Discrimination

Today I received a forwarded email through one of the loops I belong to. It contained 12 photos of large women in lingerie with the title "2005 Krispy Kreme Lingerie Calendar". I felt a twinge of pain and my heart instantly went out to the poor women whose photos were obviously stolen and used with such malicious intent.

The sole purpose of this email? To laugh at these lovely large women. To hold them up to public shame and embarrassment solely because they dared to tread into the milieu of the "thin" woman...the wearing of sexy lingerie.

Even worse? The woman who forwarded the email added the following insensitive and hurtful comment at the top:

"Please tell me what woman in her right mind would pose for a picture like this let alone wear something like this if she were that large?? Anyway, show it to your hubby's and tell him to thank his lucky stars that you don't look like that LOL"

Especially since my recent humiliation at the hands of my uber insensitive brother-in-law and sister-in-law, I felt compelled to respond. I sent the following through the loop:

Don't large women have a right to dress sexy for their men? Fat people have feelings too. We have men who love us.

The women in those photos...Many of them certainly had no expectation that their glamor shots would be distributed on the internet and held up for public ridicule by people, such as yourself, who are bigots.

"Bigot?!"

That's right. Discrimination against people of size is one of the last mainstream forms of bigotry in the United States today. Every day, large men and women are the target of ridicule, scorn and disgust. Who are you to sit in judgment? Who are you to decide what looks good? What women are allowed to wear?

How would you feel if someone were sitting out there making public statements and judgments about you based solely on your appearance?

And it goes far beyond just mean-spirited comments and finger pointing. Large men and women are routinely discriminated against when applying for jobs and insurance. A fat woman makes, on average, $7,000 a year less than her thinner co-workers.

The average dress size of an American woman is 16, folks.

Fat does not equal unhealthy. Statistically, health problems are more related to age than weight. Large women actually have a LOWER instance of many health problems including osteoporosis.

Next time you feel the urge to point your finger and laugh at a fat person - imagine that person is your best friend. Your cousin. Your aunt or uncle. Your father or mother. They are REAL PEOPLE with REAL FEELINGS.

Sit in judgment of yourself, for a change.

Welcome to the PlussWomen Website - Plus Size Discrimination