The Fattest Day Of Summer: There’s Nothing Messed Up About That, No, Seriously, Nothing At All. Really.
Being fat: It’s nobody’s own fault! (Except when it is.) And, uh, since it’s not really anybody’s fault, why don’t we, uh, celebrate it, you know, in the same way that kids nowadays get trophies in Little League even if (especially if) their team loses? This is the only string of logic we can put together that would seem to articulate the mental space occupied by “The Fattest Day of Summer”, an event to be held this Saturday first on the Art Museum steps (where there’s a “Flesh Mob For Fat Liberation”), and then later in West Philly. And honestly, we’re torn: On one hand, sure, acceptance of one’s own body type is a healthy thing. But on the other, there’s something kind of evil (yeah, that’s right, evil) about this kind of Beth Ditto-inspired Radical Fatty movement that basically just willfully ignores everything we know about obesity and its myriad health risks in way that is obnoxious at best and totally dangerous at worst. Then again, everything (fun) is dangerous and unhealthy, so maybe the Fatties have something here. After the jump, we consult the Radical Fatty movement the best way we know how: By listening to Morrissey.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:15 am
You know, I’ll say it:
“Fat Liberation” is… no, its wrong. Unless you are genetically prone to being morbidly obese, and I know a few people who are… no, don’t be proud.
Why? Because of the toll they take on the health care system, the amount of room needed for them on public transit, and countless other reasons. If this is a chance to get people to exercise, I’m for that. But liberation? Liberating and celebrating over-eating, heart disease, diabetes, and to simply take pride in being overweight IF you choose it?
Like I said, if someone has a really slow metabolism or an actual problem with weight, that’s one thing. Celebrating gluttony is something else.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:33 am
i feel like the fact that i’m skinny and basically always have been means that i don’t get an opinion on this.
live and let live.
you can whine about health care costs and all kinds of other bullshit, but the truth is everyone wastes public money in their own special way, including you.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I dunno. Seeing as they’re running up the art museum steps – it may be a conspiracy to force exercise down the throats of the masses?
July 7th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I’m a slim guy, but if any curvy ladies are trying to get a flesh mob going, holler at me.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Jojo, your “I hate fatties” stance has been well documented (see: Every post about Jennifer Weiner, ever) so why don’t you sit this one out, buddy?
Publicizing The Fattest Day of Summer just to shit all over the event and its mission is cruel. If the idea of the event disgusts you so much, just don’t cover it. There are hundreds of events in this city at which fat people feel ugly, ignored, and marginalized (Making Time, Madonna Michael Prince, the Belle and Sebastian Dance Party to name a few that I have attended and Philebrity has covered in depth over the years).
I hate to get all kum-ba-ya all about this, but fat people are just that: People. People who are deserving of love, happiness, dance parties, good music, and cool clothes…just like skinny people are. (Don’t get me started on how I believe clothing yourself is an inalienable human right.)
July 7th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Wonder what our skinny grandkids will make of this period of decadence, when everyone got to be a plump little Nero. Probably the same thing a Somali would think at a Wing Bowl.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
@Clare: Did you read this post? Also, if you think that this site’s primary gripe with Weiner is that she’s overweight, well, you should go back and read those posts again, too.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
This is some bullshit. I hope these people aren’t trying to steal our Fat Kids concept. We’ve been pimping that saying for over 10 years. Being a fat kid is a state of mind not neccessarily a body type. We fat kids invented the real Philly Pizza Steak, the Jim’s steak with a slice of Lorenzo’s around it (and yes it was my buddy who invented that about 9 years ago, not some douchebag with a video camera). Skinny kids can be fat kids. But super fat obese folk? Well, they should just stop eating Mcdonalds.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
@Clare – can you specify what about Madonna Michael Prince makes fat people feel “ugly, ignored, and marginalized?” I specify MMP because I haven’t been to the other 2 dance parties and therefore can’t speak about them. But MMP? Every time I go (and it’s been a lot of times) it’s a bunch of people of all sizes/colors/sexual preferences having a good time.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
@tips: Yeah, I did, and yeah, I did.
You equate an event for a marginalized group of people to little leaguers getting trophies for participation. You call the people participating in the event “the Fatties,” as opposed to, say, “the organizers” or “the participants.” You drag out that hoary old chestnut about how “The fat! It’s unhealthy!” (“willfully ignores everything we know about obesity and its myriad health risks in way that is obnoxious at best and totally dangerous at worst”) when what you’d really like to say is “The fat! I don’t like looking at it!”
Think about this: Would you make an argument like, “I mean, I guess they deserve to be treated, like, the same as everybody else, or whatever?” (which is what this whole post boils down to) about black people, gay people, or Muslims, for example? Oh yes, I went there.
Go read some Kate Harding. It’ll do you a world of good.
(Honestly, it’s sort of refreshing to actually hear what people say about me and people like me when my back is turned.)
@friendlynerd: Gosh, I guess I must have gone on an off night, because when I went to MMP, the crowd wouldn’t deign to make eye contact or dance within five feet of me. Forget trying to have a conversation or make a new friend.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Are you sure you didn’t go in having a preconceived notion of how you would or should be be treated by a crowd of strangers? And are you sure the chip on your shoulder isn’t warping your perception of what actually went down?
July 7th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
@Clare: If you must know, I kinda like a little junk in the trunk AND I’m no stranger to a weight struggle. So this isn’t me flying the flag for Kate Moss here. Far from it, in fact. And to trot out the comparisons to ANY civil rights struggle here is just fucking stupid. Yeah, I went there. Like friendlynerd says, I think you’re bringing a massive chip on your shoulder to what should be, among thinking people, a pretty unemotional debate. Not to mention the fact that this post really did try to see both sides of the issue.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
“[A]mong thinking people”? Oh, that’s cute.
Look, all I can say is that what you call a chip on my shoulder, tips and friendlynerd, I call the dubious benefit of my own experience. And it might surprise you to find out that I don’t disagree with the message (i.e., there are societal and health benefits to being skinny and drawbacks to being fat), I take issue with the delivery and the tone.
I guess we’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Fat sensitive people crack me up. I thought fat people were supposed to have thick skin?
July 7th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
@clare if i may speak to you a second, chaser to chub: i go to the parties you are trashing, so i can say with personal certainty that there are folks there into big bodies. if you aren’t feeling accepted, that has way more to do with your self-esteem than it does anyone singling you out and mocking you for your body size. i have dated enough bigger folks to understand that low self esteem comes as part of the package most of the time, and frequently under the guise of “look how fucking fierce and amazing i am!” you gotta let it go. all of it. nobody is gonna wanna talk to you, anywhere, so long as you keep on acting like a pretentious cunt with respect to your body.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
sexyredkid, there’s debating and there’s trolling. you are bringing nothing to this.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Fat debate aside, how did I know this would be something organized by the West Philly/Satellite Cafe set? Goddamn EVERYTHING is a fucking cause to fight out there.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
@philatrash I’m really laffing. I found the posters at 47th & Baltimore and promptly sent one to philebrity. I was particularly amused by the wheelchair.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Having lived in the area for two years, I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take a bunch of trust fund babies acting like unkempt superhero working class heroes any longer.
But damn do I miss me some Satellite Cafe bagels.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
The trustafarians seem to be keeping the hipsters at bay out here.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Why do you think so many West Philly hipsters hang out at the Pope?
July 7th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Because the POPE is full of… South Philly hipsters? I mean, having experienced both, the two worlds, they really aren’t that different.
July 7th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Sorry Nate, I was directing that at HighStrungLoner.
July 7th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
South Philly hipsters do slightly less knitting and slightly more bathing.
July 7th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Yeah, I got it after I posted… some days I’m tired and stupid
July 7th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Ummmm….you’re debating about a fat guy party? I really don’t see how that is a debate. Trolling and poking fun at ridiculousness are two completely different things.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
fat liberation! woooooo! liberation from judgment! liberation from catty comments threads on sites that only its own members read! liberation from a society that extols freakishly undernourished looking women and seriously overweight men! i’m no BBW but i just might go. a day of people expressing their positive self-esteem will be a beautiful thing!