How NOT to Compliment a Fat Woman

Fat people, especially fat women, are subjugated to so much daily insult, harassment, discrimination, abuse, and dehumanization.

The media — from films and television to music and magazines — is rampant with anti-fat jokes and commentary. There are entire industries rooted in exploiting people’s fear of fat or weight gain for economic profit. The medical industrial complex blames everything on being “overweight.”

Sometimes, it feels as if there is no escape from fat hatred — even when it’s carefully masked as a compliment. Check out this video to learn just how problematic fatphobic pseudo-compliments, like “You have a pretty face,” are to fat women.



Please read the following Everyday Feminism articles to learn more about fat shaming and fat stigma:

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Cristen Conger is a senior staff writer and host for HowStuffWorks.com where she has worked since 2009. Cristen co-created Stuff Mom Never Told You after identifying a need for more intelligent digital media by and for women. Since then, she has grown Stuff Mom Never Told You into a multimedia brand, including a successful YouTube channel. Cristen also leverages her witty expertise in women and gender as a contributing writer for Huffington Post Women, and her writing has additionally appeared on Jezebel, Discovery News, MSNBC and ABC News. Please follow her on twitter at @cristenconger