IDK, from lurking in r/FatPeopleStories
(dedicated to stories with fat people) I've noticed it's extremely easy to slip from telling a story to
passing judgement - often in a very mean and cruel way, like exaggerating to the point of hyperbole ("the earth
quaked when the behemoth came towards me") or making nasty comments towards fat people who are clearly doing their
best to not be fat anymore (e.g. working out in the gym). Thankfully, most stories aren't like that.
I was reminded of that subreddit because a lot of stories on there feature chubby or overweight women who consider
regular (i.e. healthy*)-sized women "anorexic" and skinny-shame them ("go eat a sandwich!" or one I
heard more recently: "you wouldn't be skinny if you didn't want guys chasing after you, quit
whining!"). Now there's no reason to believe all those stories are actually true - it's the internet
after all, who's going to check? - but it really says something when stories are written to mesh to a specific
attitude - in this case, skinny-shaming is almost expected whenever a larger woman interacts with a healthy-sized
one.
As for what I think, skinny-shaming can be just as damaging as fat-shaming. Commenting negatively about someone's
weight when you don't know their circumstances can be incredibly hurtful, especially if the victim is struggling
with body image issues. Just because someone is skinny, it doesn't mean they necessarily want to be like that -
hell, they might be trying to put on weight, as unbelievable as it may seem to others, since losing weight is promoted
much more openly than gaining weight.
@Redwyn: well, go go go! :o Tell us what you think!
* note that I'm referring to "healthy" in the clinical sense.
