Fat Cheerleader

First, I want to say to those of you concerned that I am in a “funk.”   Please don’t worry.   This is a good place to be.   They always say that when you know where you are going there isn’t room for creativity.   Well, if that is really the case then the whole world is my oyster and I am pearl diving for creativity.   I am definitely up for something.   I understand what is going on with me is a product, or symptom if you will, of circumstance not of some chemical imbalance.   I don’t need “happy pills.”   I need an outlet that will have me make a nice living, allow me to have a voice and make a difference.   The blog, for now, will give me two out of those three.

Clearly, the topic of being fat is near and dear to my heart (forgive the puns…they will be plentiful…) but I feel like I need to make this quick clarification before I go on.   Since there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding fat people I want to make a couple of things perfectly clear about myself for those who don’t know me and for those who do but aren’t sure:   I do not want to infringe upon your space in anyway whether in a movie, a restaurant or on an airplane,   I shower daily – I don’t smell, I don’t sweat profusely (unless I am exercising or it’s hot, duh), I am not sloppy, and I am not lazy…

I also want to say, I am not standing on a soapbox or shouting from a rooftop that people should be fat.   I am not a cheerleader for some fat movement nor am I a fat cheerleader. What I am saying is be healthy, be happy, and stop being so cruel and ignorant.   With that said, I posted what I did yesterday because I am and was upset and dismayed by what I have been seeing in the media and in the world in general.   This hatred towards fat people has become unbearable.   This morning I saw I had a notification that there was a comment waiting for approval on yesterday’s blog.   Now, I am not completely foolish.   I have comments set to only post upon my approval.   I woke feeling good this morning.   I woke feeling positive.   And, then I read the comment on my post from yesterday.   It was EXACTLY what I was talking about.   In case you haven’t seen it, I will post it for you here.   It is a perfect illustration of what I said.

“Listen fatso, obesity is a choice. You know what you’re getting into the minute you open the fridge door.   You can choose to stop being ridiculed for   being a selfish glutton anytime you want. Pig!”

Can you imagine saying that to someone?   I can’t respond to them personally because they made up an email address so they could hide behind anonymity – like a coward would – and post this.   It is pretty disgusting.   I am not going to get into the whole misinformation about obesity being a choice.   I don’t know how I am being selfish.   Am I taking up too much space?   Do I use up too much oxygen?   Did I eat the last cookie that you wanted?   Then there are all the things I want to throw back at this person.   It won’t make a difference.   You can’t fight ignorance with anger.   It doesn’t make a difference.

There is an enormous amount of cowardice in these bullies.   For so long they would hide in the comment sections on blogs and news articles on the net.   They were afraid to show their faces and creep out from underneath their rocks.   Unfortunately, now, those cowards are spilling over into our mainstream media under the guise of trying to help fix a problem that is more like punishing the innocent.   These bullies, many with their own agenda, are coming out in force to wage war against the obese.

MeMe Roth is one of those bullies.   (It is poetic that her name is MeMe.)   She is an undereducated and over-hyped “expert” who is part of the War on Obesity.   She is one the people who is out to destroy Ronald McDonald for making our children fat.   She claims he and “his cohorts are pervy child predators.”   Honestly, after reading a lot about her I think she has an eating disorder.   She is terrified of being fat.   Her family (mother, grandmother etc. are fat) so her actions in life are directly correlated with her fear of becoming obese.   While I think she needs some help I honestly believe she is a danger to herself and to society at large. She says she “wants to make the world a better place for fat people…by preventing people from becoming fat in the first place.”   What you should know is she has a BA in journalism and took an 8 month course on nutrition from an unaccredited school.   She considers herself a “Health Counselor, Integrative Nutrition.”   It reminds me of something comedian Dara O’Briain says, “A dietitian is to a nutritionist as a dentist is to a toothiologist.”   I think I am going to take a class in neurosurgery from the Learning Annex next weekend.   That way if this acting and writing thing doesn’t pan out I’ll   have something to fall back on.