I really have to wonder just how long she stayed in the suit as she would have had to go to the bathroom at some point. And really can you have a clue what it is like to live like this after only 1 day?
I don't think so, I don't think anyone who isn't at 300 pounds or more has any concept of the challenges we face every day.
I think a better test would be for someone to live with a person of 300+ for a week and actually see what we have to do to get through a day along with the prejudice we face from other people.
Mazarin: There was a special here in the U.S. last night on Entertainment Tonight where one of the reporters dressed up in a fat suit and went around for a day to record her experiences as a heavy person.
I didn't see the show, but had wanted to. Thanks for the links.
Did you watch the video on the Entertainment Tonight reporter? I find it very interesting that, once she stopped being embarrassed and started being herself, people responded to her and one man even walked up to her on the street and told her she was beautiful. I think that self-confidence has as much to do with the way people treat you as how you look. Perhaps that's why I've never really noticed the extreme prejudices that other people have. Or I'm just completely oblivious...a definate possiblity.
Still, I like that people are doing this. I like that someone is stepping up and calling it prejudice and saying it should stop.
Bah, I don't know about all this. I have been overweight my whole life, and aside from kids making fun of me as the fat girl on the playground, I have never felt blatantly discriminated against or made fun of. Yes, I'm obese, but I'm also smart, funny, open-minded, and a lot of other wonderful things, so I walk with my chin up ready to face the world, and no one has ever challenged me or made me feel I deserved to do otherwise. On the other hand, I have NEVER been even remotely thin, so I guess I have no basis for comparison. Maybe we don't get treated badly--maybe people just go out of their way to treat thin, beautiful people way nicer than normal.
Maybe it's just me, but I have certainly been treated badly because I am overweight. I have been ignored in stores and laughed at by other moms at the playground. One child asked her mom why I was so fat and her mom said "because she eats junk food all the time"
My landlord came to pick up the rent check once and exclaimed "Oh, I didn't know you were pregnant!" And that was before I even had considered getting pregnant.
I was also the topic of discussion not too long ago when eating at out and when I ordered a salad a man at the table behind mine said loudly to his friends that "it's a little too late for that" then they all had a good laugh.
I certainly don't hide from the world and I do present an upbeat and confident personality out there as that is who I am I can't hide that. So count yourself lucky if you have never had a bad experience.
Maybe it's just me, but I have certainly been treated badly because I am overweight.
Yikes, I don't think I'll be visiting Alberta anytime soon!
I have lived in a little middle-of-nowhere town in Connecticut, an extremely diverse city in Pennsylvania, Virginia Beach (which a few years ago was named one of the "most fit" cities in the US), and now I live in a city just outside of Washington, DC. Sure, sales associates in stores don't come running to help me, but having worked retail, I know that most associates don't really want to help anybody
The only time I can really remember my fat getting in the way of my happiness is with men. Because of my weight, any sort of physical contact has always been an issue for me, so I was always a little standoffish with the boys in college. Maybe I've got my head in the sand and just don't notice things, or maybe I am just lucky. I never order salad at a restaurant simply because I think it's a rip-off but my goodness, if I ever heard someone comment on my choice of food as someone did to you, I would certainly speak up about it! Some say it's better to be the "bigger person" (absolutely no pun intended) and ignore rude or inappropriate comments, but I think if they are ignored, then they will never learn their lesson. I hope you at least gave those jerks a really nasty dirty look
I live in the very heart of the midwest where I'd say the majority of people are overweight. "Corn-fed country girls" that's what we are.
Sheri, you aren't the only one. I've heard horror stories on this board from other ladies. It's just that I have never really experienced it. (Like Jilly, since being an adult. I've also always been fat and have no skinny experience to compare. It was truely horrible at times being a fat child and teen though.) I have had several people ask if I was pregnant when I was younger, but I had a very large undiagnosed ovarian cyst for a time and looked it. I always thought I was just fat in the stomach like some other women get...as it turns out my weight is really in my butt.
Anyway, back on the subject, I never considered the "when are you due" remarks as rude...just stupid. I tend to live by the motto: "Never put down to malice that which can be explained by ignorance."
I've never noticed remarks about what or how much I eat...although my choices have drawn comment...after all, a foot long chili dog with a diet coke is a bit odd. And comments of that type I ignore.
Frankly, if one of my kids friends moms laughed at me...and I was SURE they were laughing at me...I'd probably walk up to them and let them know what I thought of them and what a poor example they were setting for their kids. That's just horrible. I can't imagine and do feel quite fortunate that hasn't been my experience.
But it's easy to say I'd confront them when I've never been in that position. I'm not just fat, I'm BIG, 5'10", and most other women wouldn't choose to mess with me...lucky for me, because I'm the biggest wimp in the world. Perhaps that also deters open rudeness. Possible I suppose.
Skinny Women Undercover at 350 lbs
is it a new one!
but my goodness, if I ever heard someone comment on my choice of food as someone did to you, I would certainly speak up about it! Some say it's better to be the "bigger person" (absolutely no pun intended) and ignore rude or inappropriate comments, but I think if they are ignored, then they will never learn their lesson. I hope you at least gave those jerks a really nasty dirty look 
