New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser is mad that you're fat. And she's mad that he's fat and that she's fat, oh, and you too. If you are fat or even chubby, Andrea Peyser is mad about it. And if you haven't already heard the announcement, Saturday Night Live has just hired a new batch of hilarious sketch comics to their repertoire. The mere introduction to the small screen for a lucky, deserving few and a columnist's negativity, but how do those two connect?
If you've read Peyser's articles previously, her thematic fortes are mostly focused on relishing in scarlet lettering women as some version of a whore or town bicycle and nay-saying anyone non-WASPy or slightly left of the right. And now, she's adding to her repertoire by attacking comedians. Upon the announcement of the newest addition of Saturday Night Live cast members Peyser decided to focus her column on the fact that one of them is not skinny. Aidy Bryant, a sketch comic coming out of the Chicago's famed Second City improv scene, has been noted by more than one media source as the first plus-sized female cast member to join SNL. While not the main point, which should be the new hires themselves and their potential for augmenting the hilarity of the show, Aidy's diversity within the status quo could still be viewed as a positive coup in the way of body acceptance for entertainers, women and all humans. It has promise in the ideal that, no matter someone's size, they should be able to and can flourish in their field based on merit. But Peyser's cold-hearted rant about the blasphemy of size, instead, went the route of simply cutting Bryant down for not fitting the image Peyser has in mind for what is acceptable or attractive in society's eye. She words it as though any individual owes it to society to be skinny or beautiful, which they do not. See: You Don't Have To Be Pretty
The columnist wrote in horror that is being overweight is now "sexualized and glamorized to the point where a regular-sized woman runs to the Ho-Hos." As if women are just sitting around plotting weight gain because it could possibly be trendy, which it is not. It endorses the long, sad and outdated concept that as women, we should treat our bodies are mere art projects and nothing more. Peyser described Aidy Bryant as having "a monstrously dimpled caboose" instead of as a comedian. She also mentioned writer and director Lena Dunham in her article, whom she's famously barraged before in her column for being overweight and on TV and (gasp!) sexually active as a non-waif. But the worst part was that her discussion about both Bryant and Dunham wasn't really about them at all nor comedy nor the artistic community. It was only to use them as mere examples of plus-sized women* who represent some kind of "problem" in entertainment that they have the audacity to both be fat (by her standards) and successful and in the public eye. How dare they. It's almost as if they value themselves past their pants size. What were they thinking?
Peyser went to compare Anorexia to obesity, as if those were the only two options in competition for how people can choose to take care of their bodies. She then inexplicably endorsed Anorexia as "a disease owned by sexy, young things" and stated that its existence "is rare." Along with these statements being both deplorable to healthy body image and false, let's waft in the fact that Peyser has taken the announcement of a big break from excellent up and coming SNL comedians Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson and Cecily Strong and twisted their opportunity into a body image target practice like an evil schoolgirl at recess picking on the new kid. Is the suggestion that Anorexia would serve the overweight well, trading in one form of unhealthy lifestyle for another? The fact is that it's not pertinent at all if these new cast members are fat or skinny or black or tall or anything else unrelated to their character or ability in entertainment. Is their talent not captivating enough to focus on? Lorne Michaels seems to think so, he's putting them on TV, varying sizes and all. If the subject Peyser wants to focus on is how people should be cutting back and maintaining an image, perhaps Andrea Peyser could cut back on cutting people down for no plausible reason, especially ones that are about to be far more famous than she. Congratulations to Aidy, Tim and Cecily. Sketch well.
*I have not measured Lena Dunham nor met her in person but from pictures and video I've seen, she's not even plus-sized.
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