Thank you to Julia Smith for sharing these thoughts from J.K. Rowling.
"Fat’ is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her.
I mean, is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I’m not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain…
I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn’t seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? ‘You’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!’
‘Well,’ I said, slightly nonplussed, ‘the last time you saw me I’d just had a baby.’
What I felt like saying was, ‘I’ve produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren’t either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?’ But no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!
I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons."
The Cheese and J.K. Rowling Hath Grated It
1 comment:
Anything worse than being fat? Well, being cruel, racist, fascist, a bully would all come way ahead of fat. Now my wife and I are pretty much over I confess I 'window shop' when in the supermarket when doing the real shopping. The 'window shopping' I do is to observe women. Not in a stalker or pervy kind of way but those females that catch my eye. They include all shapes, all colours, all sizes, hair colour, big or small boobs. I really don't care that much about their looks even though it is important initially. What I seek is someone who shares my likes and dislikes not someone who is overly concerned about their weight.
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