Fatosphere In The News
April 20th, 2009
I’m sure most of you have been following the United Airlines fracas and/or are already aware of this, but Kate Harding was on CNN over the weekend to discuss the new policy. Congratulations, Kate! (And great hair, if I may be so shallow.)
There is a petition to sign about the United Airlines policy, if you’re interested, here.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Fatism, TV
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Weetabix posted a blog on EW a while ago about a horrific flying experience and I swear I got a lump in my throat just reading it. I’ll sign the petition just for her!
And btw if they got 700 complaints about fat people encroaching on their space, doesn’t that imply that they have a good deal of overweight people buying tickets on their flights? They might want to try a little harder to accommodate instead of alienating their overweight customer base.
Kate Harding is fat? I’m a little surprised, but I guess it’s like they couldn’t actually have a big woman on TV. Or find one. Who advocates for big people who could fit on the camera.
I notice brands herself as a “professional fat woman” on her materials. Really???
Is she like a “fat hag” who like “fag hags” hangs around gay people, even calling herself an honorary “gay?” I guess you can build a career around it, knowing the media will not actuallly call a fat woman.
Freda, LOLOLOL, on so many levels.
A) I am well into the “clinically obese” category.
B) Maybe read this.
C) If by “her materials” you mean “My 140-character Twitter description,” yes, I brand myself as a “professional fat chick.” Not actually what it says on my resume.
D) Marilyn Wann, Actual Fat Woman Extraordinaire, was among the people who contacted me about doing CNN, because she didn’t want to. Then a producer contacted me directly because she read my blog post about the United controversy.
E) Until late last night, the plan was to have my co-author, who I’m pretty sure meets your criteria for ACTUALLY fat, appear along with me. She got screwed over, because they decided at the last minute they only wanted one person. They gave us the option to pick which one. We picked me because, among other reasons, I wrote the post that got their attention, I’d lobbied to get Marianne on when they asked me in the first place, and there was already a piece plugging my appearance ready to go up on Salon (because I write there, not because they’re only interested in the moderately fat co-author).
In conclusion, they were not only willing to have actually fat women of various sizes on, they did have an actually fat woman on.
But I might go change my Twitter description to “Fat hag” anyway.
Mo, thanks for the kind words!
The airlines should be asking everyone except models and children for double, then, because even my skinny husband has trouble fitting into airplane seats.
LMAO! I want a fat hag of my own. I must say… that would be hella fun.
I’m fat, but I still think I should get a “fat hag.”
Although now I worry… I’m more of a fat hobbyist than a professional. Do I still qualify?
I volunteer to be everyone’s fat hag. Even the hobbyists’.
Thank you Kate, for defending my large rear and my right to travel in such a gracious way. Airlines just suck: if 1/3 of the population is obese, and more than 1/2 overweight, with the trend towards larger behinds continuing over several decades, then it seems clear at some point the seats do have to get larger.
Air travel was inconvenient and humiliating enough before; now I have to worry about being pulled aside and double charged or bumped off the plane. And I’m “only ” a size 20 or 22. Ugh.
What happens if you’re seated next to someone who doesn’t mind if you encroach a bit (i.e., my four year old, or my skinny husband)? Do I still have to pay double?
Kate did a FANTASTIC job and (Shallowness Alert!) looks GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!
I’m kinda thinking I should pay extra. Not because I take up “extra” room, but because I sometimes fly with my kids. They’ve been known to cry, scream, kick the seat on front of them, take off running down the aisle when Mommy looks away for a split second, and throw fits when we put the seatbelt on.
Come to think of it, maybe we’ll just drive.
Now I want a t-shirt that says “Hobby Fat” or “Fat Hobbyist” on it.
Am I the only one who can’t read the Salon article that Kate linked to because there are two ads preventing me from closing them?
Can I please be the voice of dissent on the airline’s policy of paying for a second seat?
I cannot believe that it is my God given right to encroach on another traveler because I am obese. And yes I am obese. Morbidly obese, if I am honest. I choose, and yes, can afford, to purchase the extra seat. I am also married to a man who is 6 foot 4 inches tall. He doesn’t encroach on anyone’s space, but he also likes to have the extra room so that he can work while we fly. He knows that to have that space these days, you either have to have an empty flight, which is highly unlikely, or you pay for it. We pay for it.
I do not think that I should be entitled to something I didn’t pay for. I do not feel that I am being discriminated against. I would rather pay for it any day, than to be humiliated or worse yet, have the possibility of being left behind if there was not an extra seat on the flight of my choosing.
does any one know of an airline *not* doing this? i have to fly in a few months and now it’s kind of scary.