Fat Shaming Friday: Internet Photos and Memes

Solo Post from the BB today!

How nightmarishly eloquent and disgustingly coincidental is it that I found this photo while scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed today?:

Now, I know that Facebook is a space in which A LOT of pictures like this get thrown around—but the solution “don’t go on Facebook or don’t like those pages if you’re offended by them” is just another form of victim blaming. How about instead we challenge people to NOT make rape threats, fat jokes, misogynist comments, and other awful judgments on the internet?

This goes so well with the articles posted by us a couple of days ago (you should read them if you haven’t: Article 1 and Article 2 ). The internet is such an unsafe place for many groups—from women, to fat people, to racial minorities, and more.  

Here’s a list of WHY this photo contributes to fat shaming, and why it is a prime example of how people aren’t challenged to change their minds, but encouraged to continue narrow-mindedly laughing at the same jokes with terrible underpinnings and consequences:

1. WHAT IS THE CONTEXT?

            This photo has been shared 32 times alone since it was posted two hours ago by the page that was on my Facebook feed. How many other pages have shared this photo before? Probably a lot. What disturbs me, and should disturb you, is that there is absolutely no context for this photo that is being shared like crazy. Who is this woman? What’s her story? How does she feel about this photo? What is the situation being depicted? Is it real or edited?

How can people simply laugh and judge this photo when none of the above questions have been answered? EVEN IF THOSE QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED, WOULD THEY STILL JUDGE? THEY SHOULDN’T.  

In the comments section, someone claimed that the woman was going for the “Fattest Woman Alive Record” but she provided no evidence or links to that information.

So the only stab at context we have is a claim by some person most of the people viewing the photo may or may not know?

It IS NOT OKAY to judge this woman—even if we did know her back story.

But the lack of context—the anonymity of the woman as someone who stands as an identity-less target for fat shaming—makes it easier for people to persecute her, because they are really persecuting fatness in general. It’s made all the more “acceptable” by the fact that people do not know this woman’s trials, struggles, happiness, or successes in life.

2. APPROPRIATION

Whoever captioned this photo has clearly appropriated it as an argument against the “Genetics Excuse” (which for many is not an excuse, but rather a REASON or FACT) that fat people cite as an indicator of body size.

First of all, since the authenticity and context of the photo is up for debate, how do we know that this woman doesn’t have genes that predispose her to a larger body and weight gain? Even if we did know for sure, what basis does the internet have to judge her either way?

The appropriation of this photo to argue against genetic predispositions elevates the issue. Now it isn’t just this woman who is targeted, but all fat women who have ever “justified” their fat with the “Genetics Excuse” or those who legitimately cite this as a logical contributor to body type.

Side Note: WHY DO I EVEN HAVE TO FACTUALLY OR LOGICALLY JUSTIFY MY BODY SIZE TO YOU? IT IS WHAT IT IS AND IT’S NOT YOUR BUSINESS OR YOUR BODY.

Okay.

3. PASSIVIST HUMOR

Photos like this allow people to shrug off their own prejudices as a “good laugh” or a “non-threatening” form of fat-ism, racism, etc. However…photos like this AREN’T non-threatening at all (See 1 and 2).

Instead of passively scrolling by and chuckling or actively sharing and encouraging others to chuckle, why don’t people really look at what they are consuming on the internet each day—I for one, am not going to be passively fed discrimination under the guise of humor.

4. HATE AND VIOLENCE

This one comes from the comments section. (Again, READ THESE ARTICLES: Article 1 and Article 2 ). Of the thirty-eight comments on this photo so far, only four are non-threatening, and only one of those four is positive.

My thoughts: It is incredibly frightening that people spew this much hate, violence, assumption, and judgment upon someone that they do not even know, and that they are willing to fuel each others' hate and violence on the internet for everyone to see.

Here’s a sampling of the most disturbing comments:

“Nah just one fat fuck is more to the point”

“YUK”

“I find the whole feeding to get as fat as possible thing quite sad, so abusive really, by him and to herself.”

“Fat slag”

“Disgusting on so many levels.”

“I thought it was cuz her fatass ordered enough for the family she could never have.”

“Holllyyy craaaapppp!!!”

“She should be on a TREADMILL, not at a DINING TABLE. That's not genetics, that's laziness.”

“F ing disgusting, now look at those starving children all over the world. People like this make me sick!”

“He's a feeder, n she must have mental health problems or at least an eating disorder! He's in the wrong, almost as bad as poisioning!”

“Selfish Fat c** t”

“I suppose in a few months this disgusting hippo will want free life changing surgery to correct her rolls or else she'll die.... I say DONT give it to her, let her suffer.”

“This is "genetic" but being gay is a lifestyle "choice". What a freaking mess we've made.”

“STOP FEEDING HER!”

“Most likely he's got a fetish. I've seen many cases where a person has a fetish for big people and will feed them endlessly to get them bigger.”

Other people felt the need to tag their friends and say “this is your baby mama” or something else as an offensive joke.

Of the four redeeming comments, this is the closest to fat activism, but it still qualifies the woman’s weight:

“Has no one thought of the fact that at least one of the plates of food is for the guy and then another for whoever is taking the picture? When you think of that its really not all that obnoxious of an amount of food to eat. I don't know why anyone felt the need to take a picture of this or even keep on posting it. Its just mean.”  

If the disturbing comments section, which far outweighs the redeeming comments section, did not disturb you, here are my thoughts:

Those comments made so many assumptions about this woman as well as false equivalencies and other logical fallacies. They claimed that due to her fat, she must be mentally ill, undesirable as a mother or life partner, infertile, unworthy to have a family, selfish, and lazy. They also claimed that she would want free surgery (a stab at welfare? I don’t even know!) to CORRECT her rolls—reinforcing that rolls are a problem. Someone even suggested she die. Another suggested that her partner could only love her because he has a fetish—as though fat women can’t be genuinely attractive, but instead fit a certain niche for sex freaks who like their fucked up bodies. In addition, this fat woman was blamed for the problem of child hunger, making fat people the scapegoats for an issue that has so many layers. Someone even defended another group (LGBTQ community) by degrading another (the fat community).  

Between the lack of context and appropriation that I’ve already cited, these comments apply not only to this woman but to fat people everywhere—they show an all-too-prevalent negative attitude towards fat, and reinforce cultural acceptance of fat shaming.

After analyzing this photo and realizing the amount of photos just like it that I have seen everyday, I am terribly disgusted and pessimistic.

However, I know that thinking critically about this type of fat-shaming and exposing its wrongs is a step in the right direction for Body Positive Activism and Fat Activism. Please share our blog today (and everyday!) if you agree.