ON FEELING FAT

So I was watching The Today Show this morning and there was a segment that made me stop my morning rush and sit down and watch. The segment was called, “How Does It Feel to Be Obese?” An Aussie model/actress by the name of Rebecca Mader dressed in a fat suit and stage makeup (added a second and third chin) and walked the streets of New York to study how, or if, she would be treated differently. She filmed her life before and after, so that the audience could see the difference. She rode the subway, went shopping, went to a local bar, etc. Then she put on her fat persona and went back to the same locations.

HIDDEN CAMERA HEAVY
Simple things became difficult. Walking to the corner wore her out. It was like carrying a ten year old on her back, everywhere she went. Getting through the turnstile in the subway involved turning sideway and shoving herself through. Sitting down on the subway involved negotiation and apology. One woman walked up to her on the subway platform and yelled at her “You're Fat!” over and over, and then just walked away. Ms Mader was surprised that no one came to her aid. When she went shopping, no sales person would assist her. When she finally cornered and highjacked a sales girl, she found out why. The girls at that store work on commission and the largest size the store carried was size twelve. She returned to the local bar. She had to be aware that her hips didn’t knock over dishes on people’s tables in the restaurant section. At the bar, she was thoroughly ignored, save a few men who quickly moved away and women who held their drinks closer. Maybe the women were afraid that some fat dust would fall off Ms. Mader into their drinks.

SO NOW YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS
As she explained her life in the fat suit, the actress sounded like the time my then six-year old God-Daughter explained to me how the DVD player works. It was amusing to hear the explanation from a new perspective but this was information I was already well aware of. Kinda like when a darker-skinned white person (ie Italian or Jewish) is profiled and pulled over by the police for the first time, and then recounts the experience to a Black male friend or co-worker.

Ms. Mader was appalled at the judgments people made about her entire life because of her appearance. She said she expected people to stare or pay more attention to her because of her getup. Instead, she became invisible. When Katie Couric asked her what over-all message she took from the experience, Ms. Mader said something like, “We should just leave people alone and let them live their lives.”

IS THERE A FAT-TAX?
The dating scene, shopping and subway rides are an issue, for sure. But what about weight-bias in the workplace, or while interviewing? Does your weight effect whether or not you are promoted or hired? If you are qualified, neat, on-time, well-spoken, 5’4” and 220 pounds, will you automatically lose your chance to anyone under 150 pounds who can string two sentences together? What about consumer issues? Are fat people charged more for clothes, cars, and vacations? Or charged the regular price while skinny people get “the hook-up” or unadvertised discount? Is weight bias the new acceptable prejudice, right behind economic/poverty bias and parent-bias? SeeSanFranciscoChronicleArticle

HAVE WE ALL GONE INSANE?
This story was part of a week-long series on plastic surgery and body image in America. Katie Couric has covered plastic surgery, botox injections, anorexia, and the appalling emaciated look that has taken Hollywood by storm, even the men. On “Live With Regis” one day last week, Regis was out sick and Kelly Ripa had her husband, Mark Consuelos fill in. Mark has an upcoming movie, which involves a shirtless scene. He described working out like a fiend and being on a diet, which all sounded pretty normal. But then he described being faced with a fattening food he really loved at a recent event. He put it in his mouth chewed it and spit it out, so he could taste it without gaining weight. (!?!?!?)

Sounds bizarre for sure. But is it any wonder that people are starving themselves into oblivion when being fat comes with so many negative consequences? As I sit here at my temp job at lunch, eating my seafood salad on raw chopped cabbage, drinking diet coke, I wonder. Will it work this time? If I put all this expensive education, charm, talent and fierce intelligence in a smaller, tighter package, will I finally get what I want, pressed down and overflowing like they talk about in the Bible? Is there a weight requirement for miracles?

…I’ll let you know