As we teeter on the edge of World War III with Russian bombers being intercepted by Canadian fighter jets and with religious zealots raging out of control, leaving a bloody trail of severed heads, the issue of the day is…
Kendall Jenner’s weight.
I’m not sure who Kendall Jenner is but I am not in the know. I hide out here in the backwoods of Florida with my hands over my eyes and cotton in my ears.
I recall an Olympic athlete named Bruce Jenner. He was one of those Superman types. Remember? Perhaps Kendall is some kin of his.
Or maybe not. Names mean nothing out there in the world.
The sick, sick world.
It’s a world in which nothing makes sense. A world in which young women can be “fat shamed.”
That’s right. The lead item in Yahoo news today is a warning that “Kendall Jenner’s fat shaming hurts women.”
I don’t know any women who give a hoot about Kendall Jenner or the fashion police. But I do know a lot of men who like ’em “fat” like that.
If that young lady is fat, then fat is cool.
Indeed, we Jamaican men might even like a few more inches on those hips. We don’t much fancy “mauger ‘ooman.”
So tell me why, as Yahoo reports:
The 18-year-old has been the subject of bullying claims and fat shaming in story after story, and the attention is not only damaging to the young adult herself, but also to her peers, admirers, and others, as well.
According to the story, “agents” are urging the model to lose 17 pounds. I guess they want her to starve herself and look like those anorexic boy/girls that fashion designers often get to show off their creations. That kind of pressure should be against the law.
While obesity is obviously undesirable and even dangerous, a reasonable level of body fat is essential to good health. And the experts will tell you women normally have more fat than men because of physiological differences such as ovulation.
Yahoo rightly deplores the culture of the super skinny. Assistant Editor Lauren Tuck observes:
Unfortunately, the media often irresponsibly covers matters related to women’s bodies, and it has the potential for serious harm.
Ms. Tuck reports that:
Sarah Jackson, a psychologist at University College London and a researcher for a recent fat-shaming study, tells Yahoo Style that weight-related teasing and stigmatization have been shown to have negative effects on well-being and can lead to psychological distress. She notes that Jenner is clearly very thin, and “calling her fat sends out a strong message to impressionable young readers that might inspire unhealthy aspirations for thinness and extreme dieting.
All I have to add to this timely warning to those “impressionable young readers” is that real men don’t like super-skinny chicks either.
