Okay, so I've read some of the diaries the past 3 days or so reporting on Beck's 'Restoring Honor' cock and bull show and Al Sharpton's 'Reclaiming the Dream' march. And you know, there's one thing I keep seeing in the comments over and over again that really makes me uncomfortable. It goes something like this: "Hurr hurr, Glenn Beck's followers are fat lardasses! HA!"
Now, I'm not normally one who gets offended by words. I swear, a lot. I can be pretty un-PC. But this disturbs me.
Full disclosure: I'm a fat chick. And I freely use the word 'fat' to describe myself. I'm just under 6 feet tall and pushing 300lbs, for a variety of reasons involving poor diet and exercise habits (something I am trying to be better at) and health issues (did you know taking insulin MAKES you gain weight? You do now). I was chubby as a kid and I've been fat since I hit puberty. A long time ago, I got over being ashamed of myself and feeling like I have to justify my existence to people who assume all sorts of nasty things about me just because I'm not skinny.
Kinda like all the comments I see lately in threads about Beck's fans. They're all fat lazy stupid bastards who eat McDonalds and cheetos all the time. Really? I mean, c'mon. I see the pictures posted and I see a wide array of body shapes from skinny to huge. I see a normal cross section of weights in this country. Furthermore, what the hell, people? Are you meaning to tell me not a single liberal or progressive or Democrat on this site besides me is overweight? C'mon. I've seen pictures, I know that's not the case.
So why is it okay to constantly make fat jokes about them? It's been said before that fat people are one of the last groups around that it's still 'okay' to make fun of. Why is it that calling something 'retarded' on this site (or alluding to other mental disability) is a faux pas, but jokes about how someone at the Glenn Beck rally probably needed her scooter just because she's fat? Guess what: being fat doesn't come from just poor eating or sedentary lifestyle; it can happen when you suffer from chronic illnesses or have to take certain medications (like, say, three of the ones I'm on).
Look, I really hate having to post a diary like this. Normally when I see them, I have the habit of rolling my eyes and dismiss it as someone being overly sensitive, and maybe I am on this issue. I don't mind the word fat, clearly, as I use it to refer to myself. But what does bother me is when I see people hurling it as an insult, as if my body weight has anything to do with who I am as a person or my intellectual capacity.
