November 17, 2020 — RT-Mart is a hypermarket chain in Taiwan, having a measure of success in mainland China. But last week it set off a furor about fat shaming. For reasons unknowable, the chain replaced the usual S-M-L-XL-XXL clothing sizes with a shaming scheme. Slim, beautiful, rotten, extra rotten, and rotten to the core was the chain’s not […]
October 3, 2020 — Coronavirus fatigue. Many people were tired of thinking constantly about this virus until our president seized our attention on Friday with the news that he has it. Suddenly we have renewed energy for this subject. And one sidebar to this topic is the president’s risk for severe symptoms. “Trump is 74, male and obese,” says […]
May 23, 2020 — On Friday, the BMJ released the largest peer-reviewed prospective study of risk factors for severe symptoms or death with COVID-19 to date. Age over 50, being male, obesity, and other chronic diseases stand out as important risk factors. By now, this is a pattern that is quite familiar. But it does more than just make […]
May 19, 2020 — Common ground is awfully hard to find right now. But here’s an easy one. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a D or an R or anything else. Fat shaming is never cool. It just happened last night when Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an off-handed remark about President Donald Trump being “morbidly obese.” Please, people. This […]
December 26, 2019 — While many of us hit the pause button for the Christmas holiday, others were following a body positivity drama on Twitter. Economist Boyce Watkins offered a theory about the source of fame for a singer known as Lizzo. Obesity caused it. He was dissing her because of her body size. Without missing a beat, Lizzo […]
July 25, 2019 — In business, we call this cross-brand marketing. We also call it stupid. Forever 21 has been sending out Atkins diet bars to customers who order from its plus-size clothing collection. In a culture where diet has become a four-letter word, this is not smart. my mom ordered some clothes from @Forever21 ‘s plus size collection […]
June 13, 2019 — This week the Telegraph published a very touching essay by Tanya Gold, describing her heartfelt concern for the health of mannequins. Specifically, she’s concerned about a Nike mannequin she’s diagnosed with obesity: She is immense, gargantuan, vast. She heaves with fat. She is, in every measure, obese, and she is not readying herself for a […]
April 27, 2019 — For reasons we cannot fathom, Jay Leno decided to deliver a rant about “this disturbing trend of gluttony” that he supposes is the root cause of obesity. Thanks, Jay. But you’re not helping. Food marketers might be pushing a lot of disgusting “innovations,” but gluttony is not the root cause of obesity. And rants about […]
February 15, 2019 — The president’s doctor, Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley, released a memo yesterday with more details on the president’s health. His cholesterol has come down a bit, but his weight is up. At 243 pounds and an official height of 6’3″, that puts his BMI at 30.4 – in the range of mild obesity. The report says nothing […]
September 9, 2018 — Five years ago, fat shaming was no problem for the shamers. Fat shaming in just about any context was unremarkable. It hardly caused a ripple. But no longer. Cross the line into fat shaming territory and the internet will not be happy with you. Just ask the creators of Insatiable. It could have been a funny and […]
