Greenroom Discussion: Now With Video
January 29th, 2008
This link will take you straight to a .swf file of the post-show greenroom discussion.
Posted by mo pie
This link will take you straight to a .swf file of the post-show greenroom discussion.
Posted by mo pie
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This is great!
Okay, so I think I get what MeMe Roth is trying to do “for the children.” And I’d never heard her say diets cause more harm than good, which is interesting. What I still don’t get is: what the hell does she want fat people to do, exactly? Not be happy in public, ever? Crawl under a rock? She’s saying that a fat person in any kind of role model capacity represents degenerate values, which is EXACTLY like racial profiling.
What I still don’t get is: what the hell does she want fat people to do, exactly?
I think she just wants us to disappear. Or die. And since 800 of us purportedly die each day, maybe she’ll soon get her wish.
No, if you read her website, you would get the impression that she thinks fat people are a lost cause. She concedes that dieting fails more than 90 percent of the time and she also told Mo and I afterward, that she is opposed to WLS. On her website, she basically writes ‘Just don’t get fat!”
And, it’s really sad she is so strident about weight, not health and wellness, because she is in support of some of the same goals I support, like healthy foods in schools and subsidies of fruits and veggies in the farm bill. I tried to approach her with the goal of “How can we work together?” but her fanaticism seems to have blinded her to anything other than her personal war on obese people.
Haven’t watched yet, but your tub of frosting comment made me snort. At work. Loudly.
From her other media appearances, my impression is that MeMe believes that fat people should just lose weight. She often mentions that her own family was fat, with the implication, I think, being that if she can overcome her own predisposition to obesity, everyone else can, too! Of course, the reality is not so simple.
And I think when she disparages “dieting,” she’s just referring to short-term changes in eating patterns as opposed to lifelong changes. Her organization’s website has links to several books promoting various “eating plans” designed for permanent weight loss. Kind of like how Weight Watchers now disparages dieting…by which they basically mean you should go on a diet and never come off it!
You’re my new hero! I loved when you said blogging with one hand and eating frosting with the other- that was so freaking funny :)
HOw do you think that skinny chick stays SO skinny if she doesn’t believe in diets? Does she just not eat? I mean, she’s really really skinny.
She’s saying that a fat person in any kind of role model capacity represents degenerate values, which is EXACTLY like racial profiling.
Nono, Wendy, I watched the video and it’s totally inappropriate to make that comparison. You can’t compare fat, which is a lifestyle choice, to things that are totally unrelated to choice, like religion.
As to what Meme Roth expects fat people to do – I think it’s obvious. She said it not only in the green-room interview, but on the show as well. “Stop saying ‘Big is beautiful!'”
If you don’t like Proposition A, then it follows that you like Not-A. Well, the opposite of “Big is beautiful!” is that “Big is ugly.” We are supposed to go around in sackcloth and ashes, beating ourselves on the head with a board, going “I’m so ugly! I hate myself! Nobody will ever love me! I’m disgusting!” That’s what a “proper” fat person does – as I interpret her statements.
I’m convinced that for all her health rhetoric, for Roth it ultimately comes down to aesthetics.
Fillyjonk: yeah, it really would be a better world if our culture just did more to glorify the lifestyles of the people who bravely choose to be naturally thin. And if some of those folks also can’t help the fact that they’re rich, well, we should embrace that too. Heh!
The whole thing was maddening.
Meme Roth is shrill and annoying.
LoL @ Frosting Comment
And if some of those folks also can’t help the fact that they’re rich, well, we should embrace that too.
My younger brother called me to talk about the show yesterday. Keep in mind, he has no clue about fat acceptance or what it is we all blog about. I tried to explain to him about my graduate research, and how when the majority of Americans were poor and starving, fatness was considered a sign of wealth and prosperity. Now that food is abundant and we have federal food assistance programs, thin is in, because now the wealthy have access to personal trainers, better quality foods, gyms and the leisure time to focus on weight.
Oh, but MeMe doesn’t want to bother American people with all that crazy confusing stuff about class and socioeconomics and cultural relativism and feminism and industrialized agriculture! Don’t get all mixed up thinking about that stuff! It’s all about health! Health and nothing else, damn it! HEALTH!!!!!!!!!
With all of her obvious knowledge and research, Meme can explain to me why I was my thinnest when I sat on my butt all day eating ice cream and weigh my most now when I watch my diet and go to the gym all the time. It’s like when my best friend and I bought hair dye in the same brand and shade and her hair turned red and mine turned clown orange. Different things give people different results. I’m done with all the hard and fast rules to “cure” we the fat.
Being fat is a lifestyle choice? Who chooses to be fat? Who wakes up one morning and says, hey, I think I’ll try being a fat person for a while? That’s just plain ridiculous!
We should all totally get t-shirts with “Choco Frosting Blogger” on them. XD
I just can’t say enough how proud I am to have two competent and articulate ladies like you and Rachel representing our cause.
Who wakes up one morning and says, hey, I think I’ll try being a fat person for a while?
Lisa-Marie: Your comment just reminded me of an interesting couple of essays I’ve read on the subject of celebrities who choose to have “the fat experience” for a day by wearing fat suits. The essays are by Lynne Murray, a fat positive (published!) author and essayist, and her stuff can be found here: http://www.maadwomen.com/lynnemurray/essays.html
You two did a great job on the show. I thought it was hysterical that Meme kept saying that your weight should not be tied to your self esteem but then kept sayinghow horrified she was that someone may not get the message that “big is not beautiful”. Yes, because it would be horrible if people didn’t think fatties were inherantly ugly.
I do think that being fat is a lifestyle choice seperate from weight if only that I could get down to 120 lbs if I chose to starve myself and work out 4 hours per day. That is a choice. Never mind that I would be torturing my body both mentally and physically by doing that. But hey, at least I would “look” healthy.
It’s a shame that the question was not posed to Ms. Roth or the Dr. about what if I follow the proposed diet and activity and then don’t lose anything? Would they suggest that dipping below starvation level calories for a long period would be healthier for me than having a little jiggle in my jeans?
I get why doctors being fed statistics can get passionate about it. But it’s absurd to suggest that if I can be healthy and active at a BMI over 32, I’m guaranteed to have health problems down the road. It’s not that simple.
(Sorry for the rant ;)
Mo, I think you did and said everything right. You can’t change a food-less-monger’s mind. I think her hunger gets to her head and thus makes her incredibly dumb.
Did Meme ever acknowledge that when Rachel was thin she was having health issues and now she does not have those issues? Where’s her thinking on that?
1. That Meme broad is quite vocal, eh?
2. Neither of you seem to be OMG SO FAT to me. In fact I thought you both looked quite cute.
3. I’m thinking of using this website’s colors for my living room.
Did you get this uploaded to YouTube? If it won’t work, i’ll be happy to try converting/uploading it if you like. :)
A Big Fat Living Room! If you do that, you have to send in pictures! I do admit, I love the color scheme. My site designer can tell you I was annoyingly picky about it, too!
Lindsay, I have no idea how to convert and upload it–I would be eternally grateful if you could figure it out!
Mo I have video software. I could convert it and upload it if you want.
And I already did paint the walls the blue color. I’m looking for the cocoa colored accessories now. Blue skies and chocolate, what a nice room…
Mo, since working away from home for a couple of days has made me woefully late to the party, I just wanted you to know how cool, calm and collected the two of you came across in the face of MeMe’s blinkered bleating. Kudos for not actually decking her when she came out with the sublimely stupid “imagine the outcry if people said thin was in” comment. I wish I had your composure.
Testing the upload now. We’ll see if it actually needs to be converted in a few minutes… Updates as they happen. :D
Grr. It’s up, but i’m not sure if there’s a problem on my end or if the sound really is way off sync. Lemme know if it’s Not Just Me, and i’ll tinker accordingly.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ETdllCQeX-Q
Lindsay, Rachel uploaded it right before you did! I embedded hers because you said the sound was off. Thank you so much for going to the trouble—and fatfighter too, for the offer of uploading it! You guys rock!
I don’t know about everyone else, but the sound on the video is super fast. I can make out some of what is being said. They sound like the Micro Machines guy!
I’m getting the same sound problem as Rachel- it sounds like everyoneistalkingreallyfast!
I meant to type “the same problem as April. . .”
Congratulations! You came across very smart and classy.
I wonder what Roth would do if she put on a bit of weight for whatever reason– say, some medical treatments which can add fat and water weight and make your face look different. Get a lapel pin made saying, “I’m taking steroids; what’s your excuse?” Or just stay in the house? Because if she extrapolates her own judgmental attitude onto everyone else, the shame would be enormous. (Not saying it’s any different, better or worse to gain weight as a side effect of anything, just that she is judging people on appearances, period, and I’d like to know how she would enjoy being subjected to that.)
sorry could’t look at the whole thing, the wicked witch keeps grating on my nerves. she should learn to enjoy her food or anything in life and spare us from her misery. you go girls ! you had a much more positive, glowing aura of happiness around you, even the black hole couldn’t tar it. As uncharming as she came across, I don’t think she will help her plea.
MeMe Roth is the Anne Coulter of the anti-fatties movement. Good lord.
Can I just be the eleventy-billionth person to say you and Rachel rocked the fucking house? You guys were so damned awesome!
wow. meme roth..i don’t even want to go there.
all i have to say is you and rachel were both awesome and beautiful!
i can’t believe meme had to nerve to say “big is not beautiful” in her case, it was “thin is not beautiful”. that old adage about personality being the source of a person’s beauty definitely applies here. in her case, it doesn’t matter how thin or conventially pretty she may be, her personality makes her an ugly person!
You guys were amazing! So smart, tough, and articulate. And patient and calm! I would have been throwing furniture.