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July 6, 2007
“Today, we are going to exchange some ideas about what some consider the last form of acceptable prejudice in this country: the discrimination against obese people.” Mrs. Caress informed her high school honors Contemporary Issues and Modern Problems class.
“You mean fat people!” Tommy, the blonde, slim athletic boy in the back, joked. The majority of the males and a few females in the class laughed, as the rest of the females remained painfully silent.
“Okay, yes, technically. Though, some obese people do not prefer that term, as it is considered a derogatory slur,” she paused for a moment, “yet, there are organized civil rights groups of overweight and obese citizens, who encourage the word, in the hopes of redefining it, much like the Punk Rockers used the term ‘punk’ to reclaim and redefine it for themselves,” informed Mrs. Caress. She stood front and center in the classroom, dressed in a black pantsuit with her long shiny black hair pulled neatly into a bun. Her tall, buxom presence clearly captivated the students. All eyes were on her.
“Why do you think it is still acceptable for people to call other people fat?” She asked the group.
“Because an entire industry depends on it.” Sara, a slender, dark haired girl, who was one of Mrs. Caress’ brightest and most conscientious students, immediately answered. “Businesses who prey on these people—that sponsor every news program channeled through our televisions, make it acceptable. They don’t want us to stop demeaning overweight people because they would become bankrupt.”
“OOH, you’re sooooo smart,” Robbie, one of the main streamed students with attention deficit disorder, antagonized.
“Okay, Robbie, let’s stay on task here, or I won’t think twice about doling out detentions today,” Mrs. Caress warned him and the rest of the class. Usually, one stern staring glance from her big dark brown eyes performed the task of maintaining order.
“That’s an excellent point,” Mrs. Caress said, impressed with Sara’s command of the picture. “Many of the businesses that sponsor our news programs are either drug companies—which often focus on diet drugs, membership-based weight management programs, companies that want to sell us diet aids, exercise equipment, work out videos, diet plans, and so on. These companies do not only sponsor the news programs, they also dominate the sponsorship for most of our favorite and not so favorite television shows.”
“I think it is because they’re fat and need to lose weight,” Tommy offered. He sat up from slumping in his chair. “Why is that ‘prejudiced’?”
“It’s prejudiced because you are speaking about a person’s physicality and that’s wrong!” Sara argued with passion.
“How is that ‘wrong’? Tommy asked.
“It’s wrong because it is unfair to judge a human being by how he or she looks. Would you like it if people said you were ugly?” Sara questioned. The class laughed.
“Would you like it if I said you were a buck-toothed geek?” Tommy questioned Sara right back.
“See, you both have become defensive by being called names you found unflattering—which I will not tolerate in my classroom. Understood?!” She waited to hear them collectively reply “Yes.”
“How do you think someone who is obese feels about being called something that is clearly considered unflattering?” Mrs. Caress continued to question the class. It was a free flowing dialogue type of environment, an environment she worked hard on creating, (despite the continuum of PA announcements, sneaked in Game Boys, ringing cell phones, “iPods”, principal and administrator drop-ins, fire drills, assembly breaks, and so on) to maximize the possibility for abstract, critical, and creative thinking.
“I think he or she would feel hurt,” Cassie, the quiet, tall, overweight brown haired girl, who sat in the back of the room, responded.
“I do, too,” Mrs. Caress, thrilled with Cassie’s sudden participation, agreed. “When I was younger, because of the way I looked and dressed, being the artist and musician that I told you all about previously in the beginning of the year, I was often called derogatory names: ‘freak’, ‘weirdo’, ‘punk-loser’, and many more I won’t repeat in a classroom. I was also referred to as ‘fat’ a few times. It hurt. I did not see why someone would feel the need to call this to my attention, as if it were something that I was unaware of, and not living with every day…. Why would someone feel he or she had the right to make someone else feel inferior about one’s physical appearance?”
The class appeared to be internalizing her words. There was a pregnant silence for a while. “I think it’s because the person attempting to make the other feel bad has a complex of his own. He could have a big nose or acne or something else that we can’t see and feels the need to draw attention away from himself and onto someone else,” Rick, the tall dark haired student in the back, offered. “Maybe he doesn’t even realize his problem; maybe it’s a subconscious kind of thing.”
“I’m sick and tired of people picking on anyone’s appearance, period! The nerve!” Donatella emphatically stated. She was a short, petite student, with dyed blonde and purple streaked hair. “If people have a problem with the way someone looks, they should keep their pie holes shut!”
Then, Tommy spoke. “I still don’t know why people can’t just lose weight. It’s different with skin color. We know there is nothing a person can do about it, unless they are like Michael Jackson and bleach themselves; but…with fatness, people can change that, can’t they?”
“Why should they have to change that?” Sara jumped at him. “And what’s your point? That if people do not look a certain way, that they should work to conform to an ideal you find acceptable? Pa-leeze!”
“Maybe it has to do with personal preference,” Kalie, the bright, ponderous blonde, who sat in the middle, interjected. “What has dominated this country for so long, are white Anglo-Saxon types, who have a rigidly narrow ideal of beauty. Maybe that has to do with how this prejudice started.”
“It also is rooted in religion. Christianity frowns upon gluttony and sloth—two things people, unfortunately, associate obese people with.” Laura, the red-haired girl in the back, said.
“Well said, Laura. It is not only unfortunate, it is often inaccurate. Some obese people have genetic predispositions and other health problems that cause them to gain weight easily. Some are completely healthy, despite how their weight is viewed by the medical profession. Many lead productive lives and are the complete opposite of ‘slothful’. Though, your point is completely valid, the Christian perception of these people is false.”
“It’s not only the Christian religion that frowns upon sloth and gluttony, we could go on and on about how plenty of other religions promote that kind of brain washing,” Sara said. “I think you all are missing the point here,” Sara continued, “how a person became fat or why he or she stays that way, is none of our business. Their physical appearance is not for us to comment on.”
Suddenly, a scratchy shriek came over the PA system. “Pardon the interruption, there will be a fire drill in exactly five minutes. Please follow our guidelines specified by your instructor. Thank you.” Principal Scardo announced. Mrs. Caress always wondered why he would announce a drill prior to having one, since it was supposed to be something that happened without warning; (some of the male staff members joked that Principal Scardo did so just to hear himself speak on the PA) but she was grateful for the heads-up on this occasion, so she could assign the homework in advance.
“All right, before we line up, I want to quickly give you
your homework assignment in case we do not end up back here. I know I normally do not give homework
over the weekend, but I feel this is important for you to think about. I would like you to write a 1,000 word
minimum essay on why you believe obese people are discriminated
against, and how we might begin to change that, both on a personal
and national level. Please
be specific. Explain your ideas… be
as creative and/or as critical as you wish…think about cultivating positive
progress, and I will see you on Monday. We are going to explore this topic in
depth for the next week.”
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