Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Look What I found!

Searching through my e-mail today, I came across a letter I once wrote to our local newspaper.  I wrote it on 5/2/2009.

You can tell by reading the letter that some douche bag named Charles wrote a letter to the paper saying something like:  "Fatties are fat.  They should just not eat so much.  They are stupid fat fatties."

I used to just ignore those mean bullying letters.  But then I started fighting back.  I actually thought that http://www.giftoffat.com/ would be a lot more about providing a voice for fat people and a lot less about pushups and kids.  The fact is, however, I can't keep up the anger 24/7. 

Some of my life is about getting angry at stupid, sanctimonious morons who vilify fat people.

Most of my life is about other things.

When I saw this, however, it rang as true as it did the day I wrote it. 

So now YOU get to read it!

Sent to Caller Times, May 2009:

In response to Charles C_________'s letter of 5/2 regarding obese people should ELF - Eat Less Food:  Duh.

As an obese woman for my entire life, the ELF strategy is used by most of us all the time. With the billion dollar diet industry, ELF takes many forms: the no carb diet, the grapefruit diet, Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, the list gets larger every year. The result: metabolic chaos. I am sorry that Mr. C_________ was "horrified recently" to learn that obesity causes a slew of health problems. Fat people have known this forever. Obesity also causes social and psychological problems -- frequently triggered by ignorant individuals who think that the solution to our medical issues is simple: ELF. The letter is made even more insulting by the tacky cartoon above it which shows the US flag cracking under the weight of an obese person.


Obesity is not a character flaw. It is a medical condition that can sometimes -- but not always -- be controlled by various strategies. When I was a girl, I was the only fat kid in class. Now all the kids are fat. The only upside to this sad situation is that the public is finally waking up to the fact that obesity is a chronic medical condition that needs to be addressed at all levels. Hopefully, the insurance industry will follow suit and begin to pay for reasonable medical intervention before the patient resorts to drastic measures such as gastric bypass or lap band.


It's no fun to be fat. I'll bet it's not fun to have asthma either. Chronic medical conditions don't have simple solutions. Let's stop being so condescending.






Mary A.
Corpus Christi

6 comments:

  1. Yes, Ma'am. Abso-fricken-lutely!

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  2. You tell 'em, honey. Sometimes a little well-placed ire and a strongly worded letter are just the thing. Then you can go back to being the witty, happy, terrific woman you are. :)

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  3. Well said Mary! I completely agree with your response letter!!

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  4. GO MARY! GO MARY! GO, GO, GO MARY!

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I LOVE to read comments. Seriously. I check them every day. Insecure? Maybe.