Stop Shaming People By Comparing Being Fat to Smoking – Here’s the Difference

February 8, 2016 / Ronnie Ritchie

Have you ever made a comparison between being a smoker and being fat? You might think that showing “concern” for smokers and fat people is the same – isn’t all just about encouraging people to be healthy?

This comic shows why it’s time to stop with this comparison. It’s both inaccurate and harmful – spreading misconceptions about fat people’s health and encouraging toxic fat-shaming.

Fat-shaming doesn’t help anyone’s health, and nobody’s hurting you by being fat. This comic is an essential reality check.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Panel 1

(A person of size is waiting at a bus stop, looking at their phone. A trail of smoke is wafting in their direction.)

Panel 2

(The smoke reaches the person, and they cover their nose in reaction.)

Panel 3

(The person looks over, spotting another person smoking a cigarette a few feet away.)

Panel 4

(The first person leans further into the other’s line of sight, and they look over.)

Person A: Hey, do you mind smoking down wind from the stop?

Panel 5

(The second person scoffs.)

Person B: Don’t pull that high and mighty act. I’m not telling you to lose a few pounds, am I?

Panel 6

(The person is shocked)

Person A: That is not the same thing!

Person B: Oh yeah?

Panel 7

(The person crosses their arms, miffed, but also ponderous. A scale appears above their head, labeled “Engage-o-meter.” Several tics on the scale are labeled “Disengage and Leave,” “Quip and leave,” “Engage and Explain,” and “SMACK DOWN!!” The arrow moves to the “Explain” option.)

Panel 8

Person A: Look, I’m not asking you to stop smoking. Nicotine is notorious for being addictive. It would be unreasonable for me to expect you to just stop if that’s your experience.

Panel 9

Person A: But it’s really easy for smoke to affect other people! It can be a trigger for someone with asthma, chemical sensitivities, or migraines.

Panel 10

(Person A is watching Person B’s reaction, which is unreadable. A different scale, this time called the “Success-o-meter,” is above Person A’s head. The needle wobbles wildly across the whole scale.)

Person A: I don’t have any of those conditions, but I also have to commute everyday, and it’s making my health worse because I’m inhaling smoke for several minutes at every stop!

Panel 11

Person A: On the other hand, my size does not affect your health at all! It doesn’t even inconvenience you unless you’re literally right next to me!

Panel 12

(Both individuals pause, looking at each other. Around them is a diagram labeled “Area of Effect.” Person A’s area of affect is just around their person, but Person B’s area of effect encompasses the entire bus stop.)

Panel 13

(Person B walks past Person A towards the other end of the bus stop, grumbling.)

Person B: Whatever, the trash can is over here anyway…

Panel 13

(The “Success-o-meter” appears above Person A again, the needle finally settling at slightly less than halfway between “ABORT!!” and “Victory!” Not great, but not terrible, either.)

Panel 14

(Person A shrugs.)

Panel 15

(The final panel shows the whole bus stop. Person A is looking at their phone again, and Person B is at the other end of the stop, the smoke trailing away from the stop instead of into it like before.)

To learn more about this topic, check out:

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Ronnie Rene Ritchie is a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism, an illustrator, and storyteller working out of Peterborough, Ontario. Since graduating from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon with a BFA in Illustration, Ronnie has had work featured in galleries and sex shops across North America, and their autobiographical webcomic, GQutie, has seen its popularity soar online. Learn more about GQutie, Ronnie’s illustration, or follow them on Twitter @ronithebear.