I debated posting this thread, but after nearly a week of mental deliberations have decided to share this story.
A few days ago my wife and I took our kids to a theme park near our home. We have season passes, and this was our first visit of many this year. It just happened to be Easter Sunday, and for the holiday they had some extra activities and a petting zoo.
We were at the petting zoo when another kid picked up a bunny by the hind legs, then dropped it back into the pen. My wife was right there and reacted with an involuntary and surprised "OH!" She didn't say another word to this little boy, who was probably only 5-6 years old.
The boy's mother happened to be standing next to me and muttered, "Worry about your own kids, fatass!" Thankfully she didn't say it loud enough for my wife to hear. I heard and was on the brink of saying something, but thought better of it for many reasons. I'm not going to get into all of them here, but suffice to say a quick look at this woman told me any reaction on my part would be a waste of my time and likely escalate into a shouting match or otherwise draw attention to us. And then I'd have to explain to my wife what was said, and didn't want to have to do down that road. Sometimes the best display of intellectual superiority is a lack of reaction to stupidity and ignorance.
Not really a question, not really a rant. Just a recent experience that underscores how, even in this era of accepting just about everything else, it is still socially acceptable to make fun of people due to weight. I myself am not overweight; I'm actually in pretty good shape. But I'm married to a wonderful BBW (albeit, one that is trimming her weight) so to see or hear scorn like this is hard to ignore. Perhaps some here can relate.
A few days ago my wife and I took our kids to a theme park near our home. We have season passes, and this was our first visit of many this year. It just happened to be Easter Sunday, and for the holiday they had some extra activities and a petting zoo.
We were at the petting zoo when another kid picked up a bunny by the hind legs, then dropped it back into the pen. My wife was right there and reacted with an involuntary and surprised "OH!" She didn't say another word to this little boy, who was probably only 5-6 years old.
The boy's mother happened to be standing next to me and muttered, "Worry about your own kids, fatass!" Thankfully she didn't say it loud enough for my wife to hear. I heard and was on the brink of saying something, but thought better of it for many reasons. I'm not going to get into all of them here, but suffice to say a quick look at this woman told me any reaction on my part would be a waste of my time and likely escalate into a shouting match or otherwise draw attention to us. And then I'd have to explain to my wife what was said, and didn't want to have to do down that road. Sometimes the best display of intellectual superiority is a lack of reaction to stupidity and ignorance.
Not really a question, not really a rant. Just a recent experience that underscores how, even in this era of accepting just about everything else, it is still socially acceptable to make fun of people due to weight. I myself am not overweight; I'm actually in pretty good shape. But I'm married to a wonderful BBW (albeit, one that is trimming her weight) so to see or hear scorn like this is hard to ignore. Perhaps some here can relate.