Topic

Prejudices against fat people

The first part of Kelli Jean Drinkwater’s speech “Enough with the fear of fat” is focused on the prejudices and fears people have regarding being fat.

From the beginning of the speech, she argues that people fear being fat and this fear is exploited by various industries: “I’m here today to talk to you about a very powerful little word, one that people will do almost anything to avoid becoming. Billion-dollar industries thrive because of the fear of it…” (ll. 1-2).

As the speech continues, Drinkwater imagines what the audience might assume about her because of the way she looks to show them how prejudices are formed: “When I walked out on stage, some of you may have been thinking, ‘Aww, this is gonna be hilarious, because everybody knows that fat people are funny.’ (Laughter)” (ll. 7-9); “You may have wondered, consciously or not, if I have diabetes, or a partner, or if I eat carbs after 7pm. (Laughter)” (ll. 14-15).

She then explains that such judgements are symptoms of an irrational fear of being fat: “These judgments are insidious. They can be directed at individuals and groups, and they can also be directed at ourselves. And this way of thinking is known as fatphobia.” (ll. 18-19).

Drinkwater goes on to argue that being prejudiced against fat people is discriminatory and oppressive:

Like any form of systematic oppression, fatphobia is deeply rooted in complex structures like capitalism, patriarchy and racism, and that can make it really difficult to see, let alone challenge. We live in a culture where being fat is seen as being a bad person – lazy, greedy, unhealthy, irresponsible and morally suspect. (ll. 20-23).

Furthermore, she explains that people tend to think that fat people are responsible for their weight without taking into account the bigger picture: “We may even blame fat people themselves for the discrimination they face because, after all, if we don’t like it, we should just lose weight.” (ll. 25-26).

Drinkwater argues that such attitudes should be questioned because they are based on biased ideas and lead to intolerant societies: “…we rarely question why we have such contempt for people of size and where that disdain comes from.” (l. 28); “…a society where people are denied their basic humanity if they don’t subscribe to some arbitrary form of acceptable?” (ll. 30-31).

To further explore the topic of prejudices against fat people, the speaker recounts her personal experience with being overweight and mistreated: “…living outside what the mainstream considers normal can be a frustrating and isolating place.” (ll. 42-43); “I’ve been openly laughed at, abused fr...