When You Fat Shame Strangers, You Fat Shame Your Loved Ones Too
You can’t separate my fat body from the fat bodies of strangers
Recently, one of my relatives shared a horrendous meme on Facebook. It featured one of those awful “People of Walmart” pics that are problematic in so many ways, not the least of which is that no one deserves to have their picture surreptitiously taken and turned into a meme for strangers to laugh at online.
The photo features a fat woman wearing pants that are tight on her belly and a sweater that fully covers every inch of her upper body but stops right at the waistband of the pants. Her belly is large, and her pants—though they fit her legs perfectly—cling to her belly, and the pant seam runs down the middle. There was a nasty caption about her ass being on backward.
Just like hers, my belly hangs; it’s where I carry my weight, and it’s somewhat disproportionate to the rest of my body because the real world sometimes works out that way. Real bodies aren’t perfectly proportionate; in my case, I have a big belly but narrow hips and a really flat ass. I dress to accommodate my belly size, so my pants tend to sag in the rear—and everywhere else. My mom has a shape much like mine, as did her mom.
Real bodies aren’t perfectly proportionate.
