The UK city of Stoke on Trent has decided to spend over $16,000 in a 10 week period to insult the intelligence of 500 fat people. Fabulous.
The city is running a program to send “motivational” texts to fat people with such amazing tips as:
“Use the stairs more”
“Eat fruit and veg”
“Keep a check on snacks and drinks”
“Breathe 12-16 times a minute”
Ok, I made up that last one but you can hardly tell. This program is optional, people sign up for it under the guise that it will help them lose weight and become healthier (though, as usual, there is absolutely zero proof of either of those claims.) I can’t find any information about how they will judge the success of this intervention, but I won’t be surprised if they don’t measure anything about the participants and call it a success if they manage to successfully send the text messages.
Ostensibly these would be healthy habits for everyone but, again as per usual, they’re just going to go ahead and assume only fat people need texts from #ShitMyStereotypingCityCouncilSays
It doesn’t say how many texts each of the participants will get each day- there’s absolutely no research to guide them so I would imagine they’ll be choosing based on rectal pull – but if they want to send one intelligence-insulting text to each of the 500 fat people every day for the whole 10 weeks it will cost them almost $0.50 per text per person.
What could we do with $16,352 that does not include telling fat people to take the stairs (even if they are disabled or taking the stairs is not the best exercise for them for any number of reasons)? They could pay for 769 months at Pure Gym in Stoke on Trent for those who are interested in going to the gym but can’t afford it. They could join the Ponies for Fatties Initiative and buy miniature ponies for 80 fat people. Or, for all the good I think it will do, they could set the money on fire. Why do I care that a town across an ocean from me is wasting $16,000? It’s because it’s part of this constant message that if someone is fat it’s a signal that we need help managing basic things in our lives.
Fat bodies are not a representation of failures, sins, or mistakes. Fat bodies are not an indication of health or fitness. Fat bodies are not up for public discussion, debate or judgment. Fat bodies are not a signal that we need help or input to make decisions about our health or life. Fat bodies are not an indication that the city council needs to tell us to eat our vegetables – next year they’ll want to do a fat person “here comes the airplane” intervention and spoon the vegetables directly into our mouths. There aren’t separate sets of healthy habits for for fat people and thin people, so if texts telling us to limit our drinks actually help people be healthier (and let’s be clear that I have serious doubts that they do) then we should be sending them to people of all sizes, not trying to score political points on the backs of fat people. Until then, I’m blocking their number.
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