Fat Propaganda Roundup: Was That Wrong?

Documenting the meatiest, juiciest cuts of “fat acceptance” propaganda from corporate and social media.

My beloved, bleeding-heart wife — whom I unreservedly recognize and celebrate as my better half — expressed indignation at my most recent Fat Propaganda Roundup, specifically the story covering the diverse fat activist who traveled to China, got fat-shamed in classic Asian fashion, and took to Vice article to play the world’s smallest violin for herself.

          See: Fat Propaganda Roundup: Social Justice™ Heifer Horrifically Fat-Shamed by Chinese

The argument, per my wife, went like this: why would you single out an innocent fat woman trying to make it in the world for mockery, as if she doesn’t already have enough issues navigating through the world, struggling with poor self-esteem, etc.?

For a second, because she caught me off-guard, I faltered in my defense.

Was that wrong?

But then I collected myself.

Exactly how innocent are these fat propagandists?

First of all, the Vice lady in question put herself out there doing fat propaganda for cash and clout. In doing so, she made herself a de facto public figure — a legitimate target in the information war.

She was presumably well-compensated for her shoddy, self-indulgent treatise on the glories of obesity and the dastardly Chinese bigots (she also insinuated racism on their part, being allegedly half-black) who don’t appreciate the beautiful diversity that Persons of Size™ (POS) bring to the table. All that to say: this was not some random fat I picked out on the sidewalk to bully.

The name of the game these people play is weaponized empathy, a favorite pastime of the nanny state social engineers hellbent on hyper-feminizing society so that the entire peasantry is infantilized into submission, stripped of any personal agency.

They assume the role of put-upon victim, abdicating all personal responsibility for their condition, and then demand the world rearrange itself to accommodate their delusions, which come in many Social Justic™ flavors — in this case, that #FatIsBeautiful and it’s possible to be #HealthyAtAnySize or whatever.   

All is fair in love and war. They bring weaponized empathy; I bring the truth. We’ll see who wins.

Second, these fat propagandists do untold damage not just to themselves but to society by way of attempting to legitimize what should be stigmatized, just to assuage their own feelings of insecurity and shame.

Obesity is not glorious; it is, in fact, an albatross around the necks of both the individual who suffers it as well as the whole society forced to accommodate it, to speak nothing of the burden it places on the already-taxed medical system, which would be otherwise better-suited to solving intractable health issues like cancer (not that it has any financial incentive to solve that; a story for another day).

Via Sur in English:

“Suddenly and at the age of just 46, the Spanish actress Itziar Castro died on Thursday night in a swimming pool in Lloret de Mar, where she was rehearsing for a synchronised swimming show. The family issued a brief statement this Friday (8 December) confirming the news and asking for respect and privacy during this time, although they do expect that there will be several tributes in the coming days for a person known not only for her career in the television and film world but also for her struggle fighting various social causes.

The news of the death of an actress known for her roles in Vis a Vis, Paquita Salas and Campeones, first emerged in a message that film director Frankie De Leonardis posted on his X social media account. ‘Itziar was not only a talented actress and artist, but a tireless fighter for her ideals and beliefs. She faced every challenge with a determination and courage that inspired many,’ he wrote.

Castro, who won the award for 'best new actress' from the Unión de Actores y Actrices with Pieles and was nominated for a Goya with Pieles, not only dedicated her life to acting but also became an icon of diversity in Spain. She fought against fatphobia and in defence of the LGTB community.

Her most recent project was the short film entitled La Cita, directed by herself, which premiered on 13 October at the Pávez Awards. ‘It's a gift I'm giving to the teenage Itziar who saw that no fat actress was starring in any romantic comedy, and a bit of a gift to all the people who at some point have felt they had no place in the world’, she told ABC in an interview in September.”

This is not to say that all fat people should be shamed — just the ones who have earned it, like the kind who monetize their obesity by turning it into a Social Justice™ cause du jour, smuggling into the oppression hierarchy, and penning self-pitying articles in rags like Vice for attention and money.

I would never in a million years countenance ridiculing a fat who a.) acknowledged their perilous state and b.) made sincere efforts to remedy it. They deserve nothing but support.

I’m not saying I’m doing the Lord’s work in this capacity or whatever — but I’m certainly doing more good for the world than these fat activists who indulge their narcissism at the expense of impressionable fat people who take their advice and contort themselves psychologically to dupe themselves, via cognitive dissonance, into celebrating their obesity instead of fixing it.

The fats know, deep inside, what they’re doing to themselves by allowing their rolls of adipose tissue to proliferate unabated. What makes the difference, often, between them coming to terms with reality and taking action to remedy it and permitting themselves to go on living in delusion is the presence of cultural icons manufactured by the legacy media who reinforce their delusions that obesity is nothing to worry about and thus normalize it. They are enemies of human flourishing who must be confronted.

So, no, despite the protestations of my beloved, I won’t be ceasing my fat counter-propaganda efforts.

Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

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