Let’s Not Lie To Ourselves, Being Fat Is Never Healthy

By Casey Bennett

Let’s start by making something crystal clear: this is not an apology.

Last week, I authored a controversial piece criticizing society’s double standard regarding what is and is not considered acceptable to flaunt across the covers of magazines. Using newly minted plus-sized model Tess Holliday as the basis for my argument, I noted that in the push to achieve “body positivity”, we are now glorifying obesity by holding it up as an example for women and girls. You’re big, you’re beautiful – don’t worry about the medical consequences of your weight.

This societal attitude towards obesity is starkly different from that of underweight and anorexic models, who are commonly lambasted for being unhealthy.

The backlash was swift and fierce, with criticism ranging from my alleged need to control others to my apparent lack of understanding of the basic principles of libertarianism to accusations I lack empathy. Of course, not one of these assertions has any basis in reality, but it’s always easier to go on the attack than to seriously entertain, challenge, and debate someone else’s ideas.

Tellingly, most people didn’t actually read my article, as demonstrated by their superfluous ranting:

“As you return to college, in the hopes of aquiring [sic] a solid foundation on which to build your budding journalism career, please learn the importance of fact checking and investigating your subject. I have followed Tess for quite some time. Did know she works out several times a week with a trainer? did you also know she hikes? And did you know she is healthy according her doctor? Did you know that none of this information is any of your business? PEOPLE in this country are large, larger than most. Why not go after Monsanto for putting cramp [sic] food that causes diseases, some which leaving [sic] to obesity. I [sic] not saying vegan food, people are responsible for what they eat, but why it ok and acceptable to attack Tess, and not the ‘standard’ skinny model.” – Kadi

You see Kadi, I do know she works out several times a week with a trainer, evidenced by the line, “Working out four times a week and staying away from cigarettes does not a healthy person make, and Holliday would do well to understand that”. You’re absolutely right, of course, that people are responsible for what they eat, but I’m curious to know where specifically I stated it’s acceptable to attack Holliday and not “standard skinny models”. Had you bothered to read beyond the headline, you’d know I hold both extremes in equal regard. Perhaps before attempting to instruct me on how to do my job, you should instruct yourself to read more than six words before pretending your opinion carries any weight.

The inability of Kadi and many others to read appears to be matched only by those possessing the inability to comprehend what they’re reading, as most people who made it to the body of my work either completely missed the point or twisted my argument into something it’s not.

Diedre Steinman writes on Facebook, “By using the word ‘glorifying’ you are showing your hand. ‘Fat’ people are normal people. Just people. There are many reasons people cannot be skinny. We need to stop judging others but especially out of ignorance of their situations”. Daniella Maffetone readily admits to missing the point, asking, “So what was the point of the article? Are we criticizing an obese woman for being able to model or just whining? I see nothing relating to the article title”.

Commenting on the website, pkw57 charges, “This is so very NOT libertarian. I challenge the Casey Bennett to justify her position based on libertarian principles”.

Unfortunately for Diedre,  I never claimed fat people aren’t normal, and sadly for Daniella, my criticism was not about an obese woman being able to model, which makes pkw57’s comment and many others like it seem exceedingly silly indeed.

“The Casey Bennett” is happy to justify her position based on libertarian principles however, and it’s really very simple: I have the right to freedom of speech, expression, and opinion regardless of how many tears you cry. At no point in my original piece did I say overweight women (or men!) can’t be models. At no point did I suggest we should place a ban on overweight models (though interestingly, it’s perfectly acceptable to ban ads featuring underweight models). At no point did I attempt to force my way of living on Holliday. I simply criticized society’s double standard, and to do that I pointed out some harsh truths about Holliday’s size.

Those harsh truths, as it happens, offended my best friend, who by her own admission is “overweight”. Speaking over a few alcohol coolers, she confessed my piece struck a nerve but ultimately, I didn’t say anything untrue or out of line. She admitted her taking offense was the result of personal insecurity rather than anything I actually wrote, and I suspect the same is true of many folks who found my piece offensive, lacking empathy, or just downright disgusting.

And it would seem other self-identified overweight, fat, and obese people agree. On Julie Borowski‘s Facebook page, Paul Cook says, “I am a fat person and this offends me greatly, being fat is not beautiful it is dangerous and unhealthy”. Heidi Gdb writes, “As an overweight woman, I don’t really appreciate that she is the face of overweight women. Yeah she’s got a lovely face, but her joints are gonna stop working at 40 and she’ll live out most of her life on a motorized scooter”. 

The ability to exchange ideas freely and openly is a very libertarian principle indeed, exemplified by the sheer diversity of opinion on this subject. It’s for this reason that I will not issue any apologies or retractions, nor will I be made to feel bad for any hurt feelings.

In the words of George Orwell:

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”.