Do you know Maura Kelly? I didn't until today when my bestie Lisa posted a Jezebel link about her on FB. Maura stepped in a big fat pile of shit with a recent blog she wrote for Marie Claire.
Turns out Maura thinks "fatties" are disgusting. Granted, she later apologized but... not really.
This isn't the first time a chick rag has gone there. Cosmo does it all the time with their absurd diet tips peppered through issue after issue. I cancelled my sub to W magazine years ago when they ran the Nan Kempner story with a pull out of her quote, "I hate fat people."
Later that same week, I cancelled my sub to Elle magazine for a similar reason, although I don't recall now what the specific story was. Seems like it was E. Jean's column...
You know how hard it is for a makeup/accessories/fashion junkie like me to swear off all the mainstream girlie mags? I haven't touched a Glamour in years. And their constant fat bashing is why. I'm not going to give my money to any pub that preaches hate or discrimination. Note to advertisers, you might pick your placements a little more carefully. We're watching you.
There's a light in the dark though. -evil grins-
How about Twitter search results with THOUSANDS of tweets speaking out against Maura Kelly's unabashed size discrimination. Not just size acceptance peeps either. Folks from every walk of life were appalled. Men, women, all ages, all colors, all sizes, from all over the world. The message was clear - fat hate isn't going to be tolerated.
If you're looking for some excellent new people to liven up your Twitter stream, you'll find them. I found several. (Thanks Maura! ~winks~)
Reality check... We still have a long way to go. I saw an article this week about size discrimination in the workplace. But stories revealing the truth about manipulated images in magazines give me hope that fat bashing will cease to be socially acceptable someday.
Maura, I hope you can come to terms with your self-loathing. I know this experience is going to set you back a little but as a journalist, you should have thought it through better. Learn from it. Learn that no one is "disgusting" because of how they look. Learn that you're not "disgusting" because of how you look either.
Actions on the other hand... sometimes actions are disgusting and your 'Mike & Molly' blog was an example of that.
If you ever want to feel better about yourself and the way you look, my advice to you is stop reading magazines like Marie Claire.
