Kiss Her Fat Ass? No Thanks

I'm with anyone who thinks it's an oversized offense to slight someone based on their girth.

I'm also against the bloated double standard. There are few or no remarks made about a man's shirt, jacket or pants size when he performs a job (save when his job is directly related to his physique, say in...oh, I don't know...powerlifting?) Sure, a few people have commented on Obama's graying hair, but none have remarked on whether he shed those campaign pounds, or finally recovered from the campaign by re-gaining a few. Case in point: I know about Cindy McCain, Michelle Obama and even Canadian provincial politician, Carole James' weight, having read countless articles about them, but don't know anything about Barack Obama, Michael Ignatieff or Stephen Harper's relationship with the scales.

And sure, Al Franken was the toast of all media for his book Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot. But in that case, most people knew that was a figure of speech, and that even if it wasn't, it wouldn't matter because there are no consequences to a man's career or status for being a few pounds up on the scale. Men don't have to talk about loving their curves, or tell anyone to "kiss my fat ass," because it simply doesn't matter.

I'm not saying fatness is an irrelevant issue altogether. Obesity is a major health issue, and food over-consumption is arguably plumping out our footprints faster than SUVs.

So thought I'd rather go on a gruel diet than join Team Meghan, and though I'm loathe to give her any more publicity, it's hard not to weigh in (sorry).

Not just because weight is a red herring, an ad hominem (ad-hermanim?) attack when it comes to evaluating someone's work, and not because I want to protect women from criticism. But because it's just a bit more satisfying to wrestle with the substance of women's words and work, instead of their girth. And irrelevant attacks like these just distract everyone from areas that actually seem to need attention.

In this case, there are more than enough substantive, if not weighty (sorry), criticisms of Meghan McCain's work to fill hundreds of column inches. McCain's Daily Beast articles show her to be a frequently self-obsessed, lightweight writer, who gratuitously and repeatedly mentions her famous dad. A recent column focused on just how hard it is to get a date when you have a famous dad, and like, are right wing and stuff.

"Of all the things people warned would happen post-election, no one ever said anything about how complicated dating would become," she writes. "Especially if your dad loses the election. There are things that have been difficult, but nothing quite as tough as dating. I fear the election has destroyed my ability and desire to date. Now, I cannot say at any point in my life that I have been very good at dating. But I have become something I used to despise: people who let politics dictate his or her attraction to someone."

Even the fact that she has such a prominent publishing platform is a nod to the supposedly extinct age of the aristo-brats, which also deserves attention, and column inches, and rigorous discussion.

But instead, she's been offered countless opportunities to repeat the pseudo-empowering phrase "Kiss my fat ass," which also acts as a shield against legitimate criticism of her work.

Because of this attack, McCain now has the sympathy vote. As Gawker pointed out, "rabid nutcase pundit Laura Ingraham called Meghan McCain fat. Wonderful, now we're stuck with her, Laura.

"She was on TV, and she was inarticulate and boring. But then Laura called her fat! And now Meghan gets to take the high ground in a 'I tried to have a serious debate about the issues and look what happened' piece."

Like many, I have a dream that my sisters will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the size of their jeans, but by the content of their character and the quality of their work...or lack thereof.

This post first appeared in The Tyee.

Comments

[denicci1977]

I wonder if there would be a bigger uproar on Rush if he was a woman and still looked the way he did...

[PlayTOE]

Men are totally OK with Meghan McCain's figure.

Women on the other hand, have quite a lot to say about it that makes no sense whatsoever.

[Usama]

I just went through 4 American airports. American women love to wear skin tight jeans no matter their girth. I even saw an obese woman wearing loose jeans that revealed her butt crack when she stood up. Its women who bring the attention, focus, oggling, ridicule, mockery on themselves because of the clothes they wear.
If I don't want people to comment on my family jewels, I don't wear speedos at the beach or the pool, or the park, or to work.
The woman who covers her body and her charms is not the person who recieves attention regarding them.

[OtayPanky]

Blogger: Like many, I have a dream that my sisters will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the size of their jeans, but by the content of their character and the quality of their work...or lack thereof.

===

It's a nice dream.

But if the last 40 years have shown us anything, it's that women themelves are the biggest (no pun intended) barrier to turning it into reality.

And no - it's not the fault of men.

[fbr79]

I agree that women are judged unfairly based on size and clothing. But, I also feel that women are the harshest critics of other women's bodies. Most of the times I don't even realize what a Michelle Obama is wearing or that a woman in the office has gained weight until another woman points it out. I'm not trying to take away the shared responsibility men have in fighting against this obsession with weight control, I'm just saying.....

[TomTheAlmostUgly]

Meghan is a blond and stacked twenty-something child of rich parents. Does anyone here really expect her to be Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, under such circumstances? But Meghan seems like a decent human being, which is very rare among famous-name Republicans. She, Ahnuld, and Gov. Crist are the only Repubs who aren't complete sphincters.

[allonfla]

She criticized Obama for going on Leno - she's a tool. She's just like Mccain - just when you think he's more mature and real than his colleagues, he says something dickish.

[Marilynleigh34]

She's ok as long as she doesn't criticize Mr. Obama, is that it? Too Funny!!!!

[bluehand]

I meant to say "she's surprisingly NOT nasty."

[bluehand]

I saw Megan Mc. on the View, and before she quoted Tyra Banks in saying "Kiss my fat A**", she expressed the same sentiments that you have here; that it's time women stopped being judged by how they look, or their size. That was the point of her quoting T.Banks. That was also the reason that T.Banks said it in the first place. It seems like you just have a need to disagree with her. Why would you juxtapose yourself with a young, inexperienced writer. No, she is not a rhetorical giant, like yourself, and unfortunately she's a republican. But, she's surprisingly nasty, and hopefully she will grow out of the bad repub aversion to fact checking and research.