Fat is Contagious!

Here is a most excellent read about the last accepted prejudice in society. An excerpt:

 The way people act, you’d think fat was contagious.

Over time, I couldn’t help wondering what other riders were thinking when they chose not to sit next to me on the bus. At that moment of decision — to sit or not to sit next to the fat girl — are their thoughts crystal clear, like typewriting across their brains? You don’t want to sit next to that fat woman, because a) she might smell like bratwurst, b) her excess sweat will rub off on you and stain your good blouse, or c) it’ll be a lot less comfortable than standing. Or are their thoughts more like a swirling purple vapor of vague collected precepts? Fat…bad…icky…undesirable…avoid…stand.

One afternoon I was inspired to launch an experiment; to engage in an act of performance art, of sorts. I created a fake book cover with my home computer. Some rectangles of color here, a change in font there, a borrowed bar code, some clip art of a cartoon fat woman on a shuddering scale, and voila! I’d churned out a highly convincing non-fiction book jacket. I wrapped it around a newly purchased biography, and after a little tugging and folding and fun with Scotch tape, I held the book out before me. My heart swelled at the sight of it, my cheeks grew warm. My God. It looked so real.

And my God, what a great essay!