Fat fat skinny, bones chubby thin
JKR has a rant for us.
Unfortunately, I loathe hypocrites. So I have an thoughts-from-off-the-top-of-my-head rant for her.
I would raise her essay up as an example of someone speaking out on the warped perceptions of modern-day media and culture - except I can't. It's just an example of a member of the media being a hypocrite.
Some questions and comments for you, dear JKR:
Also, JKR, naming it "For Girls Only, Probably"? Way to slight the many men out there who are also under pressure to conform to any ideal, be it skinny or muscular or tall or whatever.
And not everyone who is skinny has an eating disorder. Yes, even if they have a "concave stomach, protruding ribs and stick-like arms". I have never been on a magazine cover, so stop describing me. I spent a good bit of my day actively worrying about how many calories I've eaten, and figuring out how much weight to lift, and trying to stop my legs when they want to fidget, and just basically trying to increase my weight, mostly so people will quit bugging me about it. People like you.
Thanks for contributing to my body image problems, JKR. Except you didn't, because I stopped trusting you or taking your words at face value sometime after the Marcus Flint interview.
Finally, a truly selfish comment:
JKR, if you're gonna talk the talk, walk the walk. You say you don't dislike fat people. Prove it by bringing back Millicent Bulstrode as a good character!
Thanks to ataniell93 and sistermagpie for posting about this.
ETA 2:
The problem with writing a mostly serious, partly flippant, and throughly off-the-thought-of-your-head essay is that people take you very, very, very serious. Which is kind of fitting, considering the tongue lashing I gave shiv5468 a week or two ago over a entry that turned out to be parody. Karma's a bitch, and all that. Except that this entry really isn't parody at all.
Also, that whole thing about being able to dish it out but not able to take it? Totally me. Except you guys are way better at dishing than I am. (Especially since it's totally my own fault for posting it there. And ataniell93's probably gonna defriend me now, if she hasn't already.)
I could blow this whole entry off as a joke, but that would be a lie. I could delete it, but that's just wrong. So I'm gonna step down from the computer for a while, partly because it's time for dinner, but mostly because it's hard for me to defend myself on issues that both a) affect my life and b) are related to a fandom that I barely participate in and that more importantly, c) barely knows me. When I return, I'll try my best to be reasonable, rational, and coherent. I'll probably concede that I'm wrong on several (more) points. I'd point you at a post that says what I was trying to say - but says it intelligently! - but it's friends-locked now.
Something about JKR's rant still rubs me the whole way, so maybe I'll just take the loser's easy way out. I'll say that I have absolutely no evidence for feeling the way I do, and just leave it at that.
Hell, I'll do that right now. Because I'm tired and cranky and no, I don't play well with others, and yes, I still disagree with you and DINNERTIME PEOPLE. I said I have to eat!
Yes, another ETA: In the middle of cooking, I realized that last ETA probably breaks a Internet law. And that this one probably is too, just by existing. There are too many to keep track of!
Unfortunately, I loathe hypocrites. So I have an thoughts-from-off-the-top-of-my-head rant for her.
I would raise her essay up as an example of someone speaking out on the warped perceptions of modern-day media and culture - except I can't. It's just an example of a member of the media being a hypocrite.
Some questions and comments for you, dear JKR:
- Why is Hermione described as chubby as the start of the series - when we're supposed to dislike her as Harry does - but her weight isn't mentioned negatively afterwards? I'm sure you'll say that she lost weight between the first and second book - isn't that convenient? ETA: As theregoesyamum pointed out in the comments, there's no mention of Hermione's weight in the first train scene. So, this point is crossed out until I find a reference that I'm fairly certain exists. Unless it doesn't, in which case this point is just meaningless.
- Why is Dudley's major defining characteristic that he's fat and gluttonous and overeats? Oh yes, and that he's mean to Harry.
- Harry also remarks on Umbridge's weight. Funny, she also happens to be mean to him.
- You know what else is funny? No one who Harry likes - and I mean really likes, not just people he's polite to like Slughorn - is ever described as fat, or overweight, or even chunky or chubby - oh, except the woman who had seven children. Guess you couldn't make her skinny too.
Also, JKR, naming it "For Girls Only, Probably"? Way to slight the many men out there who are also under pressure to conform to any ideal, be it skinny or muscular or tall or whatever.
And not everyone who is skinny has an eating disorder. Yes, even if they have a "concave stomach, protruding ribs and stick-like arms". I have never been on a magazine cover, so stop describing me. I spent a good bit of my day actively worrying about how many calories I've eaten, and figuring out how much weight to lift, and trying to stop my legs when they want to fidget, and just basically trying to increase my weight, mostly so people will quit bugging me about it. People like you.
Thanks for contributing to my body image problems, JKR. Except you didn't, because I stopped trusting you or taking your words at face value sometime after the Marcus Flint interview.
Finally, a truly selfish comment:
JKR, if you're gonna talk the talk, walk the walk. You say you don't dislike fat people. Prove it by bringing back Millicent Bulstrode as a good character!
Thanks to ataniell93 and sistermagpie for posting about this.
ETA 2:
The problem with writing a mostly serious, partly flippant, and throughly off-the-thought-of-your-head essay is that people take you very, very, very serious. Which is kind of fitting, considering the tongue lashing I gave shiv5468 a week or two ago over a entry that turned out to be parody. Karma's a bitch, and all that. Except that this entry really isn't parody at all.
Also, that whole thing about being able to dish it out but not able to take it? Totally me. Except you guys are way better at dishing than I am. (Especially since it's totally my own fault for posting it there. And ataniell93's probably gonna defriend me now, if she hasn't already.)
I could blow this whole entry off as a joke, but that would be a lie. I could delete it, but that's just wrong. So I'm gonna step down from the computer for a while, partly because it's time for dinner, but mostly because it's hard for me to defend myself on issues that both a) affect my life and b) are related to a fandom that I barely participate in and that more importantly, c) barely knows me. When I return, I'll try my best to be reasonable, rational, and coherent. I'll probably concede that I'm wrong on several (more) points. I'd point you at a post that says what I was trying to say - but says it intelligently! - but it's friends-locked now.
Something about JKR's rant still rubs me the whole way, so maybe I'll just take the loser's easy way out. I'll say that I have absolutely no evidence for feeling the way I do, and just leave it at that.
Hell, I'll do that right now. Because I'm tired and cranky and no, I don't play well with others, and yes, I still disagree with you and DINNERTIME PEOPLE. I said I have to eat!
Yes, another ETA: In the middle of cooking, I realized that last ETA probably breaks a Internet law. And that this one probably is too, just by existing. There are too many to keep track of!