What We’re Really Telling Fat People

January 24, 2017 / Barry Deutsch

(Content Warning: anti-fat stigma, use of ableist language)

Wouldn’t it be great if we acknowledged the full humanity of everyone, including fat people? While more people are bringing this very issue to the forefront, it’s still very common to shame and hyper-scrutinize fat people.

So common, in fact, that people who can have a big influence on our lives – like our doctors and politicians – are often the ones to make dehumanizing comments.

Here are some harmful messages we continue to send fat people, and one way out of this negative minefield. This is why the fat acceptance movement is a wonderful thing.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Panel 1

(A man with a TV for a head is pointing at a woman in an aqua shirt and a gray skirt. The woman, who is fat, looks sad.)

TV Head: I’m popular culture, and I think you’re sometimes hilarious, but mainly gross.

Panel 2

(The same scene, but now the TV Man has been replaced by a balding guy wearing a jacket and necktie. The woman is unchanged, and still looks sad.)

Necktie: I’m your workplace, and we all think you’re lazy and stupid. And we pay you less.

Panel 3

(Now the woman, who has not moved and still looks sad, is being talked to by an Uncle Sam like figure. He has his arms crossed disapprovingly.)

Uncle Sam: I’m the government, and I think you’re a problem that needs to be fixed.

Panel 4

(Now the sad woman is being spoken to by a lady wearing glasses and a black outfit, who is holding up a rolled-up newspaper.)

Glasses: I’m smart people in the newspaper, and I’m concerned you’re ruining our economy.

Panel 5

(The sad woman is now being spoken to by a female doctor, with a white doctor’s coat and hair in a bun, holding a clipboard. The doctor’s cheery expression is undercut by her harsh words.)

Doctor: I’m your doctor, and to tell you the truth, you disgust me.

Panel 6

(The sad woman, who still hasn’t moved, is now being faced by herself. Her doppelgänger looks angry, shaking a fist in the air.)

Doppelgänger: I’m your self-image, and I wanna puke every time I see a mirror.

Panel 7

(Another fat woman, with dark skin, glasses, and an orange sleeveless shirt, appears. She smiles as she speaks, spreading her arms in a welcoming manner. For the first time all cartoon, the main character’s expression changes, as she smiles back at the fat woman.)

Second Fat Woman: Hi! I’m the fat rights movement, and I think you’re awesome!

Panel 8

(Final panel. The second fat woman looks surprised, and the main character looks annoyed, as all the other characters from panels 1-6 loom at the main character, glaring. TV Man is pointing angrily, and the Doctor is yelling a bit. Only the Doctor and TV Man speak, but the impression is that they’re speaking for the crowd.)

TV Man: Don’t listen to her!

Doctor: She just wants to hurt you, you fat freak!

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Barry Deutsch is the Portland-based author and cartoonist of Ampersand, a political comic with a generally progressive sensibility. A new Ampersand comic appears in every issue of Dollars and Sense Magazine. His current comics project is his comic book Hereville, a fantasy adventure comic about an eleven-year-old Jewish girl. Check out his blog and follow him on Twitter @barrydeutsch.