March 22, 2012
You’ve probably seen me on the news on more than one occasion, but you may not recognise me if you see me on the street.
You probably don’t even notice that I’m there, or if you do, it’s to sneer at how disgusting I am. To scoff at how greedy and lazy I am. To declare that I am driving up health care costs or costing taxpayers money.But you don’t know anything about me – you’ve just seen me there on the news, or in a magazine article.
You see, when I’m represented in the media, it is usually with my head cut off, unflattering footage of me seated, walking or eating – all things everyday people do, but are deemed unattractive in fat people – and the media is talking about curing me, preventing me, eradicating me.
Rarely am I seen represented as a full person, with my head visible, my face identifiable and with any information about me other than my fatness.
You don’t see me in the context of my career, my friends, my life. You don’t see me as a contributing member of society, who works hard, pays her taxes, pays her own way in life. Nobody sees me as I actually am – intelligent, compassionate, dedicated, funny, productive, joyful, active, fashionable, loved.
The impact of that is a culture that treats fat people, and especially fat people with illness or disability, as sub-human.
In recent times I have been sent death threats on my blog because I talked about being a fat woman with diabetes.
I have been photographed on the street or other public places by complete strangers (at least four times that I know of), had a well dressed woman of about 45 call me a “fat c***” as she passed me on a train platform, been spat at by a man passing me on the street and had rubbish thrown at me from a car.
This is everyday life for me, just for living in a fat body.
These things don’t happen because there are lots of bad, horrible people in my city. These things happen because every day people are told over and over and over that people like me are an “obesity epidemic” that must be “cured” for the good of the human race. Because it is bred in our society that fat is the worst thing you can possibly be, so therefore it’s ok to behave horribly to fat people.
Because “You’re not healthy!” has become the equivalent to “You are a worthless person!”
Thing is, we fat people see ourselves on the evening news.
We recognise ourselves, even with our heads removed. I cannot tell you what it is like to be watching the evening news and to see your own body, head removed, in a story that is calling for your eradication.
I can’t tell you how devastating that is. I can tell you that later that year, after the first time I saw my own body on the evening news, I tried to take my own life. I felt so worthless because no matter what I did, I could not make myself thin, and because everywhere I turned, someone was saying that I should be eradicated. I was not a person, I was part of the “OBESITY EPIDEMIC”.
We need to stop vilifying and dehumanising fat people.
We need to stop making people’s bodies a public health issue. It is a private matter, as individual to each human being as their fingerprint or their blood type, that should be between that person and their health care providers. We need to allow all people in all bodies to live their lives to the fullest, without fear of abuse or shaming.
After all, you cannot shame someone thin, nor can you shame them healthy.
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*Kath Read is a humble IT librarian by day, rad fatty feminist by night. She writes at Fat Heffalump on all subjects related to life in a fat body. http://thehoopla.com.au/you-dont-know-me/
