81 Responses to Is Mo'Nique Getting Weight Loss Surgery?

1. AnnieMcPhee, on March 11th, 2008 at 11:13 pm Said:

   (For more info on the Birth Industry – not dissimilar in deadliness or huge profits based on fear tactics and lies to the Diet Industry and Bariatric surgery industry, check out Rikki Lake’s new documentary “The Business of Being Born.” It’s on instant watch if you have Netflix.

   Truly a must see.
2. MizShrew, on March 12th, 2008 at 12:13 am Said:

   I think that the jury’s still out until we hear what Mo’Nique has to say about it, if anything — if the rumors are even true. It might be all BS, and then all the hand-wringing is for nothing.

   Yes, someone who’s made a lot of money talking up fat acceptance should expect some flak if she jumps on a whole different bandwagon. But at the end of the day, it’s none of anyone’s business, and the fat acceptance movement would be well served to focus on the idea of accepting personal choice in life and health decisions rather than fat icons, who invariably dissapoint in the long run.
3. Sarahbear, on March 12th, 2008 at 1:16 am Said:

   Seems to me like this blog needs to have a highlight post on WLS and the dangers thereof. I scanned every comment, and I got so sick of reading (paraphrase), “WLS is okay if it’s for health reasons! She must be having health problems we don’t know about!”

   WLS is not okay. It is drastic, dangerous, and lots of other D-words.

   Also got sick of reading, “I thought this blog was about ‘size acceptance.'” Yes. It is. And it’s also about fat acceptance. And while the two are linked, they are different things. Size. Fat. See the difference?

   I’m not angry because she may suddenly lose lost of weight and become thin. I don’t hate thin people and I don’t think they’re “evil.” If Mo’Nique had been thin when she started preaching about fat acceptance, I would still be a fan. I am angry because she is fat, has sold her image to the media as an empowered fat woman, has built up a following based on her message of fat positivity, and now… if she does indeed have WLS, she will be figuratively spitting in the face of every person who looked to her for inspiration. It is the height of hypocrisy. It would be the same as Ellen DeGeneres suddenly becoming a religious zealot who condemns gays. Wouldn’t her fans be entitle to a little outrage? So why can’t Mo’Nique fans feel betrayed at the idea of her getting WLS? “Because it may be for health reasons.” Bullshit. Cholesterol, blood pressure (neither of which may be solely linked to being fat), there are meds for those. There are dietary changes you can make to lower cholesterol. Any SA person who is worth their weight in chocolate frosting has done their research on WLS and knows the facts, and knows the dangers, and thus knows that it is not worth the risk to “fix” health problems that could be treated through alternative courses.
4. AnnieMcPhee, on March 12th, 2008 at 2:16 am Said:

   Sarahbear, for what it’s worth, (not only do I totally agree!) but I just came across THIS (and posted a link to it with highlights on my blog.) http://boombatti.blogspot.com/2008/03/weight-loss-surgery-release-form.html
5. Christine, on March 12th, 2008 at 10:00 am Said:

   “Any SA person who is worth their weight in chocolate frosting has done their research on WLS and knows the facts, and knows the dangers, and thus knows that it is not worth the risk to “fix” health problems that could be treated through alternative courses.”

   “And if someone says it’s to save her life – pfft. I know at least a little too much about it to buy that line anymore. Plastic surgery is what it is.”

   It seems that some of you have gone from “love yourself at any size and focus on health rather than weight” to “you must do it our way or you are a fool.” You cannot do a risk/benefit analysis of WLS across the board. You cannot say that everyone who gets WLS is in effect getting plastic surgery. You know those people who say SA folks just want everyone who is fat to stay fat? You’re making arguments that feed right into that nonsense.

   I don’t usually comment here. This is a personal issue for me. My decision to get WLS was an extremely difficult one. But my quality of life was abysmal, and my health issues were mounting, and I *knew myself* and knew I couldn’t solve the problem on my own. A personal failing of character? Sure. But I did what I needed to do to make the most of the one life I’ve got. And now, 130 pounds lost, at 5-8 and 255, I love my fat body and am very thankful I had the surgery. And I’m VERY thankful that nothing went wrong.

   And I’m not vain or an idiot, folks. It was personal. It’s always personal.
6. Sarahbear, on March 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm Said:

   Christine, that’s super for you. I’m glad you’re healthy and happy with your body now. I really am. But are you a celebrity who made their career by telling women to love themselves just as they are? This isn’t an issue of “my way or the highway,” Christine. If this rumor (and I hope that’s all it is) turns out to be true, I simply believe Mo’Nique’s fans have the right to feel a conflicted about it. That’s my point. Period.

   I’m not telling anyone how to live their life. I’m not telling anyone what to do with their own body. If you want to get WLS, fine. Go for it. If Mo’Nique wants to get WLS, fine. She, and every adult of sound mind can do whatever they want with their own body. Just don’t expect me to suddenly turn a 180 and cheer and sing the praises of WLS or weight lost from it.
7. AnnieMcPhee, on March 12th, 2008 at 4:02 pm Said:

   Well it actually *is* plastic surgery last I checked. But I don’t believe I called you vain or idiotic, Christine. And I’m glad that at this point you are still feeling well.

   The problem I have with the rest of what you said is…well there are several. We know how diets (don’t) work – the body fights in the end to get back to its normal setpoint weight. Whether through denying you energy, or through making the starvation literally unbearable to your mind so you start eating again, whatever it takes. We know that diets are tantamount to starvation (physical) for fat people – Ancel Keys demonstrated that magnificently. So what happens to the fat body that has been surgically altered so that when it is sick of being starved it will try anything desperate to get what it needs again? We don’t know – the longterm results are not really in on this. We do know that many people start putting the weight back on and that many others end up with extremely serious health problems that are normally only seen in third world countries subject to famine. We know that the suicide risks and risks of substance abuse skyrocket. As to longterm mortality and so forth, we don’t know, but what’s coming in isn’t looking good. For many or most there is a honeymoon period – the weight is gone and the longterm problems haven’t shown up yet (I mean really, it takes years to get kwashiorkor or rickets, or heart attacks, etc.)

   What you will never ever convince me of is that deliberately starving and malnourishing a body can possibly be better for it than whatever ails it at present. Maybe for a brief period of time for a specific purpose it might be of some use (hypothetical as I don’t know what for) but lifelong malnutrition as a treatment for anything? No, I can not believe that no matter how hard I wish and no matter how much I want the best for you. Sick bodies need nourishment – more, not less. Consigning oneself to a permanent state of malnourishment – no, I can’t see that as possibly being of help except for a time – the time before the consequences start setting in. Fortunately for you those consequences weren’t immediate – for many they are. I hope in the long run I am proven wrong at least in some cases. But I sadly don’t think I will be. And the problem is that YES many people are doing it more and more lightly – as the plastic surgery movement grows and grows, all forms of surgery are done more and more lightly. (From Caesareans to high-volume lipo to RNY to back surgery. Surgeons like to operate and it makes them a lot of money.)
8. Meowser, on March 12th, 2008 at 4:59 pm Said:

   It seems that some of you have gone from “love yourself at any size and focus on health rather than weight” to “you must do it our way or you are a fool.”

   And what you do not understand is that when a woman as famous as Mo’Nique — a woman barely larger than average — gets this surgery it puts enormous social and medical pressure on the rest of us to do likewise. This is not the same as some unknown doing it. This is something that will have ripples, will influence the behavior of thousands, if not millions, of people. It will be all over the news, enter the national bloodstream, be part of everyone’s unconsciousness.

   Maybe you had a good outcome from your surgery — congratulations. But they are now building medical wings on hospitals just to deal with people having WLS complications. Entire wings. The surgery is a giant crapshoot, and if it goes badly for you the fallout will be far worse than from doing nothing at all. Influencing other people to do this — especially people who are not wealthy and hence not going to get state of the art medical attention in the process — is NOT harmless.

   There is a lot at stake here. The ratcheting down for what is the standard for “qualifying” for gastric bypass scares the bejesus out of me; I heard the other day of one guy whose doctor was trying to pressure him into it at 5’10” and 200 pounds! That is some crazy shit. This for a surgery for which they no survival statistics on people 20 years or more postop. Look, I’ve transcribed and edited thousands of medical reports in my lifetime, and fat people living well into their 80s are NOT a rarity. Yes, even with diabetes. So color me unconvinced that a 40-year-old woman who barely qualifies as “obese” is going to drop dead any second unless she hands over her internal organs at gunpoint.
9. Meowser, on March 12th, 2008 at 5:00 pm Said:

   er, “for which they have no survival statistics.” Bleh.
10. AnnieMcPhee, on March 12th, 2008 at 5:14 pm Said:

    Meowzer, that is some even scarier sh** than what I already was thinking – I read about the WLS complication wing and somehow it didn’t register that they were building WINGS for this, or how scary that really was. Holy hell. And yeah, that’s what I meant about the standards for who even qualifies going down means people do it more and more lightly – damn. You should really make a whole blog post about this sometime.
11. ginger, on March 12th, 2008 at 5:21 pm Said:

    Hold up a sec, there, Annie. Whatcha citing for your evidence of increased rates of substance abuse and suicide risk post-bariatric surgery?

    In regard to your other questions, at least one large study of bariatric surgery, the Swedish Obese Subjects Trial, has looked at outcomes for over 10 years now. The study found that surgery is associated with sustained decreases at 10 years in weight, blood sugar, triglycerides, and sustained increase in HDL and activity levels. The surgical subjects were shorter at two years than the controls, but that difference washed out at ten years, suggesting that calcium absorption problems are adequately compensated by supplementation that age-related bone loss swamps it.

    There are problems with this study – foremost being that it’s not randomized, although they did their best by matching (which introduces its own problems, but I digress.)

    I don’t want to sound a cheerleader for bariatric surgery. There is significant risk of nutritional deficiencies, especially associated with the malabsorptive surgeries (the bypasses). But most of the deficiencies are well-controlled with supplements. Iron deficiency is probably the most common problem. In the rare cases where people get into real trouble with nutrient absorption, surgical revision is an option.
12. AnnieMcPhee, on March 12th, 2008 at 5:21 pm Said:

    Um – Meowzer, could I possibly have permission to use your post there on my blog?
13. AnnieMcPhee, on March 12th, 2008 at 5:24 pm Said:

    Actually, ginger, I first heard it on Oprah that there were about 1/3 of WLS patients who lapsed into substance abuse – part of it was that alcohol has a much more immediate effect on WLS patients, and they can’t *eat* anymore, so many lapse into substance abuse. I’ve seen a few such stories documented in documentaries. The suicide rates are well documented elsewhere – I don’t think it was on JFS; but it was in the fatosphere recently.

    Self-induced lifelong famine, hospital wings being built to house the aftereffects, long-term results not really known – this is genuinely frightening stuff.
14. Meowser, on March 12th, 2008 at 6:34 pm Said:

    Sure, Annie, go ahead. And yeah, I probably will do an entire post about it, when I have the stomach to do so. Right now the very idea makes me want to vomit.
15. deeleigh, on March 12th, 2008 at 9:22 pm Said:

    I have trouble believing that WLS is something that makes people’s lives longer or better. It may improve diabetes – you can’t have high blood sugar if you can’t eat. It may even improve risk factors for heart disease. But, at what cost? A damaged digestive system. Nutritional deficiencies. Continuous forced starvation. Seriously, what would that do to your quality of life, and what does it really do to people’s bodies, long term? Personally, I question whether it’s ever a healthy choice. Unless mobility and quality of life are seriously compromised due to weight, I just don’t understand how the risks could be justified. I tend to think that when celebrities have WLS, it’s just an especially intrusive and dangerous form of cosmetic surgery, and I can’t respect that.
16. mccn, on March 13th, 2008 at 9:20 am Said:

    This isn’t about Mo’Nique but about another public figure – given recent fatosphere posts about politicians, I thought folks might be interested – not so much in the event, which is sadly expected, but in the response:

    http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/politicalnanny/archive/2008/03/11/readers-tell-mccain-s-daughter-to-lose-weight.aspx
17. JenJen, on March 17th, 2008 at 6:19 am Said:

    I don’t claim to know what exactly Mo’nique’s health problems are, but this is very disheartening news.
    As many other posters have noted, she’s made a career on body positivity. So, if she’s really doing this just to please Hollywood and it’s unattainable standards, then I have to agree that what she’s doing is HIGHLY hypocritical.
    I wouldn’t be surprised if many of her fans decided to turn their backs for that very reason.

    As for weight loss surgery, I don’t claim to know all the facts, but it’s not something that has seemed like a very appealing option to me. Whenever I hear about it, there’s one particular memory that sticks out in my mind. I remember when this particular surgery was becoming very popular, and both my mother and her sisters were getting so excited about it: excited enough to go through with it without really considering the facts. I remember quietly celebrating when I heard that my mother’s youngest sister’s insurance company turned down paying for the surgery — I thought it was just as dangerous then, and I didn’t want to lose an aunt.
18. Jackie, on March 17th, 2008 at 7:38 am Said:

    I don’t really know, I think it would be stupid of her to go get WLS because of the risks involved.

    I felt like Queen Latifah did sell out by doing Jenny Craig ads. I don’t know what to make of things if Monique goes through WLS. Well, at least we’d still have Emme.
19. Hannah, on March 17th, 2008 at 3:40 pm Said:

    What I think is even more sad than plus size stars having weight loss surgery is the fact that they can’t disclose the reasons. Nobody wants the paparazzi crawling all over them because they admit their weight has caused some kind of health problem. Then you’ve got the Hollywood media talking about how AWFUL and BAD FOR YOU it is to be overweight, or sensationalizing what is basically someone’s private health issue.

    I’m not saying all people of size have health problems–I don’t believe that’s necessarily true. But sometimes, things happen, and for some people, including a good friend of mine, weight-loss surgery is the best fix. Also, they don’t always do gastric bypasses for weight loss alone. Another friend of mine, who was obese at the time but otherwise healthy, had stomach cancer, so they removed part of her stomach. She lost over 100 pounds, but not because it was her choice to be thin–it was her choice to live past the age of 30.

    Have they said what kind of surgery Mo’Nique is having? I would think a lap band procedure would be much less drastic than the gastric bypass.
20. absurdtosublime, on March 19th, 2008 at 7:34 pm Said:

    I just wrote an article about her and her obsession

    http://absurdtosublime.blogspot.com/
21. Ashley, on March 30th, 2008 at 10:19 pm Said:

    Well now, I find myself in the minority that agrees with gray box option #2. Mo did write a very funny book about skinny women being “evil”. She opened up folks eyes by doing the FAT pageants. She has been vocal about liking who she is, despite the fact that she is not Paris Hilton sized (ick, btw). And she made that one movie (that even though I am a fat woman, I hated for its cliche-ness) about being fat, getting the hot man, and living life happily. However, that doesn’t mean she can’t (1) diet, (2) choose (as an ADULT) to have WLS, or (3) do whatever else in the world she wants to do! I love Mo fat, I’ll love her thinner. As long as she says (which I’m sure she will): “Heck yeah I had [insert WLS type here]!” I’ll be just fine with her (unlike Ms. Star Jones who tried to say she just “dieted” — as if).

    I don’t mean to be Negative Nancy — but for SA and FA to exist do we have to have “big stars” (no pun intended :P) to “endorse” it? Cant the writers of this blog, and Kate, and Joy Nash et. al work for the cause just as well as Mo and Queen?

    I dunno, I’ve never been “on board” to the perceived ideal that to be a SA or FA activist you must remain above a certain size. That perceived “qualification” has always bothered me. It makes a fledgling young activist (like myself) feel that since I’m a fat, intelligent, black woman I can’t go on weight watchers and be allowed to give snaps to another larger woman I see looking fab-o on the street? Or if I drop 50 pounds (for whatever reason be it health or looks — and you all can’t tell me that getting regulated to Lane Bryant isn’t at least mildly annoying! :D but thats another rant on how not all large women have large boobs, I’m a lawyer– I need a suit not crop pants, and how tent dresses make me look like ass), will I get kicked out of the club? I know that it may not be intentional, but that’s how the movement comes across sometimes to newbies like me– which I think may be an issue.

    Any how — enough of me ranting — just dropping my 2cents into the comment bucket. . .
22. Lashawnda, on August 17th, 2008 at 4:10 pm Said:

    Ok this is my take on things I too am a plus size women but did not deal with weight issues until the depo shot! Now with Mo’Nique big Mo or lil Mo I will still love her dearly. I think she’s funny and always in the back of my mind said what would she look like thin. There no doubt she’s beautiful and fabulous but what would it hurt for her to be a size as Queen says healthy and that’s what it boils down to and if she happens to lose some weight to be that size then more power!

    I think that women who are overweight or looking for an excuse to be fat I don’t think it should be promoted or admired the heart can only take so much. I can say all of this because as I get older the more it is harder to carry this weight. I’m now 278lbs and would like to be back to 145lbs.
23. Mari, on September 15th, 2008 at 11:09 am Said:

    What people don’t understand is that there is pressure in Hollywood to be thin. Someone probably told her that if she wanted to continue her radio program, which is owned by a major corporation or if she wanted to continue to get roles (ala Kate Winslet) that she needed to lose weight.

    After Camryn Manheim won an Emmy for The Practice, she famously said, ‘This ones for the fat girls,’ and then the next season at ABC, she was noticably thinner. ABC is a corporation. Then, she went to CBS, another corporation and was probably told, along with J-Love, to lose weight or lose her role.

    People don’t understand that there is a growing facsist movement to make women suffer. Before the feminist movement of the 1970’s, women “suffered” by not having careers and staying home to take care of children. Now, women
    “suffer” by mutiliating their bodies to obtain the perfect ideal.

    If this is true, then Mo’Nique is a victim of this. She, along with thousands of other women that are getting gastric bypass surgery, won’t realize the errors of their ways until their bodies begin to turn on them and “suffer.”

    But this is what happens when the economy sours. I think on some sub-conscious level, some Americans like to see others suffering, for one and two, when the economy does suffer, people look at others who are doing better than they are and saying, ‘Hmm. Well, why should they be doing better than me?’ And it’s no longer PC to say that black people or gay people or people with disabilities or whoever shouldn’t be doing better than me but I can say that fat people shouldn’t be rich.

    I can say that the said person, other than being (fill in the blank with black, Latino, gay, etc.) should be perfect and weight is now the scapegoat. People can band together and say, ‘Well, at least I’m not fat.’ Fat is the new black.

    Also, I’ve noticed that there is a strong undercurrent that shuns black celebrities for speaking out against more than one -ism. If you speak out against racism, then you shouldn’t be fat. But if you speak out against fat discrimination, then don’t complain about sexism.

    I, for one, am seriously worried about the direction this country is going into.
24. linda, on October 10th, 2008 at 11:25 pm Said:

    I knew it was only a matter of time before Monique did the same thing as Queen Latifa and Marie Osmond. They all SAY they love themselves heavier but they never mean it!
    I don’t mind if they are doing it for health reasons..I myself HAD to lose for my diabetes..BUT on the other hand I never said I was a Hero to the overweight folks like THEY did!
    People can be unhealthy or healthy at with a heavy or thin body…it depends on the person.
    If unhealthy, then lose…if not and happy then don’t lose and most of all…Don’t say things you Don’t mean…like Mo and Latifa and Osmond did!
    Thank God for Emme the plus size model!
25. linda, on October 10th, 2008 at 11:29 pm Said:

    BTW…I left out Jennifer Love Hewitt…who said she loved her body with some meat on it and now has lost weight..sure, like I really believed her…again, thank God for Emme!
    and Hollywood and society can kiss my sexy ass! LOL
26. rose, on October 21st, 2008 at 7:42 pm Said:

    You no what ive been F.A.T my who life and since i was 14 people were calling me ugly and fat and makeing jokes saying o your nothat fat but as i got oder i began to loss weight and i statit realy looking at my self and saying to my self o i look good i dont care anymore shoot i look so good ill run down the street naked mo doing what she has to do for herself we realy should stand behind are girl LOVE YA HOLLA
27. JAB, on May 12th, 2009 at 8:39 am Said:

    Hello she had the surgery, check out her picture in the latest issue of Essence!!!
28. Honey, on August 19th, 2009 at 10:53 pm Said:

    Oh boy! people are so quick to jump to conclusions and cast judgments. If any of the stone throwers have ever listened to her radio talk show, you would have heard her explain why and what her weight loss plan consisted of. She said she is and did not have surgery, she’s been exercising and eating differently. As for her reasons, well she did have two new children not long ago, and she knew that at her previous weight/size, the potential for health problems was high, and she wanted to be around for her kids and husband. She even has set a limit/goal of only getting down to 200 lbs. which by society’s standards is still overweight, but is a number that she would be happy yet healthier at.
29. Honey, on August 19th, 2009 at 11:04 pm Said:

    I’m a BIG girl too and love Mo’nique and do not feel betrayed by her choice to get Healthy, NOT skinny. She has clearly said too that she knows she won’t ever be as skinny as Halle Berry or Tyra, and doesn’t want to be, but she does want to be around for as long as possible to watch her two little ones grow up and have kids of their own. For that reason alone I support her. I have been heavy set ever since i was 11, and i learned to love myself when i was 16. I’m 23 now and although i’ve had this body for as long as i can remember i still wouldn’t mind shedding 20 or 30 lbs because i do have issues with my joints due to my size and some things i just can’t wear or do simply because of my size that i most likely could if i got down to a healthier weight. So please stop believing the Hype! Mo’nique is the same person who wrote “skinny b****es are evil” whether she’s 262 lbs or 200 lbs. and she is doing it the natural way and for the right reasons. Just check out some of her interviews. Personally i believe she is sincere and is still a positive role model for larger women.
30. Mrs.Taylor, on September 18th, 2009 at 11:05 pm Said:

    monique is very beautiful but her size was unhealthy why is it ppl stick to what she said about skinny women if her husband is worried about her health then she needed to do something about it just as well as mine is and i am doin something about it its ok to love ur self as a big sex women but think about ur health and not ur apperance and i believe thats what she did
31. BIG GiRL BLUE, on October 24th, 2009 at 4:48 pm Said:

    What ever MO does I guess it’s for health reasons but, I’m still her BIGGEST fan.

Subscribe to the comments for this post (RSS)