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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Info Post
[Trigger warning for fat dehumanization.]

Actual Headline: It Pays to Be Fat.

Actual Lede: "Employers may punish women who are obese with lower wages, but not all women are paying a penalty. Single women who are obese earn higher wages because they invest more in unobservable job skills. Why? Because heavy women have to plan on never having a husband to help pay the bills."

Mmm. Or maybe because they work longer and harder and better because they are terrified to lose the job they have since they know that fat women, married or single, face strong employment discrimination. Earning more on average doesn't help single fat women who can't get a job.

Also: It's not entirely clear from this piece what "earning more" even means. Does it mean that single fat women earn more on average full-stop, or that single fat women merely earn more on average than married fat women? And what defines a "single fat woman," anyway?—does that group include lesbian/bi women partnered with other women, or just any woman not married to a man?

Because, you know, those aren't actually the same things.

Such a failure to include anything approaching reasonable definitions of groups being discussed might normally be the worst thing about a Worst Thing article. But I'm afraid the lack of clarity pales in comparison to what is quite genuinely one of the most atrociously dehumanizing images of a headless fatty I have ever had the displeasure to see. I love how it's cropped: Boobs, belly, fat legs. That's all we are.

[H/T to Erica.]

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