So basically, a man writes in because he got slapped for commenting on a woman's “nice, full, hourglass figure” on first meeting her, while planning a first date.
Miss C responds that a) it's not OK to hit, unless in self-defense, b) it's not a good idea to comment on a woman's figure unless you're very close, and c) - and here's the really great part:
Finally, your story is a sad comment on the extent to which fat prejudice has permeated our society -- that the suggestion that a woman is heavy can actually be considered an assault to honor, “fighting words” along the lines of a racial slur. If we lived in a world that celebrated all body types, in which desirability and health were not thought to be inexorably tied to one’s BMI, the idea of a woman slapping someone who suggested that she was plump, zaftig, even fat (not a four-letter word, you’ll note) would make about as much sense as slapping someone who pointed out how red her hair was. (To learn more about size acceptance, check out the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, Health at Every Size, and the writing of Paul Campos and Kate Harding, among others.)Seriously. In the Boston Globe, she says this. I think I'm in love!!
Full story: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/03/14/figures_of_speech/
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