Recently a co-worker turned me on to this crazy website, This Is Why You’re Fat. It contains an onslaught of pictures of insanely gross, excessive, ridiculous food. Kinda like this two pound cheeseburger from Mac Donald’s:
Or this personal fave of mine called Bacon Wrapped Twinkie Stonehenge:
Now, I have quite the sense of humor (thank you, thank you), but part of me cringes when I type in that URL. Because you know what? I’m pretty sure that a lot of people really believe that fat people eat like that. I’ve definitely heard people say that it grosses them out to see fat people eating, especially in restaurants. And okay, maybe I heard that on some sick, narcissistic MTV reality show (yes, I watch those on occasion), but the notion is out there.
Truth be told, most of us fatties don’t eat that much differently than the rest of you. Sure, there are some exceptions- binge eaters, etc. But your run-of-the-mill FatAss isn’t going through the drive-thru at McyD’s requesting custom two pound cheeseburger monstrosities. Rather, some of us are built differently (shocker), and yeah, maybe some of us sit around a bit more and have slower metabolisms.
So, as a Chubby lady, I can’t help but wonder what the true intentions are behind this site. Is it merely a gag? Because I guess it’s sort of amusing. Or is it (on some level) a commentary on modern American culture, gluttony, and obesity? Because, you know, if it’s the latter, y’all who run that shit should stop hating. Because I’m pretty damn sure that you’ve got some serious issues.
1 response so far ↓
1 PBlegs // Apr 10, 2009 at 6:49 pm
yeah, i saw that site and had similar issues. i’m never impressed when i hear somebody use fat people as a symbol of all the excesses of American culture. for one thing, i feel like it’s a pretty cheap shot. then, of course, there’s the issues that you brought up–most fat people eat just like anybody else. (even binge eaters don’t necessarily binge on junk food!) but third, it conveniently ignores the reality that most fat people in this country are poor people. and to me, poor people buying dinner at McDonald’s because there isn’t a grocery store in their neighborhood isn’t an image of unadulterated gluttony. yet when looking for symbols of conspicuous consumption, people rarely point to thin rich people spending $150 on a meal of organic sushi and then pointedly refusing to eat more than a few bites of it. because that wouldn’t make the point as well, because come on, fat people are GROSS. any way you look at it, i think it’s weak social commentary and weak comedy.
p.s. hi! i found your blog. =D
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