Spring Break
The other, more upsetting F-word
Katy Weaver
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: Forum
It was 1:30 a.m. and I was on the phone with an ex who now lives in Kansas. "One of my friends from OSU - I won't tell you who - called," he said. "This might sound weird, but it was about you." My sleep-deprived brain wondered what he was talking about. "All he wanted to tell me was that he saw you walking around campus the other day and couldn't believe his eyes. He said, 'Katy Weaver got so fat! She's seriously chubby man! She doesn't even look the same!'"
It took me a few moments to process what was said. Honestly, I had been telling him how I gained some of the freshman 15, but I never considered I might be described with the dreaded f-word.
What does being fat even mean these days? Dictionary.com can leave you more confused than before. There are 29 different definitions just under the first result. "1. Having too much flabby tissue; corpulent; obese: a fat person." This first definition has some fatal flaws, however. How much flabby tissue is too much? Must someone be clinically obese to be called fat? And who has the right to determine that you are "a fat person" in the first place? Today, the answer seems to be any flabby tissue is too much flabby tissue, unless you're a female and it's located in your chest region. Then you're perfect, or just lucky.
Also, one does not need to be obese to be called fat. I am clearly a prime example: my Body Mass Index is under 25, which means I'm at a "normal" weight - above 30, people are labeled "obese." And thus it seems the definition of fat is cannot simply be determined in a single sentence. It must be more of a specific judgment; a set of criteria individuals mentally check off before they judge themselves or others as fat.
I think there are several factors that go into the checklist: how close you are to the person, how long you've known them, how they dress, how they maintain themselves, what you see them eat, how athletic they are, etc. Perhaps it is the combination of these different factors that allows us to differentiate between "fat," "skinny" and "normal" - if there is such a thing. For example, let's say your friend is taller and heavier than you, but is packed with muscle and is probably the most athletic person you know. It's very unlikely you'd ever call her fat. But, if someone saw her just once, maybe right after getting out of the pool, while wearing sweats or chowing down, it would be unlikely for them to be as kind.
It took me a few moments to process what was said. Honestly, I had been telling him how I gained some of the freshman 15, but I never considered I might be described with the dreaded f-word.
What does being fat even mean these days? Dictionary.com can leave you more confused than before. There are 29 different definitions just under the first result. "1. Having too much flabby tissue; corpulent; obese: a fat person." This first definition has some fatal flaws, however. How much flabby tissue is too much? Must someone be clinically obese to be called fat? And who has the right to determine that you are "a fat person" in the first place? Today, the answer seems to be any flabby tissue is too much flabby tissue, unless you're a female and it's located in your chest region. Then you're perfect, or just lucky.
Also, one does not need to be obese to be called fat. I am clearly a prime example: my Body Mass Index is under 25, which means I'm at a "normal" weight - above 30, people are labeled "obese." And thus it seems the definition of fat is cannot simply be determined in a single sentence. It must be more of a specific judgment; a set of criteria individuals mentally check off before they judge themselves or others as fat.
I think there are several factors that go into the checklist: how close you are to the person, how long you've known them, how they dress, how they maintain themselves, what you see them eat, how athletic they are, etc. Perhaps it is the combination of these different factors that allows us to differentiate between "fat," "skinny" and "normal" - if there is such a thing. For example, let's say your friend is taller and heavier than you, but is packed with muscle and is probably the most athletic person you know. It's very unlikely you'd ever call her fat. But, if someone saw her just once, maybe right after getting out of the pool, while wearing sweats or chowing down, it would be unlikely for them to be as kind.
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