It has been a long time since I've been furious enough to write a Letter to the Editor
but this article, published today in the web version of the Hearst fashion magazine Marie Claire, made my blood boil to the point at which I knew I wouldn't sleep unless I did something. Feel free to join me if you're similarly enraged. [Caution: article may be triggering to those who are triggered by fat hatred]
.
I never thought of Marie Claire Magazine as a playground bully...
...but apparently I was misled. I'm referring to Maura Kelly's article, entitled "Should Fatties Get A Room (Even On TV?)", published today under your web masthead.
Ms. Schweitzer, do you even READ the articles you publish? Ms. Coles, do you know what's being published on the web in the name of Marie Claire? Take a look at it. Please. Here's Ms. Kelly on the question she asks in the caption:
So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room - just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.
Am I missing something, oh Marie Claire publishers? Isn't this the magazine that has heralded body-positivity this year? [Not to mention spelling. Was your proofreader snorting heroine -- or maybe scarfing Haagen-Dahz in the closet in shame at having a part in this --when this page got uploaded?]
Kelly goes on to say:
Now, don't go getting the wrong impression: I have a few friends who could be called plump. I'm not some size-ist jerk.
I'm sure she's got a few friends who are Negroes, too, and that she's not some racist jerk. We fat people are all so relieved.
True, she's got tons of research and expertise to back up her Marie Claire-sponsored disgust for larger human beings:
But ... I think obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It's something they can change, if only they put their minds to it.
(I'm happy to give you some nutrition and fitness suggestions if you need them - but long story short, eat more fresh and unprocessed foods, read labels and avoid foods with any kind of processed sweetener in them...
That's what I call journalistic credibility. Yessiree Bob.
Strangely enough, apparently to her surprise (but aren't bullies always surprised when this happens?), the other kids on the playground haven't got her back. After a slew of really angry comments, Kelly's been backpedaling so fast in comments that I'm afraid she's going to hit something. Oh wait, she already did. I've been reading comments on other websites from women who have succumbed to her gratuitous cruelty in tears because the playground experience is just too recent and too real, and their rational knowledge that they are worthwhile human beings crumbles when the bullies of their nightmares are given bandwidth in a magazine that they have grown to respect. I'm 52 years old, and I know that It Gets Better. I also know that it's not only bullied gay kids who commit suicide.
Ms. Schweitzer, excuse my bluntness, but I honestly can't believe that any editor with half a brain would publish such an ugly and utterly uninformed piece of crap. And I intend to tell everyone with an email address at Hearst (as well as a few folks at the Huffington Post, jezebel.com and whoever else in the blogosphere might get some mileage out of it) exactly what I do believe. I intend to publicize your article as broadly as I can in the hope that others will join me in the expression of disgust and the cancellation of subscriptions.
Want the suggestions of a fat (former) reader?
--Pull this thing off the web before it does more damage.
--Apologize publicly to your readers for publishing it.
--Publish your magazine's nondiscrimination policy on the web. I know you've got one, even if you have apparently forgotten about it.
I would also suggest that you disassociate yourselves from Maura Kelly, but that's really not my business. I fight only bullies, not self-immolation. If you still want to publish someone who would spew this kind of hatred and ugliness at your readers, this fattie will just shake her head and step away from the newstand.
Regards,
[zpdiduda]
.
I never thought of Marie Claire Magazine as a playground bully...
...but apparently I was misled. I'm referring to Maura Kelly's article, entitled "Should Fatties Get A Room (Even On TV?)", published today under your web masthead.
Ms. Schweitzer, do you even READ the articles you publish? Ms. Coles, do you know what's being published on the web in the name of Marie Claire? Take a look at it. Please. Here's Ms. Kelly on the question she asks in the caption:
So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room - just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.
Am I missing something, oh Marie Claire publishers? Isn't this the magazine that has heralded body-positivity this year? [Not to mention spelling. Was your proofreader snorting heroine -- or maybe scarfing Haagen-Dahz in the closet in shame at having a part in this --when this page got uploaded?]
Kelly goes on to say:
Now, don't go getting the wrong impression: I have a few friends who could be called plump. I'm not some size-ist jerk.
I'm sure she's got a few friends who are Negroes, too, and that she's not some racist jerk. We fat people are all so relieved.
True, she's got tons of research and expertise to back up her Marie Claire-sponsored disgust for larger human beings:
But ... I think obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It's something they can change, if only they put their minds to it.
(I'm happy to give you some nutrition and fitness suggestions if you need them - but long story short, eat more fresh and unprocessed foods, read labels and avoid foods with any kind of processed sweetener in them...
That's what I call journalistic credibility. Yessiree Bob.
Strangely enough, apparently to her surprise (but aren't bullies always surprised when this happens?), the other kids on the playground haven't got her back. After a slew of really angry comments, Kelly's been backpedaling so fast in comments that I'm afraid she's going to hit something. Oh wait, she already did. I've been reading comments on other websites from women who have succumbed to her gratuitous cruelty in tears because the playground experience is just too recent and too real, and their rational knowledge that they are worthwhile human beings crumbles when the bullies of their nightmares are given bandwidth in a magazine that they have grown to respect. I'm 52 years old, and I know that It Gets Better. I also know that it's not only bullied gay kids who commit suicide.
Ms. Schweitzer, excuse my bluntness, but I honestly can't believe that any editor with half a brain would publish such an ugly and utterly uninformed piece of crap. And I intend to tell everyone with an email address at Hearst (as well as a few folks at the Huffington Post, jezebel.com and whoever else in the blogosphere might get some mileage out of it) exactly what I do believe. I intend to publicize your article as broadly as I can in the hope that others will join me in the expression of disgust and the cancellation of subscriptions.
Want the suggestions of a fat (former) reader?
--Pull this thing off the web before it does more damage.
--Apologize publicly to your readers for publishing it.
--Publish your magazine's nondiscrimination policy on the web. I know you've got one, even if you have apparently forgotten about it.
I would also suggest that you disassociate yourselves from Maura Kelly, but that's really not my business. I fight only bullies, not self-immolation. If you still want to publish someone who would spew this kind of hatred and ugliness at your readers, this fattie will just shake her head and step away from the newstand.
Regards,
[zpdiduda]