Adele is and on his UK show The Last Leg, Hills called her out in a very emotional “FUCK YOU!”

If you make fat jokes, you’re being a dick! And I’m referring to you, Joan Rivers. Seth MacFarlane started it at the Oscars but after the Oscars, Joan Rivers tweeted “You could easily pick Adele’s Oscar out of the lineup. It was the only one wearing Spanx.” Then she went on the Letterman show and made a whole bunch of awful jokes which included her saying “I met Adele” and then she went [puffs cheeks out and makes "fat" motion with hands].  FUCK YOU!  

And it gets better from there… Keep reading »

Hitched: I Didn’t Try To Lose Weight For My Wedding

Wedding Body Project
hitched photo
Andrea on the expectation that all brides-to-be want to lose weight. Read More »

People on the internet have been telling me I’m fat for at least a decade — since whenever the first full-body photograph of me appeared on a blog author page. I still remember one of the first times it happened. I was probably 22 years old, wearing a pink pencil skirt and cute black top, retro-style, in the photo.

“Just like I thought, she’s pear-shaped,” snarked one commenter, who apparently previously inferred from the quality of my writing that my body was not up to his high expectations, only to have it all confirmed by a photo.

I stood in front of the mirror in that same outfit, staring at my body from every angle, trying to figure out just how pear-shaped I was. Was it my thighs causing the problem? Had to be, right? I measured them. I calculated my BMI. I took more digital photos and compared them to the existing photo. I went through the size tags on all my clothes, trying to find the biggest one so I could prove to myself that I either was or wasn’t fat. Definitively.
Keep reading »

The Soapbox: Melissa McCarthy, Rex Reed & Hippo-Gate

"Hippo" Slur
Melissa McCarthy
Asshat movie critic calls Melissa McCarthy a "hippo." Read More »
Open Letter To The Fat Girl
Winona pens an open letter to the fat girl. Read More »
Fat Girls Are Best Friends
fat girl
Why do some men refuse to date their fat best friends? Read More »
melissa mccarthy hippo

I shook my head recently when I read about New York Observer film critic Rex Reed’s personal insult toward actress Melissa McCarthy. In a review of her latest offering, “Identity Thief,” he called her “tractor-sized” and as big as a “hippo.” Isn’t it interesting, I thought, that a man, who himself is part of a marginalized and often supressed segment of society [Reed is widely believed to be gay.] wields his pejoratives so freely when directed toward another similarly ill-regarded community, the “un-thin” or “un-commercial.” The part of our population that still hides in a closet of self-hatred. The part of our population, fearful that they won’t be accepted or seen for anything other than their physical appearance. You don’t have to be overweight to be part of our collective; you just have to have a self-loathing of some physical feature you feel you possess. Surely, this is something that everyone can relate to at some point in their lives and certainly, unless he was blessed to have grown up amongst royalty, Rex Reed himself must have had to deal with.

Keep reading »

Movie Reviewer Calls Melissa McCarthy A “Hippo”

Melissa On Perfection
Melissa McCarthy thinks we should all just embrace who we are right now. Read More »
Divine Melissa
Melissa McCarthy as Divine. Read More »
Melissa On "SNL"
Melissa McCarthy's opening monologue on "SNL." Watch »
  • Score! “Bridesmaids” star Melissa McCarthy’s got three movies coming down the pipeline … [Hollywood Reporter]
  • … but that didn’t stop a New York Observer movie reviewer from referring to her as a “hippo” in his review of “Identity Thief.” Asshole. [NY Observer]
  • Amelia was freaking out yesterday over this blonde, buxom model being used on the cover of an edition of Anne Of Green Gables. HELLO? Anne is supposed to be a skinny redhead. [Quill & Quire]
  • Listen up, “Arrested Development” nerds: the upcoming season that will appear exclusively on Netflix is only “Act 1,” says Jason Bateman, and Acts 2 and 3 will be in a movie. [Zap2It]
  • Quvenzhané Wallis from “Beasts Of The Southern Wild” carries puppy purses on the red carpet, is adorable. [Evil Beet Gossip] Keep reading »

The Soapbox: How To Handle Food Shame During The Holidays

Open Letter To The Fat Girl
Winona pens an open letter to the fat girl. Read More »
Friends & Body Image
woman exercising
How your friend's body image can impact you. Read More »
Yes To Dessert!
Why Ami doesn't skip dessert. Read More »
family holiday

This piece was cross-posted with permission from FatNutritionist.com. It was originally published before Thanksgiving but we are crossposting it here with the rest of the holiday season in mind. 

It’s true, Thanksgiving is a weirdly imperialist semi-genocidal sort of holiday, but hey, at least we can enjoy the tradition of getting together with family and eating a bunch of mashed potatoes!

Or can we?

If some people’s relatives had their way, the answer would be a resounding HAHA, SUCKER! Because certain people exist only to make your food-eating life as a fat person (or a whatever-sized person) miserable.

So, here’s the thing: whether or not you are fat, you are the only person who gets to decide what food goes in your mouth, what tastes good, and how much of it makes you feel full and satisfied. No matter how many busybodies and dietary conspiracy theorists get in your face, you are still the only one who can decide. Keep reading »

College Basketball Player Fat-Shamed After Quitting Team

Fat News Anchor
Wisconsin news anchor responds to fat shamer's bullying letter. Read More »
"Fat" Beauty Queen
Miss San Antonio lost her crown for eating tacos. Read More »
Open Letter To The Fat Girl
Winona pens an open letter to the fat girl. Read More »

Today In Totally Awful News: Josh Smith, a junior on the UCLA basketball team, left the team in response to accusations that he simply wasn’t in good enough shape to play — and to a chorus of professional sports commentators and fans claiming he was “too fat.” “I have made the decision to leave the program for personal reasons,” Smith said in a statement. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at UCLA and am grateful for the opportunity that has been presented to me here.”

Smith said he had difficulties with training and conditioning, and struggled with his weight. And that, apparently, was enough to make some in the media attack him for it. Keep reading »

Alexa Chung On Body Image & How Naturally Thin Girls Can’t Win Either

Gaga's Body Revolution
Gaga starts an important conversation about body image. Read More »
Fat News Anchor
Wisconsin news anchor responds to fat shamer's bullying letter. Read More »
Open Letter
Winona pens an open letter to the fat girl. Read More »
Ugly Duckling Lessons
Life lessons from a former ugly duckling. Read More »

“I think it’s about time people stopped judging women on their appearance and more on their intellect. Like you can appreciate my style without having to appreciate my weight. It’s not actually mutually inclusive. I just get frustrated because, just because I exist in this shape, doesn’t mean that I’m like advocating it and being like, ‘I look great.’ How do you know I’m not looking in the mirror and going ‘I wish I could gain ten pounds?’ Which is actually quite often the case. But if you say that you sound like you’re bragging that you’re naturally thin, and you’re not allowed to do that because even though it’s not the ideal weight, it kind of is as well. So it’s really fucked up. And how people that are bigger can be on the front covers of magazines being like ‘I’m really happy with my shape.’ But if I was to do that, I’d be compeltely criticized and ridiculed. But why can’t I be happy with how I look? …  I’m just a bit sick of it. I just think that whole culture of hatred, and also feeling like it’s your right to judge people when you don’t know them is really fucked up.”

– This is Alexa Chung talking to Fashionista about the controversy that erupted awhile back when she posted a picture of herself looking quite thin on Instagram. Chung was derided by commenters on the site for being “thinspiration” for women with eating disorders. The whole interview is quite good and I recommend you read the entire thing. She says some very smart things about how naturally thin and skinny women are not immune to body scrutiny and, while it doesn’t compare equally to larger-sized women, it’s still body-policing. As a naturally skinny person, Chung is on the receiving end of insinuations and comments that she must have an eating disorder. Larger women can’t win and skinnier women can’t win, either. Alexa is right: it’s time we stopped judging all women on their appearance.  [Fashionista]