Let’s talk about fat hate, especially the stuff going on last week.

First it was the hoopla over Chris Christie’s girth, which has been a running gag since he first hit the public eye but seemed to reach a fever pitch last week, between his appearance on Letterman (God bless his donut eating heart) and the comments made by that former White House doctor which resulted in a characteristic smackdown.

At the end of the week I then saw reports of Rex Reed’s insulting remarks about Melissa McCarthy’s weight in his review of Identify Thief.

“What’s with all the fat hate lately?” Rob asked as we watched the news and saw this story.

And it did seem like we’d reached the saturation point after the week’s events. But I knew, just like he does, that fat hate is always out there. We just don’t hear about it on the news every night.

I think Christie would be the breath of fresh air this country needs, and if he were to run for President I’d vote for him in a heartbeat. We need a kick in the pants, and he’d deliver it.

So how many people do you think wouldn’t vote for him solely because he’s obese? Without knowing anything else about him, his policies, his political leanings?

Honestly? I think there’d be an awful lot.

And many of them would get on their sanctimonious soapbox and explain that they couldn’t see voting such an unhealthy person into office. What sort of message is this sending our children?

And yeah, I get that. Even though I believe in some cases that “health” stuff is just words.

But the rest of the anti-Christie voters? Well, I won’t quote some of the comments I’ve read about the man on the internet in the past, but “fat f*ck” ran rampant, I assure you.

This is for all of the nasty, narrow-minded people out there. Straight from the heart of a fat person:

You don’t need to hate me. I’ve spent more than enough time hating myself.

Do you know how difficult it is for me to love myself now? To every day remind myself that it’s okay what I’ve done in the past because today’s a new day?

Do you know the courage it must take people like Chris Christie and Melissa McCarthy to go out there into the public eye every day and face such nasty, mean-spirited criticism?

And yet they do it, because it’s in them to do so. They are living their truth and you’re probably not.

And whether or not their truth is your particular cup of tea, you can’t deny that there are more people – skinny, fat and every size in between – who aren’t brave enough to do that than there are warriors who go out and live the lives they want to live regardless of how they look or what you think of them.

Just like playground bullies are only acting out of the unworthiness they feel inside, grown-up bullies are lashing out, too. They see something lacking in themselves and so they hurt those around them.

There must be an awful lot of sad, frustrated, unloving and miserable people out there in order to spread so much hatred.

Yes, I’m working to improve myself and my health. Is it out of fear of disease or early death? Is is because I hate myself the way I am now?

No. It’s out of love. Because I’m worth the effort.

Rex Reed and all the other haters can continue to spread hate.

I’m choosing to spread love, and I’m starting with me.

What about you?

How did you honor yourself last week? How can you do it this week? Tell me about it!

Image via Creative Commons

Sharing this with the lovely Shell over at Things I Can’t Say.